At first disguised by hollow warmth

[fooloftheking]

WHO: Bobo Del Rey
WHERE: North Village
WHEN: Middle of January
OPEN TO: All
WARNINGS: Will update as needed

---

Words echo in Bobo's head. Things that Willa said to him, that Vasquez has said, Bull, Wynonna, voices he hasn't heard in over a century. It's easy to ignore those words in your head when you're busy keeping nearly a hundred revenants from getting out of control and killing everyone in the Ghost River Triangle. It's another trying to quiet them when you're in a place where you're seen as a peer and a friend and not merely some hellspawn to be killed to break a curse.

Which only makes it that much harder.

Having spent so much time in the south village, Bobo decided to give a week to getting things ready where he lives in hopes that if winter descends, they'll all make it.

So he spends more time working on converting the police station into a barn for the kirin, chickens and whatever else the cowboys decide to bring home. Clearing out much of the walls that aren't load bearing, and even tearing up the floor in parts of it, to use making a pen to one end for the chick where they can be held and have ground to scratch at.

He takes time seeing that the forge is in working order, hoping to find and mine enough to fashion horse shoes for the kirin. They were keeping their hooves trimmed back, but shoes would make things better for them, to see to them a they grow and may one day become mounts for them.

Most afternoons he can be found on the front porch of their house by the forge, his lap covered in a piece of hide from something he first killed and cured, and working to use one rock to shear bits from another rock. The ledge of the porch rail is lined with his experiments, dangerously sharp arrowheads and larger "blades" that didn't go quite right but show progress in knapping the stone just right into a blade. His hands too show the work, cuts in various degrees of healing marking his knuckles and palms.

It's sitting on that porch that he's approached, in a way, one day by a creature he well knows. A moose that meanders through the "front yard", pausing to sniff at this or that as is makes its way through the village. It's a familiar enough sight to Purgatory, especially back when Robert Svane made a homestead so far North, that Bobo finds himself nearly giggling, then laughing until he has to set aside the things he's working on, digging the heels of his hands against his eyes and staunching tears that he would swear had everything to do with the laughter and nothing else.

All around the house he's chosen show signs of the things he's working on, from boards with pelts stretched over them, to sinew drawn tight between sticks and drying, and several long staff looking saplings in various degrees of drying that he plans to eventually split for bows. So much of it is trial and error, being aware of the basics of how to assemble and make all of it, but also having been a being a fucking mouse in velvet and glasses. The practical experience isn't there, even if the knowledge is, and Bobo is playing off all of it to try and ensure that he and the roommates, those he also considers his people, can make it in this place and thrive.

All the while trying to ignore the voices in his head, the things that others have said to him, and that voice that he barely recognizes from a man that gave up his life for a town that condemned him for a eternity, not yet realizing how soon that forever existence might end.

Comments

[clouded_heart]

It's a hell of a hike when you're not used to walking through snow.

It's not really super far, and Foggy is not only used to walking, but is slowly getting fitter and healthier thanks to enforced exercise and better eating.

He can hear laughter.

And he sees a moose.

... they're really, really big.

He moves to the side, staying well out of its way until it moves on and then he runs past it and down towards Bobo's place. "I just saw a mother fucking moose strolling around!"

[fooloftheking]

Bobo is meant to be working on the stone blades he's been trying his hand at, but the truth of the matter is, he's too amused by the moose. In part because it feels like home. In part because first there was the salamander in their fireplace, settled in and enjoying the warmth and eating the things they leave for it. Now a moose.

One of them was a damned Disney princess.

Laughing softly as Foggy comes scurrying up, giving him a look. "Did you get lost?" Though he just laughs more at that comment. "There is. No clue where he came from but he wants to be part of the family, he can be."

[clouded_heart]

"No, I didn't get lost, I walked down here, it was a mother fucking moose! That thing is big enough for Fisk to ride down the fucking street!"

Foggy isn't usually such a potty mouth, but... moose.

[fooloftheking]

It shouldn't be funny, but it really is. "No idea who Fisk is, but never known anyone to ride one. You want to try?" Arching a brow, knowing he's likely to get more cursing over that.

