025 ♦ Video -> Action

[peacefulwinter]

[video]
[This is perhaps an unaccustomed look on Winter's face - stern, bordering on angry, and the tight control she's holding as she speaks suggests it's the latter. She's not at home for this message, either, but wherever she is, it looks like she's about to hit something.]

I'm beginning... to get really tired of everything that's happened in the media. I can't watch the news anymore without someone wondering how dangerous we are, or if the world is safe from us, or who will snap next. I've heard my own name at least once. It's unsettling... and it's dishonest. And all of us know it's n-not the whole story. Everything that's happened has been for a reason, outside of a few things we... couldn't really control. Every disaster, every attack, every incident, they've all had causes. But the world wants to blame us.

[Her eyes flash.] I am tired of it. I refuse to s-stand here and be bullied into silence any longer. Even if there aren't many things I can do alone, I'll do them. I don't want to let something like this get me down. So, to start with... [Winter holds up a sheet of stationary, and a pen.] I'm going to write a letter to the newspaper. At the least, I'm hoping to get published as a letter to the editor, but... with as p-popular as we are, I suspect it'll actually make the news. But we can't stop there. People will tear that letter apart, read what they want to out of it, and then they'll go back to how things are.

What I want to do... is start a public relations team. Something that can keep an eye on what people are saying, what we're doing, and can react to those things. We can tell people what was really happening whenever something comes up, so they understand we're not just going off and destroying things because we feel like it. We can counter sensationalism with how things really are. I don't think that... people understand that we're h-human under everything. We have to make them see it. And if that's something we can do to make our lives easier, to help people understand we don't want to make trouble... aren't we obligated to do it?

So I'm going to start on this in a little bit. I have something else in mind, though, for today... [She holds up something else: a bucket, and a sponge.] I'm sure everyone has noticed the graffiti around the city. It bothers me to see it, and I want to try and clean some of it up. The goodwill that we're out cleaning up things that are only tangentially our fault won't hurt, either. I can only do so much, but... I have extra sponges. If anyone would li-like to help me, I would appreciate it. I'll be heading downtown in about an hour. If you're coming, please wear something that can get wet; I'm planning to be careful, but between accidents and the people I know on the network, the odds... are good that you won't stay dry. If anyone has thoughts on the PR idea, I'd like to hear those, too. Um... that's all. Thank you.

[action]
True to her word, Winter's downtown in a hour's time, with a bucket of water, a little soap, several more empty buckets, and about a dozen large sponges. Right now she's scrubbing from a brick building, a large angry complaint fading with her effort. She's dressed much more casually than usual; a loose blue T-shirt, shorts, and sandals, her hair in a single tail behind her to keep it out of her way. If someone comes by to look on, she acknowledges them but returns to work; if someone comes closer, or if someone she knows comes by, she'll pause and smile. "Good afternoon. Are you here to help? Or... just to talk?"

Comments

[dragon_blossom]

And not much more than an hour later, Marina shows up as well - beat up old shorts and a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, flip-flops, hair pulled up into a messy bun, no makeup... and smiling surprisingly brightly for all that.

She's been in a good mood lately, in fact.

"Well, you know I can talk you to death if that's all you need right now, Winter."

[peacefulwinter]

Winter takes a moment to turn and appraise the new arrival, before she nods in approval, handing over a bucket and sponge. "I know you can, Marina, and I'd like that. But there's w-work to be done, and I'd appreciate some help."

She smiles wryly. "Sorry, I've been monopolizing your girlfriend's time this summer."

[dragon_blossom]

"I think I could stand to do a little work, sure," she shoots back, taking a bucket and sponge and looking up at the job in front of them. It's just a shame this isn't any kind of organized volunteer work. That makes it harder to use on applications.

"She sooorta brought it on herself, even if I hate to say it." Marina smiles, squeezing out her sponge a little. "And I've made the most of what I got."

action;

[alilyinthemoonslight]

As if there is much of a question to who else would be out there from the very same moment Winter hit the streets. Whether she saw the message when it went up and high tailed it out there or simply followed her there - either way, she's there and unlikely to leave until her girlfriend does. Like anyone doing this rightly should be, she's dressed down with old jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers, her own long, purple hair tied up behind her neck.

