Re: Clouds of Dust and Death

[Vatusia]

Landon found himself giggling more than expected at the idea of the lead scouts face if they only came back with what they had found currently. They would surely get yelled at for bringing back things that the community didn’t need, but it would be so amusing just to see him that flustered. “We at least found some duct tape and nails! It’s not like we can control what we find either so they wouldn’t really be able to do much.” Landon giggled, picking out some of the more useful hats and throwing them in the pillowcase. As he stood, he slung the cello on to his back, the sheet music safely inside the case with the instrument. He skipped over to the Harpy before turning to the door that would take them back out into the living room of the house. “Yea, we probably should head upstairs. Maybe they’ll have more fun stuff~ I can still win this bet you know~!” Landon chirped as he raced back to the foyer, taking the stairs two at a time. It didn’t occur to the cat that he’d left the pillowcase back with Veroe or that, technically, he’d left her when they had agreed to stick together. Landon stopped at the top of the stairs to wait for the Avian, a grin spread across his face and his eyes dancing with joy. For the first time in a long time he was having fun, even if they were looting a house.

[Patchworks]

"I think we'd grow old before hearing the end of it. 'You have no responsibility, you shoulda brought us food and fast cars and piles of money and a drugstore because you can probably find that out there.' Bah~" Veroe said in a mocking tone as she scanned the first floor one last time. Veroe took the pillowcase and left it back in the foyer by the stairs.

"We're even. And now, the exciting conclusion to the competition. Let us begin!" Veroe exclaimed skipping up the stairs towards Landon. She leaned to the side slightly to locate an open door behind the boy. She pointed towards it, weaving around the boy to get in the room first. It was a hall that seemed to connect even more rooms and a small bathroom. How many bathrooms did these people need?

The first thing she noticed in the hall was a dark brown liquor cabinet gathering dust in a corner. Veroe moved over to it, opening the glass doors to find most of the bottles empty, but three mostly-full bottles of booze. Veroe clicked her tongue, being more thorough with the cabinet but not really finding anything. "Bah, just booze. I really don't want to take that back to camp."

[Vatusia]

Just booze? Landon frowned as he followed after the Avian, wondering what she was going on about. When he got into the room he saw the liquor and suddenly understood. “Why do they need that much alcohol? I say bring it with, assuming it’s a high enough proof. Can’t it be used as an antiseptic? Even then it could probably be used as a pain killer. I say let the sounds back home decide.” Landon hummed as he moved towards the door the seemed to lead back towards the hall they had just come from. Within was another bathroom, this one a bit bigger than the one he’d explored down in the foyer. And, sitting in the bathtub, was a rather large hand basket, the type normally found in grocery stores, full of nails, screws, nuts, and bolts.

Golden lavender eyes opened wide at the sight of all the parts contained safely within their boxes. Sitting in the bathroom tub. “Veroe, I found our redemption… Sitting in the wash tub. Don’t ask me what they’re doing in here, but they are. I wonder… If they keep all this good stuff in the tub, what do they keep under the sink~” Landon giggled, as he skipped over to the sink. Underneath was bottled water, barely enough for him and Veroe, which seemed silly. Why would people keep such small amounts of water under a sink? Landon grabbed the water and then looked back towards where he’d left the Avian. “I might need some help with the building materials, but look~! Clean water!”

[Patchworks]

"I suppose so, I'll take the fuller one then." Veroe said, grabbing a bottle of vodka. She was scanning around the room when she heard the Cat call out. Veroe's head tilted slightly at the crate full of screws and bolts before grinning towards Landon. "Well now we have an excuse as to why we're bringing back all the non-essential stuff~ And it's good we found water, we may want some after we're done moving this box downstairs. Good finds, L." Veroe patted Landon's head briefly before turning away from the bathroom. "I'll take a look at one of the bedrooms but I'm starting to feel like we could leave with what we found already."

Veroe walked into what seemed to be the children's bedroom. On a shelf, there were two small, yellow walkie-talkies in pretty nice condition. Veroe removed the lids on the back, finding two batteries on each. She clicked one, listening to the static between them. She grinned, already thinking about using it to chat and coordinate with Landon. She walked back to the hall with one walkie talkie on each hand, offering one to the boy. "I have no plans on letting the adults have these, we could make much more use of them out in the field."