"Take it you haven't been around a lot of wildlife then?"

[clouded_heart]

"Nooo, I'm not an animal person. Fisk is Matty's personal nemesis, and he is a huge guy. Six five? Three hundred pounds? He's big." He shoves his gloved hands into his pockets, hunkering into his scarf more. "I grew up in New York City. My idea of wildlife is rats, racoons and gang members. Have you been stone napping?"

[fooloftheking]

"He could get up there, sure, would be a good steed for him," he says, still finding enjoyment in the entirety of the conversation. He never thought about it. Even in the bigger cities up near Purgatory, people ran into moose from time to time.

"You miss a lot staying in the city. From a guy that could never really go into a big city," he notes, chuckles. Though he does nod. "Trying my hand at it. Why? You ever done it?"

[clouded_heart]

"Bobo, I'm a pudgy, pasty city boy, the wilderness is my natural predator. That and corporate lawyers."

He wrinkled his nose. "Nup. Nothing like it. I can sharpen knives and scissors, that's as far as my experience goes. I've been taking them home and sharpening them up as needed."

[fooloftheking]

"Never done it myself, but want more at my side than just the knives meant for use by others," he admits, which says a lot about the way he's adjusting to this place, and how he sees these people as his own. "Mostly I'm learning how well I bleed," he admits, holding up one hand and showing the healing cuts.

He falls quiet for a long time though, looking Foggy over before making an admission. "That could be used to describe me," he admits.

[clouded_heart]

"... you're a hazard to yourself," Foggy sighs fondly. "Have you considered chasing up some gloves for while you work... what could describe you?"

[fooloftheking]

"You want to make things happen, you take risks and you get hurt," he says, shrugging. Though it's obvious he's working on being more careful.

There's no chuckle this time, none of that twisted smirk. "Pudgy, pasty city boy."

For Danny Rand

[fooloftheking]

Bobo remembers Danny, and he knows their one meeting hadn't entirely gone right. He stares at the box for a while, not even sure what to do with the things in the box. Eventually he works on it though, trying to make it work since he's been wanting to learn to sew, but the piece in the end mostly resembles a dragon.

Okay, it doesn't resemble a dragon at all.

Good thing for Danny that when he finds a box at the dojo wrapped in dragon wrap with a note atop that says TO DANNY FROM BOBO, it contains a rather cute dragon so much better than what Bobo has managed.

[theimmortalweapon]

"You made this?" Excuse Danny if he sounds skeptical. He had seen his own gift turn into something completely different once it was opened and he imagined that something similar happened here.

"It's cute. Thanks."

He didn't really know what to do with Bobo or how to handle him. The guy was weird and now he was getting a gift from him, a gift that had been handed out by their captors but still... Danny was getting mixed messages.

It was a really really cute dragon.

[fooloftheking]

Bobo blinks, staring at the dragon for a long time. He knows what he made, and he knows what he put in that box. They don't add up, but he's not going to argue or complain.

"I made you a dragon," he says, knowing that something has happened here, but will to go with it. "Found it funny I got this box for you give the last time we talked." Which is almost nearly an apology. At least in his eyes.

"I think they're trying to make us all be social and such. Especially around the holidays, I guess."

[theimmortalweapon]

Danny held up the dragon and then wiggled it towards Bobo as if it was talking to him. It was a silly thing to do but Danny found himself smiling.

"Yeah. This is kind of weird. I have a thing for dragons though so it suits me." He'd fought a dragon and had Shao-Loa's mark tattooed on his chest. Danny will always have a deep affection for dragons.

"But still. Thanks." He's awkward.

What else do you say at a time like this?

[fooloftheking]

Bobo smirks, biting back a snicker at that playfulness. It is definitely nothing he expected from Danny.

"It's kind of my first attempt at sewing, so I'm glad you like it," he says, nodding. "And you're welcome. Seriously. Figured if they gave it to me for a reason." He's still not sure what the reason is, but hey, it worked out.

"You doing okay? Heard something about one of those martial art places."