She sets to work without much complaint, but has more than a little bit of a distasteful look to the whole mess as she goes.

"You know, it shouldn't really surprise me, but I can't believe people," Lily mutters, audible enough to hear. "As inevitable as I guess this sort of thing was..."

[peacefulwinter]

Winter is definitely happy that Lily's behind her when she goes out, even if there's no way Lily would have let her go out alone. And the extra set of hands helps, too. The comment gets her attention, though, and she sighs.

"We're too visible. People resent us," she has to admit, "whether it's because they want to be sp-special like us, or because we're causing problems. They're afraid us, and I wish there were a way I could mitigate it."

[alilyinthemoonslight]

Some had caused problems, yes. That much was undeniable, as much as Lily doesn't like to dwell on it. A heavy sigh, and she resumes her scrubbing.

"Your idea's a good one, at least, to try and do just that. We've probably needed someone fielding PR for us from the day of the snake forward, so it's also not surprising it's starting to turn out this way, either..."

[Video]

[scramasax]

[Starts - low. With a cough.

Dries to hesitant monotone even past that. Why is he thinking about it, why is he thinking about it, why is he thinking about it...]

...What would you need, umm.

If um.

[Dries up muttering further.] - you can tell so far.

[Which was probably preposterously unclear, but haa, if with that he's excused, he'll show himself out - no, no, no-o-o, he won't; winces, drags his voice up with a bit more direct force.]

-- If - if there was anything I could do - I. ...Would.

[peacefulwinter]

I'm... not entirely sure yet. [Only taken aback a tiny bit at Anthony's appearance - progress!] There's a l-lot of work to do, and I'm not sure how much reach we'll actually have. But at the very least, I need more people to help me write letters to get us started. Do you... think you could help us with that?

[scramasax]

[Oh-ho-ho, dear. His expression blanks a moment, freezes up. And grimaces (awkwardly, for the record, more than upset!) and coughs, speaks quickly.]

-- I'm blind -- don't know how well I could write.

I uhm. [Deliberately trailing it softer.] I could try. Just uhm. Tell me where we'd start. I could try. Thanks, um. For --

[Not certain what the most technically accurate way to put this is at this juncture.]

For, um...

[Video]

[chalicejoker]

You know "how things really are" is still probably going to freak a lot of people out, right?

[peacefulwinter]

Yes, I'm aware. Even the more calm and collected among us - I'm n-not sure I count there anymore - have their secrets and their little oddities. There are some crazy things that will be hard to explain, let alone justify. And yet, I... think we have to try. We can't afford to let opinion of us keep dropping, right?

[chalicejoker]

Probably not. Still, I'm a giant bug. People kind of freak out on the rare occasions I go out like this. I don't think anyone's likely to listen to me, and I'm not comfortable appearing in front of the public as a Numbered any other way.

Action

[icy_heavens]

Toushirou doesn't bother responding to the post first. He just shows up shortly after Winter does, dressed in some old clothes from a couple years ago that he's yet to outgrow.

To her greeting, she gets, "Might as well do something and nobody wants me doing PR. Including me."

He would be hideous at that and he knows it. But cleaning up some graffiti? Yeah, that's manageable. He scowls up at a particularly tasteless message. Seriously? What the hell is wrong with people?

[peacefulwinter]

"I appreciate it all the same, Toushirou," she says cheerily. "And I don't know... maybe you b-being on PR would help. If someone as frosty-" she giggles softly; the pun was an accident, of course! "-as people think you are wants to make an effort to speak on our behalf, it has to mean something, right?"

...And all the same, she'll hand over another bucket and sponge. "Really, though, thank you."

[icy_heavens]

Anybody else would have gotten at least a flat look for that pun. But because it's from Winter, he ignores it.