[Vatusia]

The Cat winced at the mention of having to carry all of the hardware down the stairs and out to the shopping cart. He was going to be sore tomorrow, and that was assuming that they didn’t find more heavy items to carry around. Though the pat to his head was unexpected, the Kitten quickly purred before stopping. Physical touch was something that seemed to be missing half the time in the post-apocalypse world, at least in Landon’s life. So as the Avian went to check out one last room before they left the house, Landon turned back towards the hand basket full of supplies. It did look awfully heavy, but someone had gotten it up the stairs and into the bathtub. That meant that, logically, he could get it back out of the bathtub and down the stairs and into the cart. Maybe not with a Cello on his back, but that didn’t matter. Pale fingers wrapped around the handles of the shopping basket before pulling up with a great effort. Landon stumbled slightly with the unexpected weight of the basket, finally settling the basket in both his arms.

Just as he was exiting the bathroom, cello still on his back and shopping basket tucked into his arms, he saw Veroe with two walkie-talkies. Slitted eyes widened as he stared at the bright yellow plastic objects. “They work? How awesome is that~? But what about if they run out of batteries?” Landon hummed, shuffling closer to the small Avian and grabbing the talkie and placing it in the basket. Certainly they could make things so much easier, but only if they could keep them maintained and alive. However finding stuff like this just made the trip out of the camp so much better. Maybe they would even find some toys for Lei. “Come on, we’ve gotta get this stuff down to the cart~!” the words were a happy song as the Feline made his way down the stairs as carefully as he could with a cello and heavy basket full of potentially dangerous objects. Landon let out a happy mewl as he entered the Foyer, the cart just outside the door. Which he couldn’t open. “Veroe!!”

[Patchworks]

"We can always look for more. Considering our luck we may even find those tiny battery chargers somewhere." She grinned towards the boy, slipping her walkie talkie into her pocket and scanning for anything they left up there. Veroe watched the boy closely, hoping the steps wouldn't collapse or anything nasty like that.

The change of floors went smoothly however, and Veroe wasted no time gathering the things they'd left behind. "Going, going~" Veroe said, closing the distance between them and slipping past Landon to open the door in front of him, peeking outside as a cool breeze slipped in, finding the shopping cart exactly where she left off, by the steps. Veroe turned to Landon. "Do you need help carrying this stuff down to the cart? Home stretch, L~" She was already on her way to the cart to drop off her share of things before returning to the Cat.

[Vatusia]

Once the door was open and Veroe was out, Landon set about following the Avian with the instrument and shopping basket of materials. Hopefully the scouts would be happy with those because with the general things they were finding, the Feline doubted they’d get anything that they were supposed to find. “So what do you mean battery chargers? Cause I’m pretty sure that most chargers run off electricity…” Which had been gone for months. Landon didn’t want to be a downer, but it seemed like more and more reality was seeping into his optimistic world. With a clunk and a happy sound the basket was unloaded into the shopping cart. Maybe they would get a little more leniency bringing back a second, albeit much smaller, way to transport things. “I never want to carry that much stuff again. I will throw it all out a window and into the cart if we find that much stuff again,” Landon hummed as he took in a few deep breaths and allowed his arms to rest at his side. Once they got back to camp he was going to take a nap and no one was going to stop him. “Should we still check for a garage or should we move on to the store? Or maybe we should just call it quits and head back before something bad happens. I’m up for anything if you are~!”

[Patchworks]

Veroe turned slightly, scratching the back of her head and looking at nothing in particular. "Uh... I meant one of those manual ones, w-with the cranks. You've heard of them, right?" She'd slipped and said something silly and now could feel her face warming up.
"Anyway! Throwing things off the window doesn't even sound like a bad idea if it doesn't break. I think we might as well go to the restaurant now, I don't think we'll be able to carry a whole lot more back."