Pre-Moose

[assemble_the_lovbacken]

Thor's at the forge every day, just about. It's rare for him to miss what he now considers "work" (a term he's heard humans use for the place they go to most days, even if he isn't getting something called a "paycheck" for his services). He enjoys the chance to work with his hands, create things, learn new skills. It keeps him out of his head, which is fortunate - both for him and the rest of the village. A once-god with too much time and too little to keep him occupied never turns out well.

He's seen the cabin with the interesting items out on its porch to and from the forge, and he's even stopped the admire the handiwork on a number of occasions, but the creator of these items has never been met. So he can't help but grin broadly at finally catching sight of a man whittling and sharpening a rock into a blade.

He holds a hand up in greeting as he approaches, again offering an impressed once-over to the projects on the ledge of the porch.

"I pass by here twice a day, and I've admired your work every time! I've also admired your skill and its progression," he says, voice boisterous and inviting, while motioning to the blades. "You've gotten very good at what you're doing, that much is clear. Where is it that you learned these skills? I have not met many humans in recent times who can cure and shear hides so well, presuming that you are indeed human."

[fooloftheking]

So many of the things that Bobo works on in this place involve his focus. Knives against meat and tendon, axe head to wood, and rock against rock. It catches him up in a lot, but he also knows there's a lot going on in the village around him that he isn't noticing, people that he has let pass him by.

Catching sight of another, someone approaching, and he raises his hand in greeting as he sets his striking stone aside, carefully picking away the chips and setting them aside to check later for use in other projects.

"Glad someone's noticed," he says, his smile genuine at hearing that and glad for it. He hasn't had a lot in his life for decades where he felt proud of his work, except for work that was destruction. Here he is appreciated for things he's created, and it's a new and welcome experience for Bobo. "Haven't been sure about the blades especially."

He runs his fingertips over the cleft along the emerging edge of the stone. The talk of the hides though makes him chuckle.

"That's because I didn't start life in the same place most humans around here seem to be. I was born over a century before most here were, and then you learned how to process your own meat, or your starved come winter." He glances up, around Thor, thinking about that. "It gets cold enough here, and I worry we'll see the same here."

He assumes most will ensure that doesn't happen, looking out for others, but he's also curious to see.

Pushing to his feet, he offers his hand. I'm Bobo. Take if you knew people that took care of their own hides and weapons?" There's been a few here, and he likes learning about them, findign them in the village.

[assemble_the_lovbacken]

"I've been wanting to tell you of my admiration, but I haven't been fortunate enough to run into you until now. I'm glad I've finally be able to outwardly admire your work." Thor recognizes the light of pride in the man's eyes and face; he's glad to have been able to excavate such a feeling in someone else.

Thor considers the man's hand for a moment before walking closer to meet it with his own. He offers a firm, friendly handshake, along with a nod and a smile.

"Bobo," he repeats. It's a funny sort of name, he thinks, one that he's not heard before. It's fun to say, though. Bobo. "I'm Thor, son of Odin." Slowly and surely, he's started shedding his usual, 'God of Thunder and Lightning' title to those he's met. As much as it pains him to admit it, it doesn't really apply here - not when all of his powers have been stripped away, leaving him mortal. "And yes! Though I haven't known many in recent days. I used to know an ancient peoples, over a thousand years ago, from whom I learned a great many things similar to what you're doing here. I always admired their resilience, their creativity, and their resourcefulness. You might have heard of them - they were the Vikings."

[fooloftheking]

Bobo knows he runs around the place a bit like a mad man. If he keeps himself busy, doesn't let himself slow down and force himself to think about everything that's going on in his head. It's better to ignore it all and keep going.

But he's glad to see some recognizing the things he's done. Especially the work he's just teaching himself, such as the rock knives.

Though any comment he is about to make is lost when the other man introduces himself. "Thor, son of... a bitch. You're serious? You're really..." He'd never been deep into mythology, but there's some names you pick up on the basis of media and culture alone. That is definitely one of them.

And then he continues on about the time when he knew people like that. Bobo nods slowly. "Yeah, I've heard of them. Bit before my time, even as old as I am," he admits. "But a babe compared to you if you were around then."

