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Mutant Town — One of many derelict side alleys
Let's just start with the honest rundown: For a guy who ditched his parole Jean-Pierre Bonaventure was really terrible at this whole laying low thing. Colossal levels of bad really. Enough so he wasn't certain if the front end of his car being demolished in on one side was an accident from the ice, or a deliberate action. And he's only been in town a month.
Good news was one month was long enough to catch up with his lil brother, make a pal in the business of helping him actually find parts and pieces, and actually find a kindred soul for them to even expand the team. As all of them were breathing and none of them were the target of a federal manhunt or in prison JP called this a win so far.
This brings our motley group up to the here and now which was 38* weather in the cold in a blessedly balmy winter and JP trying to work on his car with the pile of parts that were, well, volunteered to become spare and at his disposal. He called in Elmo to assist and seemed to be catching up his smarter half. "Sev, you'll like this' guy. Smart. Useful. He don' run from no fight. Could have used a polar bear tho." He passed over the flashlight, "Can you hold this right there for me?" Because if he could get the heater reattached at least sleeping in his car wouldn't be so damn bad. Again, thank goodness for balmy winters.
Elmo shows up with a toolbox, a jumpsuit, and a six pack. "Hey, guys," he greets JP and Severin. "I hear we gotta patient to work on." He sets the stuff down. "Brought some of my custom tools, just in case. Whatcha got, JP?"
Severin sits perched on a crate nearby. When JP offers out the flashlight, he hops down and ambles over, leaning against the car and shining the light wherever his brother seems to need it. He knows nothing about cars but he does know a bit about electricity and security systems, so if there's wires to be fiddled with, he's your guy. Engines? Not so much. Body work? Not at all. But a flashlight, he can hold. Glancing over his shoulder as Elmo approaches, he tips his head in greeting and says, "Cavalry's here, and it brought beer. I'm endeared already."
JP did the reverse inchworm with a squeak squeak squeak of leather on the cardboard laid down on the ground for him to crawl under the thing with. THe wrench waved vaguely in some semblance of an Elmo-wardly direction. "See, Sev? Tha's why I like em." squeak squeak squeak Wiping the back of his brow with a dirty hand the newcomer was flashed a grin with that same bullshit charm he always had. "Elmo, m'frere Severin. Sev, this the guy that helped bail my ass outta trouble I tol' you about. Is good with things aaaaand so say he? With cars." The car was a beautiful sight even if not with a ragingly popular paintjob in black, btu it suit Gearhead in an instant. THe 1964 GTO had redwall tires and red leather interior and looked like the boy might have boost it from teh devil himself. "Jeanne, this is Elmo. Don' go runnin em over. Elmo? Jeanne d'Arc."
Despite JP's story about Elmo lighting up a warehouse like the fourth of July, Elmo is short and thin and anxious. The anxiety is clear in the way he doesn't quite approach Severin, instead kind of sidling around him. "Nice ta meet you," he says, politely enough. "Help yerself. You work on a car with someone, there's gotta be beer. It's a law." He folds his arms, which looks defensive, but he admires the car. "JP, she's a beaut. Can I—" he loosens up enough to reach for the car, but he doesn't touch, not without permission.
Severin gives a nods of his head to Elmo, friendly-like, but doesn't seem to mind that the man skirts around him entirely. Hell, who knows where he's been? That might actually be a good idea all things considered. He seems clean enough, which means he hasn't been working on the car. He just hand's JP things and offers unhelpful commentary from time to time.
JP sat up and immediately went for one of the beers. When Elmo asked about the car though the response wasn't from JP, but the sound of the locks popping open and the driver side door opening idly. Apparently that haunted response was 'have at'. He wasn't quite Phil Coulson with his car, though he did offer, "SOmeone already pounded her face like a steak, go on." He passed one to the torch bearer (which was more poetic than saying slashlight finegler). "So I had this thought, and decided we need Elmo with us man. I'd say I have another idea, but as those keep goin' poorly I thought I run it by you first."
Elmo's face lights up with a grin as the car invites him over. "You can do exactly what I can't. I can't unlock the doors." Not before the advent of power locks, anyway. He runs just one fingertip over the car's hood and murmurs, "Hey, baby girl," as if speaking soothingly to an animal. "We're gonna get you fixed, don't worry." JP's talking about needing him and he flicks a nervous glance at both him and Sev. He offers, "JP told me that you guys are …workin' on some projects."