Veroe moved behind the cart and maneuvered it towards the dust-covered storefront, humming to herself. It seemed like a cozy diner, the metal shutters lowered over the windows notwithstanding. She tried the front door. Locked. Veroe clicked her tongue in annoyance. "No deal. C'mon, let's try around the back." She barely waited to circle around the store and find the employee entrance, its door hanging by one hinge and wide open outwards. Veroe bit her lip, staring towards the dark store interior.
"That's new. Any ideas what coulda done it?' Veroe said, leaving the cart by the door and turning to face Landon. Things just kept getting odder by the minute.

[Vatusia]

A sound of understanding came from Landon’s throat when Veroe said she meant the hand cranks. Honestly he’d never seen one of those, but if they existed then that would be great. The Kitten followed along behind the small Avian, slitted eyes watching as the front door refused to move when she tried it. With the cello still on his back, Landon skipped after Veroe as she went to the back door. But the second he saw the door hanging and busted open his face dropped. There were only a few races that could do that kind of damage and if they weren’t friendly Landon really didn’t want to encounter them. “Any First gen, the Dragons, or maybe a really large Icarii,” the words were hushed. Landon was trying to see if he could smell anything out of place, but the whole city smelled out of place now. Nothing appeared out of place though other then that door and that could have been done at the beginning of the end or before really. The Feline was sure that whatever had done the damage was gone. Or dead. But gone was better. So, with as much stealth as he could with a cello on his back, Landon stalked forward, until he was in the restaurant. The back door seemed to lead into the kitchen and Landon immediately spotted a radio that was playing out silence at them. “He look, a working radio. Maybe the scouts can do something with that~”

[Patchworks]

Veroe shuddered slightly at the boy's reasoning. Landon wasn't wrong, that kinda damage was done either by a really pissed-off human or a large Icarii which didn't bode really well for them either way out there. She left the cart by the door and followed a few paces behind, holding her breath, scanning the dark building as much as she could before a gasp escaped her mouth as the boy found a radio.

"If someone's still broadcasting out there, we could probably hear them with that. Besides, if our new radios are in range of that, it could pick us up too." Veroe said, moving out of the kitchen and stumbling over the counter in a failed vaulting attempt, which made her turn around and notice the very slightly curved saber hung above the counter like a bizarre decoration piece. Veroe climbed on the counter and pulled the sword off the hooks that kept it up, her eyes shining as she unsheathed it with a noise she'd thought movies had made up. It had one or two dents along the blade and it had lost its shine some time ago but it still amused her endlessly. She put it back in its sheath and hopped down, bringing it back to the kitchen. She moved closer to Landon, eager to show off her strange find.

"These people are nuts, they had a sword hanging on the wall. Who eats staring at swords?" Veroe questioned, briefly unsheathing the sword to show it to the cat. Hopefully she could arrange a makeshift strap to carry the thing with her. It was no bat, sadly, but amusing nonetheless.

[Vatusia]

There was a sword hanging up in the restaurant? Landon stared at the offending object for a second before going back to looking at the radio, more confused by the owners of this place then ever. Landon carefully tucked the radio under his arm once the static was silenced. Surely this kitchen would have something of interest to them. If they could find a sword, a cello, and building materials all in the oddest of places than surely they could find other useful items. With a little hop, Landon moved towards the industrial fridge, sitting against the wall and looking for all the world like a great place to start. What he found inside was a bunch of empty, wet cardboard boxes. The Feline wrinkled his nose at the smell, moving them to the side to see if maybe there was anything of interest hiding behind there. And there was

Lavender eyes blinked rapidly at the sight of the open hidden panel that seemed to lead through the bottom of the fridge and down into some sort of basement. Landon sat back on his feet as he stared down the dimly lit hole, wondering just who the heck had run this place that they had a sword on the wall and a tunnel leading down through the fridge. “Veroe… I just found a crawlspace inside this fridge… Who the heck were these people and can we keep their place?” Landon beamed over at the small Avian as he laid the cello to the side. He had every intention of crawling through the tunnel to see where it went.

And without a moments hesitation he was wiggling on his belly forward into the damp space, his tail brushing the top of the tunnel as he made his way in. Landon hummed happily to see if the concrete tunnel would echo, which it did to his amusement. “Does this mean I win the bet? Because anything to top this would just be insane~!” He called back, finally reaching the end of the tunnel. It widened into a decent sized shelter, probably at least four or five meters under the restaurant, having looped back on itself once. There wasn’t anything really interesting or useful in the square room, but the fact that it was there was amazing enough. It was fairly dirty and there was a terrible damp, stale smell, but that could be aired out. Landon grinned and knelt by the entrance, shouting back to the Avian, “Veroe, I wanna keep this place!”

