pineslog | ( march event ) mad skillz

EVENT: MAD SKILLZ

The flyers were everywhere. Slipped into mailboxes and taped to windows, these yellow sheets of paper are more than ready to catch a few eyes. That parking ticket you thought you got, tucked under your wiper blade? Nope, that's another flyer. (It goes without saying that each public trash can holds at least a few.)

Honestly, it's nearly impossible to live in the town of Wayward Pines and not know of the Skills Fair being hosted in a park north of where most of you live on this upcoming Saturday. Whether or not you choose to attend is entirely up to you.

Venture toward the park on 3rd and Alder anytime between 11 AM and 5 PM, and a colorful assortment of tents will greet you, from which drifts the buzz of conversation and a small assortment of downright delicious smells. The first few tents - the largest by a decent margin - are the food court and the sign-in desk for anyone looking to teach. It's far from mandatory, but a volunteer from the tent makes a lap every so often to make note of those who didn't sign up, for a full list of skills that newcomers can show up and learn. The food court hosts your typical limited variety of BBQ and pseudo-cultural foods, good for a quick bite and respite from a long day of sharing skills.

The rest of the park hosts a scattered grid of smaller tents and booths in varying colors. At first glance, they seem to be free for use - even since you've arrived, one or two people have strolled in off the street to set up one booth or another with relevant teaching supplies. Feel free to claim one for yourself, or maybe just stroll through the park and see what there is to be learned.

Taped to a tree or tent every so often is a request for those offering to teach any excessively loud or alarming skills (like firearm proficiency) to take their pupils to the makeshift shooting range set up two blocks north for the occasion. It's nothing special, a series of near-pristine targets in an unnecessarily large area taped off with bright yellow safety ribbon, but it's more of a shooting range than the town had before. Any other skill in need of some sort of target is also welcome to use the range, if they need it. In fact, it may be a wise alternative to trying to teach knife-throwing or archery in the park; below the request is a warning, stating that in the case of any injuries sustained at the Skills Fair, deliberate or accidental, the individual who caused the wound will be held responsible as if they committed assault. If that's not incentive to be a little more careful, what is?

Additionally, on the side of the sign-in tent and pinned to a tree facing each of the surrounding streets is a copy of the Official Notice, framed and enlarged at 1.5x, in case anyone might forget.

Might want to keep it in mind. You never know who might be listening.

MOD NOTES

This is a catch-all for any and all threads pertaining to the Skills Fair!

PLEASE INCLUDE IN SUBJECT LINE: Character Name, Skill Being Taught if applicable, and Open or Closed, to help keep things a bit more organized. (For example: "Joe Biden | Teaching: How to become a meme | Open!")

If you have any questions regarding this event, feel free to ask them here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He's been through some hard times, and the slightly lost and faraway expression that his face defaults to is proof enough of that, no aura-reading necessary. The look vanishes as she smiles and asks her question, though, replaced with something akin to stage fright and some stumbling over words.]

Uh, yeah--or no? I mean--if she asks--I mean--

[There is literally no right answer to this question. Let's try again.]

My dad always told me you shouldn't hit a lady, but my mom taught me that women can handle themselves, so--if you need a volunteer, I can probably...?

[That sounded a little better--right??]

[Rachel has to bite the inside of her lip to actually keep from outright laughing at him. It wouldn't be unkind, and really, she doesn't mind the attempt at almost chivalry]

Well, if it helps, I'm pretty much the furthest you can get from a lady while still having two X chromosomes.

[okay, she likes little black dresses and all that, but she's pretty sure you stop being a 'lady' after you arrest a councilman at his wedding, at the very least]

Okay. So. [now that grin is way too mischievous. This is the person she likes being, on a good day. The badass, witch or otherwise] If you're cool, you can grab me by the waist so I can show the right way to get out out of that kind of hold without breaking yourself. And I promise, I won't really break your nose or anything.

[well. She'll make an effort? But there's no accounting for him possibly moving in a way she can't account for quickly enough. She's not a vamp, after all] And it's okay if your hands wind up somewhere a gentleman's shouldn't. Unless I think you're doing it on purpose.

You--don't have to worry about that, I wouldn't--I'd never--I mean. Uh, sure.

[There really aren't words in the human tongue for the exact shade of red he turns, or the specific look on his face; 'deer in headlights' doesn't quite cut it, maybe 'deer under headlights' gets closer? But he's never one to back down from a challenge, either, and she did say she needs someone to help her demonstrate just what it is she can do, so he steps up a little awkwardly, if reluctantly, into her circle. When he actually stands up straight he's a solid six feet tall, and as he steps up and gingerly puts his arms around her waist, it's evident there's at least a little muscle on his frame.]

Like this...?

[Rachel can't help a small chuckle. While most of the guys she'd trained with had been totally professional, given that she'd been sixteen when she started, there had always been a few jerkwads who thought that since she was still easily winded she wouldn't make them pay for coping a feel in training.

They'd been wrong.

While she's not wearing her heels that would put her nearer to his height, Rachel still doesn't feel dwarfed by him. It's hard to let a man's height intimidate you after you've lived with a vampire. His lack of true hesitation makes her smile; good, if he's not trying to excuse himself from training with a girl, he can hopefully take one down if he has to. She hopes he doesn't]

Yep, just like that. Now, if you were really trying to hurt me, you'd probably be choking me, or holding me a lot tighter. But some dummies will think this works too, and it will if you don't know how to get your butt out. While breaking your own hand to get out of this stuff is definitely a better alternative to being killed, you can also. [she jerks her head back, suddenly, stopping just short of actually hitting him in the nose]

-pull one of those, even if the brute has his hand on your hair. Even if he's a lot taller than you, you'll still probably get his chin good enough to give him a good shock, or maybe even make him bite through his lip. If you're lucky, you'll break his nose, and that will make most guys back off long enough for you to make a run for it. And if you have a choice, that's what you do. You don't kill him, you just stun him long enough for you to get out.

[she turns to him with a probably terrifyingly preppy grin, considering what she's talking about] You got any pointers you'd like to share with folks yourself?

[He could. He feels like he has; there's a vague memory of a fight, something brutal and important, something full of desperation with a very unhappy ending. He wishes he could remember more, but it's covered in the same haze that floats through many of his other memories; everything from before the last three years is crystal clear, or as clear as it ever was, but the last three years...

No sense worrying, though, and even though she's speaking to her audience and not necessarily to her fictional assailant with his arms around her, he still listens. At the jerk back of her head, he flinches just a bit, pulling his head out of harm's way as his arms tighten subconsciously on her waist and then loosen again as she turns to face him.]

Me? Uh. No, I'm pretty sure you have it covered. Don't kill your attacker, just...break his nose and leave him. Right? Yeah.

( march event ) mad skillz

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject