LOG: Madin and Jay, Repairs
Jan. 3rd, 2024 03:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_icarus posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsJay meets Madin and helps with the siding repairs.
It had taken time for the siding to arrive and the combination of plastic sheeting and OSB board Madin had put up the morning after Hope arrived had been enough to get through until then.
It had finally come in and they'd dragged all their shit out the front of the mansion, ready to start work. Drop saw: check. Saw horses: check. Nail gun, drills, handsaws: Check.
Sense of deep overwhelm: absolutely check. "This wasn't in the job description, you know," they said.
Jay had tried to stay out of the house as much as possible despite the snow and chill- thanks to his mutation the chill didn't bother him much anyway. It got cold up in the air. And he was flying when he spotted someone purple and a whole lot on construction equipment and well. Weren't the cure to a bout to just keep going and having some hard work? Maybe doing something with his hands would stop him from thinking about Julia's blood on them. And if he was going to be stuck up North it was the right neighborly thing to do. He wouldn't let himself be turned into someone who ignored others.
He touched down behind the other mutant with a great flap of his wings. "Y'all be needing any help with that?" He asked, voice tired but sincere.
Madin turned to face the new arrival and bit back their first three responses. Literally none of them were appropriate and two were really sleazy. "Yeah, that'd be awesome. I've got to um. Siding. Extra hands would be good."
"I ain't great with measurin', so it'd probably be best if you did that but I can handle a nail gun alright," Jay said, surveying the work that needed doing, thumbs in his belt loops. It would be good, he told himself, to do something with his hands. And there was someone else around so nobody could make a fuss at him being around sharp objects.
He didn't try to smile at Madin, knowing it wouldn't reach his eyes. "I'm Jay."
"Madin." They held out a hand for a fistbump. "S'all good. We need to pull the broken shit down and then nail up the new stuff. It's not really hard, you know? The boards are just long."
He bumped his hand against Madin's. "Give me a minute to kick off and I can get the high stuff so you don't gotta get up on a ladder." Manual labor outside, he repeated to himself, would be good for him. Had to get used to the air here someday. Body in motion and all that. "You're the fire boss, here."
"Will you be able to manage the length? I figured we'd need one person to hold it and one to nail everything."
"I can manage," Jay said even though he wasn't exactly sure. He ruffled his feathers slightly as a breeze caught the chill of the snow to the skin exposed through the holes in his coat and shirt. "If I can't I'll say so."
"Sure. Can you hover or will you just be swooping the wall like a giant red magpie?"
Having his wings out more or less 24/7 for the first time in his life meant that Jay was learning what he could and couldn't do at the same time as everyone else here. "I suppose we'll be finding out together. Worst comes to worse, I'll get up on a ladder."
Madin laughed. "Here's hoping you don't need to. I bloody hate ladders."
Ten minutes later and Jay was up in the air again with a nail gun, having found that he could skim on the air current for long enough to use the nail gun before having to move to the next spot. But he did have to swoop to get the siding into place. It was hard to tell if the siding was alright while balancing on the wind. The challenge was good- kept him from thinking about anything else.
"Look alright?" He called down to Madin as he had to move again.
"I think so!" Squinting up, Madin shrugged. "Not like I could tell if something is straight."
"Well, I didn't want to go assumin'," Jay said, going along with what he assumed was a joke from the other.
It had taken time for the siding to arrive and the combination of plastic sheeting and OSB board Madin had put up the morning after Hope arrived had been enough to get through until then.
It had finally come in and they'd dragged all their shit out the front of the mansion, ready to start work. Drop saw: check. Saw horses: check. Nail gun, drills, handsaws: Check.
Sense of deep overwhelm: absolutely check. "This wasn't in the job description, you know," they said.
Jay had tried to stay out of the house as much as possible despite the snow and chill- thanks to his mutation the chill didn't bother him much anyway. It got cold up in the air. And he was flying when he spotted someone purple and a whole lot on construction equipment and well. Weren't the cure to a bout to just keep going and having some hard work? Maybe doing something with his hands would stop him from thinking about Julia's blood on them. And if he was going to be stuck up North it was the right neighborly thing to do. He wouldn't let himself be turned into someone who ignored others.
He touched down behind the other mutant with a great flap of his wings. "Y'all be needing any help with that?" He asked, voice tired but sincere.
Madin turned to face the new arrival and bit back their first three responses. Literally none of them were appropriate and two were really sleazy. "Yeah, that'd be awesome. I've got to um. Siding. Extra hands would be good."
"I ain't great with measurin', so it'd probably be best if you did that but I can handle a nail gun alright," Jay said, surveying the work that needed doing, thumbs in his belt loops. It would be good, he told himself, to do something with his hands. And there was someone else around so nobody could make a fuss at him being around sharp objects.
He didn't try to smile at Madin, knowing it wouldn't reach his eyes. "I'm Jay."
"Madin." They held out a hand for a fistbump. "S'all good. We need to pull the broken shit down and then nail up the new stuff. It's not really hard, you know? The boards are just long."
He bumped his hand against Madin's. "Give me a minute to kick off and I can get the high stuff so you don't gotta get up on a ladder." Manual labor outside, he repeated to himself, would be good for him. Had to get used to the air here someday. Body in motion and all that. "You're the fire boss, here."
"Will you be able to manage the length? I figured we'd need one person to hold it and one to nail everything."
"I can manage," Jay said even though he wasn't exactly sure. He ruffled his feathers slightly as a breeze caught the chill of the snow to the skin exposed through the holes in his coat and shirt. "If I can't I'll say so."
"Sure. Can you hover or will you just be swooping the wall like a giant red magpie?"
Having his wings out more or less 24/7 for the first time in his life meant that Jay was learning what he could and couldn't do at the same time as everyone else here. "I suppose we'll be finding out together. Worst comes to worse, I'll get up on a ladder."
Madin laughed. "Here's hoping you don't need to. I bloody hate ladders."
Ten minutes later and Jay was up in the air again with a nail gun, having found that he could skim on the air current for long enough to use the nail gun before having to move to the next spot. But he did have to swoop to get the siding into place. It was hard to tell if the siding was alright while balancing on the wind. The challenge was good- kept him from thinking about anything else.
"Look alright?" He called down to Madin as he had to move again.
"I think so!" Squinting up, Madin shrugged. "Not like I could tell if something is straight."
"Well, I didn't want to go assumin'," Jay said, going along with what he assumed was a joke from the other.