[Patchworks]

Veroe grinned towards Landon as she clumsily slid the sword between her back and her jacket, securing it for the time being. She was looking towards the door to check if nothing had happened to the cart when Veroe heard the boy call her. Her head tilted as she processed what the boy had said. 'A crawlspace? Does he mean like a big tunnel carved into the old ice in the fridge or... what?' She thought to herself, walking back into the kitchen just in time to see a tail and a pair of legs slip down into a hole inside the fride. "What." Veroe said out loud, blinking repeatedly while approaching the bizarre find.

She crouched, looking in and listening to the boy's hum before crawling in quickly, not sure what to expect inside. "Honestly if we find Elvis in there I'm not even going to be surprised... Wait, this place?! What's down there?" She patted her jacket to get rid of the dust that had fallen on her as she stood up, scanning the empty room. Veroe felt the weight of the sword on her back as her gaze turned shifted from the small cat to the shelter. Silence hung between them for a moment before she broke out cackling loudly in bewilderment and amusement, leaning against the wall. Veroe coughed and wiped the tears off her eyes as the laughter subsided. "What the hell, Landon?! Who builds a shelter under a restaurant?" Veroe tried to say, between giggles.

"Of course we can keep it! We just gotta fix up the backdoor and bring some stuff in to really make it~ V and L's Scout Headquarters!" She smiled, patting the boy's head before considering for a moment and extending her hand towards the boy, offering a handshake. "I can tell when I'm defeated, L. You earned this one."

[Vatusia]

It was with a grin that the Feline took the Avian’s hand, wondering what they could find that would even top this. “We could store all the stuff that the camp doesn’t need, or that we find too much of, down here. I’m pretty sure with some work it might be safe from the storms for a little while and then we know for sure where our stuff is. And as long as we put the trapdoor back on I’m sure no one will find this place. I mean who looks for a tunnel in a fridge anyway~?” Landon giggled as he made his way back towards the tunnel, set on working his way out of this wonderful area to see what else they could find. Given anything else they found would just be icing on the cake at this point, but he couldn’t resist.

As soon as he was free from the tunnel, Landon moved to the oven, wondering if maybe he would find a giant teddy bear or something stuffed inside. There didn’t appear to be anything, but as his hand brushed up against the back of the oven, just in case, the back dropped open and revealed another tunnel. Again he was reduced to blinking and staring at what was in front of him. “Veroe!!!! I DID IT AGAIN!!!” The words were a scream as he stared at the tunnel that lie before him. The Feline purred as he wiggled his way through the tunnel, careful not to catch his clothes or tail on any of the oven as he made his way back down into darkness. This tunnel didn’t smell and the lights were fairly bright as he made his way down. Once safely in the much smaller room, you could fit ten people standing in here. Not like you could even fit that right now with the three barrels sitting in the far corner of the room. “THERE’S STUFF~!” Landon screeched happily, his voice going up an octave and sounding absolutely ridiculous bouncing around on the walls.

It took no time flat for the Feline to start ripping into the barrels. Two of them had metal lids that came off, the other had a latch and panel type thing on the type. Upon bumping into it, Landon heard sloshing. His eyes widened at the thought of clean water sitting safely where they knew it was. But the other barrels beckoned the blonde with the promise of all sorts of things. Clawing his way into one, Landon was pleasantly surprised to see canned and preserved food at the top, with what looked like military rations further below. It wasn’t enough for more than him and Veroe for maybe a week, but it was something. “We’ve hit the freaking jackpot…” His voice was soft and awestricken as he stared at the preserved bottle of peaches, which would be coming back with him. Lei was sure to love the treat.

[Patchworks]

Veroe stood in the shelter, too stunned with the find to follow behind Landon. She examined the floor and the walls when realization struck her: This was incomplete. Someone wanted to build here before the Clouds hit. She could hear the boy's voice through the tunnel but somehow through elsewhere. She patted the planks that held the walls up, wondering what the boy had found this time when one gave way, revealing a corridor that led to seemingly nowhere.  