The bucket is a bit heavy, since despite all the powers he's gotten, he's still a kid with average strength levels. Nothing bad at all; just means the bucket has a little heft to it. "I don't think calling people idiots qualifies as good public relations, though."

It's exactly what he would wind up doing. And not in the vaguely affectionate way he calls Winter one. Even that had gotten him yelled at and put in a headlock by some of her team.

He shrugs at the thanks. "It's no problem."

Or if it's a problem, it's not one she'd caused. He gets a start scrubbing on the nearest scrawl. Eventually, he's going to need a stool or some help with this one, since it's written in really big letters and he can't reach all the way. Really, did they have to do this big enough to read from space, or what?

[Action]

[radiantchicken]

A ten-inch tall parrot with teeth and scaly little arms shows up carrying a small bucket and sponge that he just might have stolen off of a doll somewhere. "Hello! Is it too late to help clean up the graffiti?" His voice doesn't sound like it should be coming from such a tiny parrot; he's speaking in a smooth baritone.

[peacefulwinter]

The voice actually makes her pause and look away from the bird, but no, there's nobody else around. So she'll blink for a second, before smiling over to him. "I'd be happy to have you. If, ah, you can... manage a sponge with your size?"

It's weird, but there's a blue plushie that looks... vaguely like a dog floating next to Winter, so she really can't talk.

[saviorsoul]

Alexi has tried to be more cautious about just meeting random Numbers. But Winter's plea is so genuine that he can't help but be moved. And it's not like he doesn't appreciate a chance to get out of practice right now. Not that he doesn't want to work on his swing for the upcoming game, but he's tired of answering his friends questions about the Numbered. Even if they were smart enough to not buy completely into the negative press, they still had been hounding him for information a lot more than he was comfortable with. And he'd felt more and more irritation slipping into his tone, as he tried to move away from the topic. Which is the last thing he needs right now.

So he's just fine with taking Winter's invitation and showing up downtown in a loose-fitting t-shirt and jeans and carting around a New York Yankees sports bag.

"I don't mind talkin'. But you said you wanted help with the clean-up? He pulls a squirt bottle of graffiti paint remover out of his bag. "I picked this up on the way."

[peacefulwinter]

Winter nods, and starts to reply, but she's caught off-guard when she sees the bottle of... what to her is an industrial-strength solution. "Ooh... I didn't even t-think to look for something like that. This will help quite a bit! Thank you," she offers, smiling wide. "Um... have we met?"

text

[mimicery]

....And you’re not afraid of what might happen once you do clean it up?

Haven’t you heard those stories about people who clean up after graffiti? You do know what happens to those people right?

[peacefulwinter]

I haven't, outside of the things I read in books. But I don't care. If someone wants to attack me because I wanted to keep my city clean, to protect it, then I think they're going to have a problem on their hands in short order. You don't attack good samaritans and get away with it, particularly not when the federal government is watching.

[There's a pause. Then:] Although I promised someone I wouldn't let myself get hurt anymore if I didn't have to, so... I might need a better plan.

video;

[purestambition]

[ Have Saretha's smirking face, Winter. ]

Enterprising, aren't we?

[peacefulwinter]

How do you mean? Because I'm trying to organize a resistance? Or because I'm f-fighting people that are probably going to make a real effort to harm me by the things I'm doing?

[She doesn't like the implications, and there's a note of challenge in her voice, and on her face.]

[jasminebloominginshadow]

Jasmine shows up as well, surprisingly on her own for once. She's already wearing clothes for work... that are actually already a bit dirty. With mud, in addition to the paint that was already on it, that looks... a bit fresh, to be honest. Like someone who tried to hastily wipe it off.

"Hey Winter!" she exclaimed. "Sorry I wasn't here sooner! I got held up by something."

[peacefulwinter]

Winter can't help but raise an eyebrow at this - Jasmine looks like she's either been in the middle of another project, or got in a fight with a puddle that she lost rather badly.

"It looks like it," she agrees softly. "I don't mind, but... what happened, if you don't mind my asking?"