Severin seems entirely unphased by the car's invitation, reaching out to take the beer from his brother when JP hands it over. He cracks it open and takes a swig before making sure the flashlight is in the right place again from his idle lean. He glances over at Elmo when his brother mentions that they need Elmo with them. "You gotta job in mind?" he asks JP, assuming that they need Elmo for a job of some sort. He then looks back to Elmo and says, "Always workin'," a broad flash of a smile spreading across his lips.
The car, the one named for Joan of Arc screaming into battle, rebellion in her wake, has seen some miled and looked broken in. The floor mat weren't brand new and had wear, and there was a large army duffel with clothes and personal effects in the floorboard of the back seat with an army blanket with it. Yes it's been camped out in but shelooked, otherwise, pretty detailed as far as being clean. Under the hood was needing a little care right now though. "Well yeah. Couple. You know them assholes we met? Smack me with a bat, now afriad to shuffle their feet on the carpet?" Yeah the guys Elmo zapped and he slapped with a hi-lo? Those guys. "Been seein some stuff that' looks a lil funny to me and I'm thinkin f'one? We do some scoutin, and maybe, jes' maybe? Start collectin all them signs out there the no Mutants, no Jews, No coloured, no long hairs- all them sings get a bunch of em and I kinda wanna start a burn pile of em right maybe in central fuckin park or some place. In the meantime we can keep track, btu they's got enough people protesting enough other shit, we can actually drop this one right in their lap. They do t'work for us."
Elmo smiles back at Severin, shy, not the previous grin of delight. "Yeah. Same here." He checks out Jeanne, noting her condition and that JP apparently lives out of her. "JP, ain't you got a place to sleep?" Listening to JP's idea brings out a third smile entirely, this one wicked and full. "Hah, let's do it. Burn every sign like that in Manhattan. They oughta count themselves lucky we don't burn 'em right in the window."
Nodding his head thoughtfully, Severin says, "Yeah. I think that needs to be done. Bet we could get some support for that, make it a thing, rile up some protesters t'help nab all what we'll be needin'." He taps the bottle of beer against his lips in thought. "Not Central Park, though. Too much heat there. Someplace where we can get a good burn on but not take out the park. I kinda like the park. How's 'bout in front of city hall, on the steps? Can get a good flame goin', symbolic."
JP leaned way forward with his forearms on the front of the car. He took a drink and shrugged to Elmo as if that answered all his questions, maybe not helpfully, but he responded. "Yeah I hear ya but then they get us on arson." He consideredSeverin's negatives on parts of the plan to improve upon it. Eyebrows went up at teh idea of rallying people to adi the cause. "Maybe have a place for em to drop em off. Hmmmm people could get hurt, but the sign's doin more damage than tha' bats in the long run." He wasn't trilled to take oak to teh ribs, but it was a small price to pay that would heal. "What'chu think of maybe oe of them barges or somehtin right there on teh east river? Though might be too far away to get the message through." He looked between em. "I'm alright goin Catcher in teh Rye on these signs. Kinda… what do you call that thing where like… someone does a thing, but it comes back and happens to them? That like, poetic justice stuff."
"Karma?" Elmo suggests. It's a word that's been thrown around a whole lot lately in pop culture. "They do something bad, then something bad happens to 'em? World don't work like that too much." He gets into the car and starts rummaging around under the dash. "Your heater don't work. How are you sleepin' out with no heater? You're from Louisiana fer cryin' out loud." Leaning way out, he flips open his toolbox and grabs something from inside by feel. "Yeah, we could see if people wanna steal those signs. There's gotta be plenty who wanna do something but can't do too much, right?"
"On a barge, nobody's gonna be able to figure out what we're burning, and we don't wanna do it in the shops because sure we'll get the shop, but what if the building goes up and there are kids'n'shit livin' on the upstairs floors? I'm fine burning the hell off some assholes' shops but.. I don't wanna hit some old folks just tryin' to live out their days, ya know?" Severin says as he absently stops shining the flashlight where JP wants it to go.
JP looked back to Elmo and said in short, 'most machines I can get t'function like they should even if they don't, but I gott ahave a hold of it. It's… hard to splain. Short story, it ain't too bad." He set his beer aside and looked back to Severin, "Yeah none of us wanna see no residences get hit. Kids and dogs n cats an goldfish and shit don't need no hastle. So we do this, we'll figure out when and how to be gettin word of mouth out and then we have people hit em all in one night, maybe have a big pile of em in 50 gallon drums out in front of City Hall like you say. Is a good start." Looking to Elmo the old of the brothers snickered, "Yous gon' make out with my car all day or you gonna come help?" And with that repairs resume.