"i'd be more than happy to lend a few to you, every so often? they proved vital in the aftermath of groudon, and they'd love to help."
[break]
[break]
when she steps back, he does too, laying the hammer at his side. autumn leisurely flicks her wrist, setting the board in place with a mere thought.
[break]
[break]

"i try to let mine out as much as i can, but, i've got a lot of pokemon and an apartment to hold 'em all. but, yeah, you're probably right. a little faith, huh?"
[break]
[break]

he sighs, thinking back to the havoc they could create in such a short amount of time. even autumn, who usually meditated on the small balcony, could wreck it with the best of them. though, that only really happened with someone else interrupted her in their shenanigans.

[attr="class","ooc"]willow atkins | mission[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-delphox"]

"that'd be great, actually. bo's good with the projects that require more handiwork. a lot of my more delicate patients need a bit more care." and she has a feeling greyson would be more than happy to learn how to tend to her menagerie of plants. that is, if he isn't already competent with things like that. 

"well, we've plenty more room on the property, as long as they can behave." mamo tromps off, deciding that the delphox can handle helping will. 

she steps back and looks down at their progress. the base boards are all set in place. now they'll have to hammer in some of the steel panels that'll make the cast to hold all the honey. she gestures for lus to take the hammer from greyson. 

Greyson Connors

☉

greyson laughs at the idea of his pokemon misbehaving. it forces him to look up at his delphox, her attention elsewhere as she lazily complies with these mundane tasks.
[break][break]
"trust me, if any one of them misbehave, just let my delphox know. she'll set them straight."
[break][break]
greyson complies, noticing the creature waiting in the wings, and hand it the hammer.
[break][break]
"what now?"

[attr="class","ooc"]willow atkins | mission[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-delphox"]

a metal sheet is lifted courtesy of the delphox. willow helps ease it into place and nudges a box of bolts with her toe. lus bends down, wings half-opening as he slowly starts to understand her orders. he still needs a lot of direction (most bug-types aren't very intelligent, especially compared to psychic-types like greyson's delphox), but he gets the hang of it eventually.

he's strong enough to pierce the metal, which is a relief. she'd worried they'd needed soldering equipment. the sound reverbs, echoing around her, and she puts a hand on lus' shoulders and hops back up onto the grass, motioning for greyson to follow.

"we let them build the rest of the base and you and i can start nailing these boards into hexagons. looks like you had the lowe's guy cut 'em right so it should just take some hammering."

Greyson Connors

☉

he follows, looking down at the boards in question as he listens. 'had them cut it right?' pure luck, really. he was every bit that loner in the corner of the gymnasium dance just vibing, while the man did his work.
[break][break]
"sounds good. where are these going?"
[break][break]
he didn't have an eye for arts and crafts side of things. short of seeing it down on paper, he was a blank as a stunfisk.

[attr="class","ooc"]willow atkins | mission[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-delphox"]

well, she can't quite blame him for needing his hand held this much. sometimes she forgets how lucky she was. her family never really replaced things - they never had the money. they were a family of fixers, and as such, her father had taught her from a pretty young age about the basics of carpentry and essential upkeep. 

so something as simple as lining up blocks of wood and ensuring the nail punctures cleanly, and without splintering the wood, seems so easy that she just...forgets. 

but she's a mom through and through and her companion's lack of knowledge isn't frustrating or annoying. instead, she's gentle as she instructs and explains, building one on her own to show him how it's done. 

"and don't worry if a nail pokes out. we can just reset it. function over form, right?"

Greyson Connors

☉

"function over form."
[break][break]
greyson echoes quietly, placing the box next to and atop one another cleanly. hammering nails into them seemed easy, but there was a technique to it he'd never practiced. but, sloppy or not, it gets done well enough for government work.
[break][break]
"i can imagine it gets tiring after a while doing all this work."

[attr="class","ooc"]willow atkins | mission[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-delphox"]

when he looks like he's getting the hang of it, she starts working on her own. they have quite a few of the hexagons to put together. by the time the two of them are really in their groove, they're speeding through them. and greyson's are looking just as good as her own. 

she looks up. and then she looks down and shrugs. "there are times i've minded it, but i've always liked working with my hands. and i'd take this over an office job any day." she shudders at the idea. 

"and 'sides," she says and pauses to look out across her property, "i think it's all worth it, even if it's hard sometimes."

Greyson Connors

☉

there was satisfaction in seeing something built right before your eyes. he could understand her sentiment better, even if this wasn't particularly something he was skilled at. "won't find argument from me there. sitting in front of a screen all day just sounds depressing." thunk. thunk. he steps back a moment to inspect his work.
[break][break]
not bad.
[break][break]
"you interested in taking a break?" he could certainly use one. though, being the first to break was slightly embarrassing.

[attr="class","ooc"]willow atkins | mission[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-delphox"]

the company is nice. she's starting to think this may have been her best decision as of late. she needed one of those, especially after picking up those nasty tauros. but she'd take a few bruises to the side over a desk job any day. 

she looks over his work and then her own and then stretches. almost as if sensing the offer to relax, gretchen trots out of the brush and stretches, claws flexing. the crotchety glameow trots forward and crawls decidedly in willow's lap. 

she puts her hammer down in favor of scratching gretchen behind the ears. "well, looks like i've got no choice in the matter. i've some leftover blackberry pie i baked the other day. if you're hungrier, i'm sure i can find something in the fridge."

Greyson Connors

☉

leftover blackberry pie? "that sounds lovely." he smiles, even against the gnawing hunger in his belly. he could eat more, surely, but that wasn't really the priority.
[break][break]
placing his own tools down, he sends an appreciative look up at the delphox. "thanks, autumn. get some rest yourself." ever the tsundere, she doesn't give him the time of day. his smile only widens. then, his eyes follow.
[break][break]
"i think i got some beer in the truck if you're interested?"

[attr="class","ooc"]willow atkins | mission[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-delphox"]

with most of the components in place, this is going by a lot faster than she'd thought. granted, having a psychic-type alongside lus helping is certainly speeding things along. 

when greyson grants autumn a rest, willow does the same for the heracross. she admires their work, grabs the rag from her back pocket, and wipes her hands from stray dust and wood. then she offers it to greyson. 

"sounds great. hold down the fort for me." 

she's only gone for about five minutes. she grabs forks and plates of pie and a couple of bottles of water. and it's during this time, when she's up in the house, that a dear friend of her wanders in the back with a miltank in tow. 

the elderly woman spots greyson and says, "young man, have you seen miss atkins around?"

Greyson Connors

☉

"uh, alright." despite how closely they've bonded, the idea of 'holding' the fort down so soon after meeting was... strange. what did he do with his hands? instead, he kind of aimlessly wanders, pacing back and forth with careless abandon. he stuffs the cloth she gives him in his back pocket, once finished, and only then hears a voice.
[break][break]
"miss atkins? oh, willow? she, uh, just went into the house for a moment." seeing a milktank walk up to him was ominous, spooky, in a way he couldn't quite place. utterly terrifying. "did you need help with something?"

[attr="class","ooc"]willow atkins | mission[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-delphox"]