I'm Fixing a Hole Where the Rain Gets In and Stops My Mind from Wandering

[pretendtoneedme]

WHO: Clint Barton, Master Carpenter (kind of)
WHERE: Area past House 20, Inn common room, out in the wilds
WHEN: Through mid-June
OPEN TO: Anyone, except the third part
WARNINGS: Nothing immediately, warnings will be in comment headers if they're needed

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( Destruction and Construction, out past House 20, Open )

It's become inevitable, really - the house needs more space for all the creatures living there, at least not the ones not human. Arado stayed with Clint, of course, and the now-grown chickens had their hutch and run on the side of the house not occupied with Bev's garden, but somehow Clint had ended up with Moana's pig Itiiti when the girl had disappeared and also there were more (native? were they native any more than the people were?) animals coming around, some of which could apparently be domesticated. Despite living on an actual farm, Clint had never been a farmer, but he did know at least something about animals, and more about building. Not to mention their house was out at the end of the row, still close enough to where it was fairly central but with a pretty open expanse next to it, filled with a few trees but not a full forest.

Basically, it was perfect for a corral, and whoever the dicks were that had dumped them here, they'd at least left them some new tools for getting work done. So Clint had raided the storage room at the inn, taking a lumber saw, an arborist's saw, and full-sized axe, and had started cutting down trees. These wouldn't be going for firewood, however; as the day went on, it would be clear that Clint had a more specific purpose in mind, as he used his own toolkit to measure sections of the trees to cut into logs, followed by stripping the outer bark off with the smaller saw, and then splitting them into posts and planks. There's going to be a fence around the area in about a week if he has anything to say about it. If anyone wants to wander by and ask questions or help, they'd be welcome (it's not like it's a quiet thing he's doing, after all).


( Planning For the Future, Inn, Open )

The tools they've been given are surprisingly good, he's happy to see: sturdy, either completely new or very well-kept, with equipment to see to their upkeep. It gives him a vague hope that there's a way to beat this "game," whatever it is; that these people want to see them succeed to some degree or other, and that they're willing to give them a little help along the way. He's still massively pissed off at them of course, for all the myriad other reasons people are pissed at them, but good tools are good tools and it's a bit of help he didn't expect.

And now that they have those tools, they have capabilities they didn't before, and Clint's got something cooking in his mind. The animals that are coming around, some of them are herd creatures, but some of them aren't - and he's pretty sure he's spotted some horse-like things out when he's been hunting. And right now, they don't have anywhere to put large animals where they can be safe from predators or the weather, but he's sure that residents are going to want to tame some of these guys. To that end, Clint's devised the beginnings of a plan, but it's going to be a good idea to ask for any help that he can get with it.

So one day on his lunch break at the inn, he finds a spot on the community chalkboard that's non-essential and can be erased and does so, much as he'd done the month before when people suddenly disappeared. But instead of putting up a list of names this time, he first puts up the words "BARN? - IDEAS?" and begins sketching under them. For a chalk sketch in a fairly awkward position, it's a very good drawing; Clint's obviously had a lot of practice at making (and reading) blueprints, and a lot of practice at getting freehanded lines straight (a lot more than at making his handwriting easily legible). He outlines two sections in swift chalk strokes: one, the bottom, with a door on either end and an open path connecting them, four stalls on either side, and a small window in each stall. The other looks to be the same general size and shape, but without anything other than, seemingly, a roof and a single door, more a big square than anything. In that one, he writes "hay and feed storage."


( Rodeo Time, the woods, Closed to Nat )

Getting the barn started is one thing, but Clint wants to have some sort of transportation now. They've all felt the lack of it in their time there, not being able to jump into any sort of vehicle to get where they need to be fast, and if there's a way to negate at least part of that, he wants in. Which means Clint's grabbed Nat for back up, and the two of them have gotten some of the rope in the storage room at the inn, and they're going out to try and wrangle one of the horse-things that have been spotted but always run away.

It's an overnight trip to get to where things open up more and the horse-creatures are easily visible; thankfully their captors had also provided sleeping bags and tents, and Clint and Nat are old hands at spending a night "roughing it". Hopefully this'll have a good reward, and it won't be just a wasted trip, though Clint's at least spotted some interesting plants to take back to Mark even if they don't wind up with mounts. But at last, after some long but not too rough hiking, they reach the grassy plains where the things they're looking for seem to congregate, as well as a few other animals that don't look too aggressive, but that Clint's going to keep an eye on just to make sure they don't get charged. Both of them have ropes (a climbing rope is still a rope), and both of them have some of the early fruit from the community trees in their packs to act as bait.

"I think this is about the best we're gonna get - you ready?"

Comments

[enterprisingheart]

"I can't say that I have, no."

While he's done his fair share of chopping wood, it's never been anything like what Clint describes. Largely because there hadn't really been any need to do so, working on the vineyard. But the concept sounds simple enough, and if the resultant fence is really as sturdy as Clint is suggesting, than so much the better, he figures. Especially when the Observers are prone to throwing a wide variety of things at them, besides. Any number of which might be inclined to bring down a less sturdy fence.

And if doing it this way means he has to learn something new, he doesn't have any problems with that, just as long as Clint is willing to put up with him learning as they go.

"And it definitely makes sense."

The rest will, mostly, be seeing how long it takes him to get the hang of splitting the rails properly.