Veroe jumped slightly as the boy screeched. That sounded definitely too close. Somehow Landon managed to land somewhere close to the shelter through another tunnel somewhere. Fed up with this nonsense, Veroe pried the loose planks off and walked into the corridor, realizing it actually branched off to her right in addition to going straight ahead. She followed the boy's voice and pushed the planks on the opposite end of the hallway off, revealing a second shelter, this one fully built and somewhat equipped. Her jaw dropped as she moved closer to the barrels, looking inside curiously. She turned to the boy, childlike fascination shining in he eyes.

"You are aware the corridor back there leads to even more rooms, right? This is the best!"

[Vatusia]

Landon stared as Veroe appeared from the wall, the dark behind her promising more things to find. “We are keeping this place. You can have the other barrel!” The words were called over his shoulder as Landon practically sprinted for the other corridor. After the turn, it seemed like there were only two other rooms to see, but they could hold so much wonder in those two rooms. The Feline went straight for the right one, skidding into the opening and staring in more wonder. Inside was a full workshop, with all the tools one could ever want. “Oh this is going to be wonderful. We’re never going to have to leave. Landon practically skipped back towards the storage room to tell Veroe what he had found and leave the final room for the Avian. Besides, he wanted to see what was in that final barrel and see if maybe there was anything hidden behind the giant containers. “Veroe we have a workshop!” And of course Landon skidded right into a barrel, dislodging what appeared to be a sealed, watertight bag full of papers. Upon further inspection the papers seemed to be sheet music, drawing a happy purr from the teenager. This was turning out to be the best secret base ever.

[Patchworks]

"Don't mind if I do." Veroe grinned as she pushed the lid off the last barrel to find... two pairs of boots. Veroe rolled her eyes, not even bothering to examine them.

"A workshop? Nice! This is gonna be the perfect base after all. I don't really feel like telling the others about it, they'll want to come over and take everything and be boring with it." She finished with a shake of her head as she headed into the corridors and to the last unexplored room.

Veroe pushed the rudimentary door open to reveal what seemed to be a small mechanic workshop. In the center, suspended by a metal cable attached to a machine, there was a green motorcycle in decent shape, its disassembled parts scattered throughout the workshop, including a sidecar. Someone would have to fix it up before it was usable, besides the problem with taking it out of the bunker, but it was an amazing find on an already crazy day. Veroe found herself hopping around the room, looking for anything else when she noticed a small crate of six spray paint cans and her eyes lit up with an idea. She took the crate and skipped back to Landon. "Look, I found spray paint, we can draw outside and mark this as our headquarters~" The idea made her excited to the point she almost forgot about the actual purpose of the room.

"Oh! There's a motorcycle in the room, too. Getting it fixed and out of here sounds like a hassle and I don't think either of us can drive it so... I dunno."

[Vatusia]

It took the Kitten a few seconds to process what the Avian had said, but when he did he immediately started giggling. Veroe seemed more excited about the spray paint then she did about the fact that there was a motorcycle in there secret base. Considering all the good it did them underground though, Landon figured maybe she was right to be more excited about the spray paint. “We haven’t even finished checking the restaurant~!” Landon chirped, heading for the tunnel that would take him back up to the building above. With everything so far that they had found, things could really only get better.

Landon wiggled his way back up the tunnel and out of the oven, nearly hitting his head on the way out. Just barely catching himself from stumbling into the prep station in the middle of the kitchen, Landon looked around. There were plenty of cabinets and things around, maybe they would hold other wonderful things. It didn’t take long for Landon to finish up his search of the kitchen, with all the effort only turning up a beaten up chef’s hat and a pile of hole ridden blankets. Why there were blankets in a kitchen was beyond the Mammalian, but they had found stranger things today. “Well, I suppose anything after the bunkers would be a let down…” Landon whispered, tucking the blankets and hat into a cabinet nearby. Maybe they could be repaired, or used as is, but for now there were more things to explore. But first he would wait on Veroe. Landon depressed the walkie button and waited a beat before asking “are you coming up?” If she didn’t reply soon then the Feline would head back down the tunnels and ask her what she wanted to do.

