Owner	Pose
Askante	It's turning chill. Halloween is a quiet time in Sunnydale, mostly. The one time of the year when the humans that parked on a hellmouth get a reprieve from the Hell that they inadvertantly settled on. But there's no rest for the wicked, or the very slightly ethos-challenged individual. The church of Du Lac is a ruin. Fire gutted, but still stable in most areas, the delapidated building appears to have electricity, at least in a small area. There's also the sound of tools being worked with, in the most secure, most sheltered area far from the entrance. Curious ears might follow such a sound and find a 'scandalously almost naked' bescaled daemon working with very archaic looking tools, to plane wood. Stripped down to its longjohns, it's scavenged wood and the tools appear to be hand made from discards of society -- it has constructed quite a well hidden structure between two existing walls that's a definite step above a lean-to, with a door and everything, made of painted and camouflaged tarp. It has also aquired a radio and is humming along to tunes from the 60's and 70's.
Nick	Off to one of the more stable entrances, there is the sound of a door opening and closing. The creak should be enough of an announcement to the incoming musician. But if sounds of entrance and the crinkling of a bag are not of a notice, the incoming scent of hot food may be just enough to make up for it. Nick glances around, opting to add to the entrance. JUST in case. "Askante?" He calls out, moving towards the sound of toolwork. "It's Nick!"
Askante	Well, it might know he's there by sensing him. But really, the smell of food and the sounds accompanying the entrance do the job quite nicely. Covered in a fine layer of sawdust, the tall, lanky being emerges from the back with a small hardware store headlight on its head and some cheap safety goggles duct taped to its face. When you have spines and your ears are well hidden and don't necessarily have shells like a human's do, you improvise. "Nick! I did not expect you, I would have tidied the place some. You caught me building, I'm afraid... sorry for the mess."
Nick	Nick glances around to the construction amongst the crumbling church, blinking as he takes note of a few more additional mounds of discord than before. "Oh." He takes a moment to survey the changes before looking back to the being. "Well if we're going to apologize, I will have to offer one up for not finding anything shiny this time around." He holds up a bag. "But, I was in the area getting food and thought maybe you'd like some as well. Have you ever eaten anything from the Hot Dumpling Restaurant in Gotham City before?"
Askante	"You do not have to apologize for that, first footing and gifting was done, it is as it should be..." it holds up two hands in a staying gesture and scurries very fast on all sixes into the back once again. There's a bit of a thonk, a dragging noise and a couple of boxcrate chairs are brought out. These too, have been modified. Old discarded couch cushions have been artfully affixed to the seat area, a backing of sorts has been arranged out of an old office chair back, somehow fixed very solidly on, so that nobody has to be sitting on dirt. It's the strangest looking artisinal upcycling this side of an art gallery, for sure. "Here. I made seats..." it cheerfully states, also producing a bottle of Old speckled hen cider, in one of those two litre stoneware jugs. "The gift of food to be shared is more than enough and I cannot say as I have. Are these made by the Sina peoples?"
Nick	To the halting gesture, Nick remains still, waiting as Askante quickly arranges for seating. Once seats have been provided, Nick proceeds to pull out the various containers. The question gives Nick pause as he has to think of the meaning. "...It is Chinese food." He answers, "I didn't see who was cooking, but I did hear some strong mandarin being shouted out from the kitchen." He holds out one container to Askante, along with a sleeved pair of chopsticks, and a plastic fork just in case. "Just don't ask me to repeat what they said."
Askante	"Chinese... yes. Well, given the creativeness of insults, it might be just as well you do not know how!" Askante grins, fishing out its filthy rag from the coat left out here on a peg in the wall. It is quite amazing how much the rag absorbs the dirt, getting all the filthier but leaving the Daemon entirely void of grease, dust, dirt and sawdust from its endeavors. It then turns its nose to the containers, reaching for the chopsticks. "Aromatic. The food in Sina was always so very fragrant, even the least of it."
Nick	Nick opens up his own container, grabbing chopsticks for himself as well. "Also delicious. The only problem is it leaves you wanting more even when you're full." His head turns, looking to a hole in one wall. "...Does the church stay warm enough for you during the winter?"
Askante	"Such is a phenomenon, yes indeed. I never did work out why that is." Monosodium glutimate? Perhaps not. It looks as if it has used chopsticks before, given how deftly it handles them, scooping noodles and fried vegetables between them. "All of this food is peasant food, the ones that came over to ride the iron rails and work them. Very satisfying..." it pauses in chewing a mouthful though at the question, shaking its head with a soft rattle. "No, but that is alright. I have my fetishes."
