[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

Because it's about time she has a happy-ish thread again?

[doomedtheworld]

Vin couldn't say why she felt the need to visit the site of the attack but she had, several times since it had happened. The first few times she hadn't been able to look at it for more than a few moments before she had to turn and leave, unable to take the rush of memories that came with it. Those days following the attack had been so bleak, so hopeless. She had felt trapped in a dark place that she had never wanted to revisit

So... no monsters? O:-)

[theblackstaff]

Motion at the edge of his field of vision caught Ebenezar's attention, and he instinctively drew on his will. But at the sight of Vin landing with a repressed shiver, Ebenezar let go of his will and instead gave her a brisk, welcome nod. "I'd appreciate it, missie," he answered, trudging up to another chunk of concrete. Glass crunched under his work boots as he continued, "And having company helps keep an old man's mind from wandering too far."

With a soft sigh of effort, Ebenezar bent his knees, lowering himself to pick up the watermelon sized chunk of concrete.

She could happily beat up monsters. *eyes tons of jagged broken metal at her disposal*

[doomedtheworld]

"Mine too." Vin returned the nod and reached under her coat, drawing a vial from some hidden spot and swallowing it. Extra pewter bloomed within her immediately and she burned it, drawing strength from the metal.

She reached down to a similarly-sized chunk of concrete and lifted it up, letting it settle on her shoulder. Then, apparently deciding she wasn't carrying enough, reached down to grab a chunk of steel and walked over to casually toss them into the bed of the truck.

"Do you need help with that?" She asked sincerely, looking over at Ebenezar as he hauled up another piece.

[theblackstaff]

Most days Ebenezar didn't miss his youth. That had been spent doing the same sort of foolish things a young man with far too much power and not enough sense did. But watching Vin casually haul metal and concrete, the wizard had to admit he missed the days when his knees and back didn't hurt.

It didn't stop him from lifting the concrete with both hands and walking it over to the truck. "Naw, if it ain't worth breaking a sweat for, it ain't worth doing," he answered, sounding almost cheerful. Physical labour managed to do that to him. Gave him a sense of satisfaction that few things on earth could. He heaved it into the truck with little more than a grunt of effort. "Surprised you're here, missie. Been a while since I had young folks about, but if I remember correctly, chores ain't anyone's favourite thing to do when they got time."

[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."

[chosenfreedom]

Dean was on his way out to his own truck. Figuring to grab a few extra things if they were going to do this thing with Thomas and Harry soon. He turned his head at the clunk, and came closer, recognizing Ebenezar's truck. He hadn't spoken with the guy since he first arrived here so might as well catch up.

And watch him haul metal around?

"Here, let me give you a hand with all that." He jogged over to help haul away some of metal and concrete.

[theblackstaff]

"Ain't necessary, but appreciate it all the same," Ebenezar said without turning around, tossing a chunk of rebar shot concrete into the truck bed. It clanked loudly and the truck dipped a little under its weight. Ebenezar didn't seemed too worried about it when he turned back and gave Dean a nod of recognition. "You're looking well, Winchester."

[chosenfreedom]

His ankle was still healing, but it wouldn't be the first or last time he's ignored injuries. Or doesn't give it as long as it should to heal.

"Thanks, fight with the Red gang went well." Well better that they had some help. "What happened here?"

Dean came closer to grab another piece of rebar to toss into the truck bed as well.

[theblackstaff]

"Glad to hear it. Thought we'd gotten rid of all them bastards." There was harsh anger in Ebenezar's words, perhaps more than one would have expected, but he seemed not to have noticed as he crunched his way through shattered glass to pick up another piece of debris.

"Monster. Something big and evil got through into the city. Took out a lot of folks when it ripped its way through."

[huntingmemory]

The bullet wound in his leg, thankfully, wasn't deep. And between them, Dean and Sam were more than able to keep it clean and uninfected. Made walking hurt, but Sam knew he wouldn't heal as well sitting still.

He'd snagged the cane, though, glad for the extra stability, what with the melting snow. The last thing he needed was to lose his balance and tear the damned thing open more.

The older gentleman and the truck made him pause, leaning on the cane. Then he cleared his throat. "Do you need any help?" It was polite, even if he was kind of not in the best of shape for offering help.

[theblackstaff]

Having cleared the ground of most of the smaller chunks of concrete and steel, Ebenezar had begun working on the bigger ones, breaking them into smaller, more manageable pieces. He was using small, focused spells. Focused lances of force and fire at strategic spots, but that required more concentration. Which meant that when an unexpected voice coughed behind him, Ebenezar's head jerked up and sent a narrow, needle-like jolt of force skittering off to his side, shattering a window two stories up.

"Stars and stones," he muttered to himself, shaking his head as he let go of the power he'd gathered. Ebenezar turned around, nodding at the limping young man who'd approached. "If you don't mind, there's a Thermos in the cab of the truck I could use."

[huntingmemory]

Sam did, at least, look embarrassed, though he was pulling his jacket up to keep any glass from falling on his head, too. "Sorry," he said, grimacing as he brushed off his jacket. "I didn't realize you were concentrating so hard."

Thermos, though, he could handle. Sam looked around for a moment, making certain that there wasn't anything to trip him up before he made for the cab of the truck, bringing it back around a few minutes later and offering it over.

[theblackstaff]

"Ain't your fault. I'm just out of practice," Ebenezar answered, brushing bits of glass off his shoulders. He nodded gratefully as the young man handed over the Thermos and opened it, releasing the familiar aroma of hot coffee. Even smelling it seemed to refresh him, and Ebenezar gave the young man a questioning look.

"Want a cup?"

[fightanddefend]

Rosette hadn't been here to see the attack - while part of her was irked she hadn't been able to help, the other part was more than grateful that she'd been somewhere else, somewhere that had allowed her to stay all in one piece. Still, that didn't mean she'd missed seeing the creature's aftereffects, including structural damage. She hadn't expected to hear any noises coming from the front of one of the buildings that had been smashed up, and she sure hadn't expected to see McCoy being the one to cause it - though, on second thought, it made sense. He would be the type to clean it up.

She headed towards him, glancing up at the beaten building, then back down at the mess he was clearing away. Grabbing ahold of a manageable chunk of concrete, she hauled it to the truck and dumped it in the bed. "Don't tell me you're planning on rebuilding Rome in a day."

[theblackstaff]

Ebenezar chuckled at Rosette's words. "Ain't likely at my age," he answered. Most of the smaller debris was in the truck bed now, and Ebenezar was now forced to use magic to help lift some of the larger ones. "I'll settle for getting this mess cleared up before sunset."

[fightanddefend]

Rosette looked pointedly at McCoy, then at the truck bed mostly filled with various debris, then back at McCoy. "Uh-huh." She was starting to get the feeling there wasn't a whole lot he couldn't do, never mind his age. "You're making a pretty good start on it. Need any help?" As if to illustrate her point, she bent down and tried to haul a piece of concrete that refused to budge. She snarled at it, shifted her weight another way, and - nope, still no dice. After a few more tries and a lot more frustration, it soon became clear that this was a contest between the concrete's weight and Rosette's stubbornness, and neither looked to give in soon.

[theblackstaff]

Shrugging off Rosette's obvious disbelief, Ebenezar let a large chunk of concrete drift into the truckbed. "Help's always appreciated, Miss Christopher," he answered, a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth as he watched the young woman strain at the block of concrete. Muttering a quick spell to ease the grip of gravity around the rock, Ebenezar approached Rosette and gripped the other side of the block with scarred, calloused hands.

"On three?"