[assemble_the_lovbacken]

"I beg your pardon, what did you just call my mother?" Thor asks, ready to defend his mother's honor to the death. Although it was clear to all that Loki was Frigga's favorite child, Thor never doubted her love for him, as well, nor did he ever doubt his love for her.

He puffs his chest out a little, arms hovering a little farther from his body than they normally would - a more offensive stance. It allows him to flex his muscles, show that he will not be intimidated .. and that he's ready to defend his mother's being called a "bitch" as soon as the signal is given.

Forgive him, Bobo. He doesn't get all of the human jargon yet.

"Yes, I'm over 1,500 years old," he replies coolly, eyeing Bobo with flickering distrust.

[fooloftheking]

Bobo isn't offended, chuckling as he shakes his head. "Turn of phrase, and could be my mom if you want," he offers, grinning. "Your mother is a saint, so the myths say." At least that's what he's heard, though he hasn't read up on them much.

He should be intimidated, and he should be worried. Instead he's impressed, both with this place and the man in front of him.

"And that is definitely impressive," he says with a nod. "Give you about hundred times the years I have," he says, staring at him, head cocking to one side, trying to make sense of this. "I know this place is different, and dealt with a demon before, but nothing like a god. That's new to me. Makes you wonder about anyone that could bring a god to this place. Unless you volunteered?"

[assemble_the_lovbacken]

"What? Why would you call your mother such a word?" Thor asks, face contorted in confusion. He cannot wrap his mind around tossing such a phrase around so casually, without thinking of who it could insult. Mention of his mother, however, softens some of the toughness he's called forth, and he can't help but nod in agreement. "She was the best mother I could've ever asked for, truly."

Hands on his hips, he snorts and shakes his head.

"Volunteered? To lose my powers and be all — weak and floppy and vulnerable like a mortal?" he asks, wiggling his arms out at his sides haphazardly, like a weird jelly man. "No, I wouldn't have willingly sacrificed all of that to be here." He glances up towards the skies, wondering if Heimdall's been able to find him yet. "The last time I lost my powers was when my father banished me to Midgard, to teach me a lesson. Truthfully, I deserved it." He looks back to Bobo, all traces of previous insult and anger vaporized. "But this time — I can't see why I would've deserved the same fate."

[fooloftheking]

It shouldn't be amusing, but the man's confusion is utterly sweet and fairly darling if Bobo is honest. It's been such a part of modern vernacular for so long that he doesn't consider cultures where it might cause so much upset.

"As I said, I'm sure your mom is. Not everyone can say that, but mu apologies," he manages, grinning a bit, but really not trying to disrespect, even if he's more than amused by the reaction to the turn of phrase.

"It's that or imagine what kind of power could capture a god and bring him here," Bobo points out, shrugging. "I would be offended by the way, if I was a weak and floppy human." Or was before this place, which he wasn't. "Though since you're talking about yourself now too, all good," he says, chuckling at the man before him dancing in that way.

"It's never our choice why our parents think we deserve it. Maybe he thinks you did, though that oesn't explain the rest of us," he points out.

[assemble_the_lovbacken]

"It brought my brother here, too," Thor explains after a brief hesitation, like he had to let the sentence sit at the tip of his tongue for a moment before deciding to expel it. "If you see a greasy, long-haired man sneaking in the shadows, sulking, and rolling his eyes into the back of his head, that's probably him. He dresses like a witch, but not a cool, hip witch, but like a wannabe witch." Anyway .. "So the question is really what sort of power could capture two gods and bring them both here."

It's a question with which he's been grappling since he'd first woken up in that stupid tube.

"And it wouldn't have been our father, anyway .. whoever brought us here. He — he died, not long before I arrived here."

[fooloftheking]

"It... Huh." He considers that, not even sure what to make of it. He's thought it odd it could do the things to him that it is, has changed it like it has. Things that he had never thought could ever happen, and still isn't sure how they had. Gods though? Honestly? Who even could be behind something like that?

"Exactly. Not a comforting thought either." Not in the least. It's downright worrisome.

"Wait, your father... Who kills a god? What can kill a god?" He's not read enough mythology but he didn't think that was actually something that happened.