Nick	Nick has already taken a bite when Askante asks her question. A brow lifts to the answer which causes for him to chew quicker. There's a shuffling of the chopsticks over to the fingers of the container holding hand, freeing the other to cover his mouth. "Are there any supplies you'd like to have picked up? Blankets? Space heater?" Does this place still have sufficient electricity for that? "...Generator?"
Askante	Askante shakes its head softly, pausing to set aside its food. It makes a series of gestures with two hands, then joins in with the other two. There's a brief flash of purplish light and a roman bed pan falls into its hands. Made of bronze, the thing has a depiction of Vulcan with his hammer and anvil on the top, which it hands over. Looks like a strange frying pan, really. "This is all that I need. I have many things like this, small magics made by small people over millenia. When placed beneath coverings, it warms."
Nick	Watching as the metal device appears, Nick uses the time to finish chewing his food. The hands do their shifting to move the chopsticks back to the proper hand. Swallowing the last of the bite of food, he considers the item presented and the explanation behind it. "Okay. Good. Does it run on any fuel? Coal?"
Askante	"No, these things rarely need much. The beggars bowl requires a button or a washer, or a penny to be put in there, otherwise it is but a very nice little clay bowl. But the warming pan? It never seemed to need anything. It was made by an apprentice who went on to make items for the Golden age -- his gifts came about subtley, but they persisted." Askante sets the pan down, admiring the lid of it with vulcan and his smithee. "He was greek, but worked in Alexandria. I took a man to find his wife in the underworld and he gave me that in payment." ......
Nick	A warming pan that doesn't need fuel? Well that is a curious thing indeed. And if Nick had been talking to someone that wasn't Askante, he'd might question it further. The added comment about subtle gifts is explanation enough. "Ah... Good. So you're pretty much covered for the temperatures." There seems to be a shift to his posture to that conclusion as he sits a bit easier in the chair.
Askante	Askante shakes its head. "The basic necessities of life, I usually am fine with. This age though, has many marvels and I am not quite... there with them. Electricity seems to have advanced. I have lights, but doing more than I have done, makes me wary. And there are these things called ... bills? I am a thief, I think." It shrugs at that though, resuming the impaling of chicken bits and the chopstick fandango with noodles and veggies. "The most daunting of the tasks I face, is this thing called... what was it? Social... Social Securing? Security?"
Nick	"Social Security?" Nick repeats. "...I don't know much about that myself." He admits, "I'm only in my thirties. And being that I still look my twenties, I imagine people would ask questions if I tried to collect even if I was technically old enough. I guess that would be much harder for you." He picks up another piece of food with his sticks, "Do you have documentation?"
Askante	"I do not even know what it -is- really, but the man at the radio station said that if I'm that old, I should be collecting it. I do not have any documentation at all... I was not born a citizen of this country, so it will be difficult, I think." It considers this. "You know, I do not even know what the country I came into being in, is even called any more. It was before there were invisible lines."
Nick	Nick pauses. "Well...I'm not an expert but, I think as it is, Social Security probably doesn't apply to you considering what you just said. I think at the very least you'd have to become a citizen. I don't know what that calls for though."
Askante	Askante makes a slow, hissing sort of sigh and deflates a bit. "This preys upon me. I do not want to have to explain to any that lock me up, that I can just walk out. I do not think they will take kindly to this."
Nick	Nick nods. "...That would probably get old fast." He agrees, "If it matters to you a lot, maybe Lucifer could help with finding you some legal advice on how to best handle this? He'd probably have a good idea of what you're dealing with. I'm sure he didn't have documentation either at some point."
Askante	"I think you may be right," Askante says with a sigh, reaching for the Old Speckled hen. It uncorks it and proffers the jug, along with a thrift store glass. "I just do not wish to impose. I have known Samael for a very long time, but he was always put upon, by so many faces and places and people." It considers. "I wonder if the crazy lady that thinks I'm a talking bear would know people."
Nick	"I do understand not wanting to ask people for help." Nick admits, "But- I also know what it's like trying to dig yourself out of a situation by yourself." He leans forward to accept the drink. "Thank you." Drink poured and jug handed back, Nick slides back in his seat. "It is good you do not wish to take advantage of him. He is quite generous. But, for a very good reason, I don't think he'd mind. Especially if it prevents an even larger problem down the line."
Askante	Askante considers, as it pours its own drink, corking the jug again. Frugal, it will likely recycle that jug for other purposes. Just about everything it owns is a hand-me-down or a scavenged thing. "He is. He is indulgent. Magnanimous at times. Maybe I can exchange a favour -- there are a few things that I can do that are harder for others to manage."
Nick	Nick smiles, "That could work. If you're willing to offer something in return that he wants, that's not really taking advantage so much as exchanging resources."