[Patchworks]

Veroe returned to the workshop, lifting the crate and doing one last look around their new base to make sure they didn't miss anything. She let out a high-pitched chirp when the radio came alive on her pocket. She fumbled with it for a moment before clicking the transmit button.
"I'll be right over, L~". Veroe climbed out through the fridge hole, since it seemed slightly roomier than the oven one, pulling the crate out with her.

Once she got out, Veroe dropped the crate on top of the counter and decided to give one last look around the restaurant to make sure they didn't miss anything. Hiding in the last bench against the wall she found a light jacket, a bit too roomy for her but otherwise in pretty great condition. She brought it back to show Landon, a bit puzzled. "I think someone lived here... Like, after the clouds. It would explain the craziness of everything we found. So, what do we do next?" Veroe was raring to go after the bunker and it showed.

[Vatusia]

Someone living in the restaurant before them would make sense, especially with all the wacky things they’d been finding in the space. But where were the former tenants if that was the case? Landon shuddered at the thought of what could have happened to a person out here. Whoever they had been, Landon hoped that they weren’t coming back. They might get a little hostile if they found two young adults had suddenly taken over their home. However there were more important things to focus on right now. Like what to do next. “I dunno, maybe we should take the stuff that we plan on keeping down into the bunker and then leave the rest in the cart to take back to the camp. Getting back here might be a problem if we don’t get assigned scout duty again though…” the words trailed off as Landon looked around the kitchen, wondering just how they would get back to their new base. Surely the adults wouldn’t just let them leave the base, besides that they both had family at the camp who would more than likely ask questions if they kept going out all the time. “We’ll figure something out! I know we will. So let’s get our stuff down there and then we’ll head back home~!”

[Patchworks]

Veroe grinned towards the cat. "I'm sure after what we found today we'll be let out more. So what do you wanna leave here? We gotta make a good impression in the settlement if we want to be let out more often, you know~" Veroe looked around herself, pondering on what else to add to the cart.

"Speaking of impressions, I think we should mark this as our base now. And these are going to help." Veroe grabbed a can and shook it, checking to see if it was still full. The thought of drawing something and not being constricted by annoying adults and arbitrary vandalism laws was a bit to exciting for the Harpy to pass up on.
Veroe skipped to the cart and brought it inside, leaving it next to the fridge and turned to Landon. "I'll be outside if you need me~"

[Vatusia]

”After today I’m sure they’ll be expecting us to bring back miracles!” Landon giggled as he set to work shoving things down the oven hole. Maybe he could use the blankets they’d found later to line the fridge tunnel so maybe it wouldn’t be so damp. Landon waved at Veroe’s back as she went to go mark this place as theirs. As soon as she was outside, the Feline descended upon the cart, grabbing out a few of the pans and stashing them in a cupboard, sure that they would find a use for them. Of course the camp could use some too, so most were left in the cart. Heck, Landon was sure there were still more back at the house if they really needed more. The building materials could stay in the cart, seeing as they didn’t have anything to build with and their shelter was pretty much all made for them. The hats could get passed around the camp along, the shirt was Veroe’s and they weren’t sure if the raincoat would fit Lei yet. Thinking of the Kitten, Landon wondered if maybe his little sister would like the bunker. She wasn’t big on underground places, but she was more practical than her brother ever could be.

The Feline smiled as he thought of his little sister, grabbing the blankets and heading towards the fridge. One of the blankets was soon torn to strips, still full of holes, and then laid along the tunnel. If things got moldy that would be bad for their health and with toxic clouds, they really didn’t need more health worries. Soon enough Landon found himself back underground, a pile of blankets in his arms. It would be nice if they could find some intact soft things to make beds out of. Landon wasn’t fond of sleeping on concrete and he was sure that Veroe wouldn’t like it either. But they were at the mercy of what they found. “I wish I may, I wish I might,” Landon hummed as he set the blankets on a dry surface in the tunnel. Golden eyes looked around the bunker, wondering what it would be like if they could make it home. With a grin on his face, Landon wiggled his way back to the surface, skipping outside after grabbing his new cello and the cart to see what Veroe was up to. They’d been gone long enough, it was time to return to the camp.

[Patchworks]

Veroe stretched as the setting sun hit her, looking around for an advantage point. With a grin, she jumped on top of a dumpster and half-jumped, half-flapped her way to grab the lip of the roof and push herself up. She removed her jacket and put it on the roof close to where she'd work, leaving her winged arms free.
The harpy grinned to herself and moved to the front of the restaurant, retrieving the cans from her pocket and shaking them, thinking about what she'd draw.

Before she started, Veroe decided to have one look around the roof, just in case someone had forgotten something up there. In fact, there was an old bike wheel up there. How it'd gotten there was anyone's guess and it seemed to be from far before the Clouds so it was probably a pile of rust by now. The girl stared at the wheel and threw it off the roof, considering maybe taking the rubber out to use on something.

The girl started by drawing a bird on one side of the storefront and a cat on the other, giggling to herself. She considered a bit before adding a bold SCOUTS HQ and spraying off the name of the restaurant. By the time she'd finished those, Landon was already coming around the corner to find her. She waved at him, grabbed her jacket and leaped off the roof, flapping skillfully and landing softly in front of the cat, turning around and adding KEEP OUT to the front door in large letters. She turned back to Landon, smiling sheepishly. "If you wanna add anything else, we still have plenty of paint."

[Vatusia]

Landon stared at the cat and bird that now adorned the side of the restaurant, grinning at their base. “I think that ‘keep out’ is going to dare people to enter~ Otherwise I like it. We can always add more later~!” Landon snag. The Cat smiled as he finally joined the Avian, the cart catching on a piece of broken concrete and nearly sending him flying into it. Landon blushed slightly and gave Veroe a goofy grin as he came out from behind the cart. Landon’s tail swayed behind him as he stared up at the sky. It was getting dark and they really needed to get back. Landon didn’t want to even think about what Lei would be like if he wasn’t back before the sun had set. “So shall we?” Landon held his arm out for the Avian, ready to skip the rest of the way home while attempting to steer the cart. Now that it had weight in it, it seemed to want to go all over the place. As soon as Landon was sure that Veroe was ready to head back, then they would go, but he was willing to wait if there were things she needed to do.

[Patchworks]

"If anyone wanders inside, I'll get 'em!" Veroe drew the sword, sheath and all, from her back and swung it around, aiming at nothing. She grinned towards Landon, gasping and moving closer as the boy briefly lost control of the cart. "A-are you OK?" Veroe said before giggling at the cat's smile. "I see it wasn't anything serious. Ah! I wanted to do a thing before we went back." Before the Harpy moved, she stared up, noticing the number of the restaurant. "Seven-zero-five-six~ That's one way to call our new base, huh? Be right back."

Veroe put her jacket back on and moved to the back of the restaurant, closing what little there was left of the ruined door and pushing the dumpster in front of it. It was a lot heavier than she expected and it let her panting as she finished. She grinned to herself, spraying PRIVATE PROPERTY, NO ENTRY in the back wall. She wanted to replace the door later to make it more secure but that would have to wait. Veroe dropped the cans inside the dumpster and closed the lid, ran back to the front, sliding her arm on Landon's like he'd offered and helping steer the car back towards the settlement.
"Let's go L, I can help you move the cart if you need it~" Her tone was amused and slightly teasing.

[Vatusia]

It was so tempting to start skipping now that Veroe had taken his arm, but with the cart acting up it wasn’t such a good idea. “Thank you, the cart doesn’t seem to like me very much~” Landon glanced back at the restaurant briefly before pushing the cart forward and heading back towards camp. If it hadn’t been for Lei waiting for him Landon would have honestly considered staying out all night. But he did have a little sister who was probably worried sick right about now. Not really but he could hope. “So what are you gonna do when we get back? And what did I win~?” Landon hummed, casting a glance down to the shorter Icarii. The cart hit another gap in the concrete and Landon glared down at the object, righting it then pushing it again. If he wasn’t littered with bruises when they got back he would be surprised. However considering the wonderful things they had found while out, the Cat supposed it was fine if he ended up a little bruised. “So what do you think the scouts are gonna say about what we bring back? Also what did you do at the back of our base? There was a loud noise...”

[Sponsored content]