EXCOLO

A bar, the arse end of nowhere, afternoon sometime

Sure I left. What, I'm supposed to hang around some place that thinks I owes them somethin' for workin'? Don't fuckin' work like that. Been in that fuckin' town for too long anyway, same every fuckin' day, thinkin' they can keep me against my will. Shit, I've skipped town for a fuck of a lot less than that. So I went to that fuckhead Management and I paid their fuckin' price, just to leave. I fuckin' bet there's others had to pay more than me too. Not staying somewhere I have to pay to get out of. Never told me that shit when I signed up. No "Hey Boden once you sign you up you're not leavin' without some weird psychic shit keepin' you here, then some fucker takin' your stuff." Not a fuckin' word.

Said that to Will when I left. 's shit. He's been in my tent. I left the little altar there with the goddess like the one of the front of Pa's boat and told him to fuckin' work out what they took from me. 's not right. He weren't happy. Truth is I weren't too fuckin' pleased myself, 'n not just cause of Management's shit. But what, I'm supposed to hang around just cause he don't got the sense to fuck off with me? Hell no.

So I'm sitting in some bar two weeks out of town in the pourin' fuckin' rain feeling like a tire some fucker's let the air out of. Don't even got the energy to get drunk. Just sit there watching this shit hole turn into a fuckin' marsh bit by bit, thinkin' maybe I'll head back to the coast. 's harder in the cities sometimes, but shit, I had an okay life there, and besides, the journey'll be cheer me up some.

But the road's not the same no more. Dunno for sure what Management took. Shit, I couldn't tell you how they even took it. 's just... borin'. All these little nothin' towns. Like the walkin', sure, and it's good to be out here, but it's not the fuckin' same. Maybe that's not cause of Management.

Aw, shit.

Swing my bag up onto my back and pull my hood up. Fuckin' Excolo. Fuckin' bastard, shitty Excolo. Stops rainin' about the time I find the road back there. Bettin' I'll find a lift pretty easy too.

[closed]

Carnival living lot, evening, wednesday

1. No fucking point in tryin' to barge in on Management, cause there's always some fucker who'll stop you "for your own good". Yeah, cheers for that.

2. Tryin' to walk outta town and gettin' nowhere once is kinda weird. Tryin' to do it three times and still bein' stuck lookin' at the same shit is takin' the piss.

3. Mr Ojiisan has a hot granddaughter (totally relevant) who takes notes for him at the library.

4. Will is not afraid to pick a person up under his arm "for their own good". God damn, people. Maybe I was kinda hammered that time.

5. Wore one of my boots out.

6. Pretty good weed out at the Linnet farm south of here. Spent a good afternoon down there talkin' and smokin' with the old guy that owns it. Good peaches too.


Pop use to make lists. On a boat, there's so much shit needs doin' there's hardly much point in sittin' down to shit. Least, that's what he'd say. Spend mosta my shift makin' lists in this old notebook I got in town. Like bein' on the road, kinda. Always somethin' else to remember. Used to remember all kindsa shit recitin' it while I was walkin'. None of it stuck though, heh. Not too bad an evening.

Fuck it, let's make it four.

"Hey Will!" Bang on the door to his trailer. Could go in, but shit, not in an indoor mood. "Will, you in there? Goin' out, you want to come?" Figure he'll either be fucked after a day of workin' too hard, or maybe... maybe he'll feel like openin' that fuckin' mouth of his an' heavenly light'll spill from the sky and angels'll be singin' and all that shit. Nothin' gets you talkin' like the road.

[CLOSED]

Wednesday Morning, on the road somewhere south (or north) of Excolo

Finished up my shift kinda late, cause sometimes it's nice givin' the kids time at the top to make out. Yeah, well, gives me time to have a smoke too, not like I'm freezin' my ass off for the purposes of romance alone. The lot's dark when I get back to my tent, smellin' of oil coolin' down and dust and damp canvas. Gettin' to like that smell. But shit, if I'm bein' kept some place against my will, I want to fuckin' know about it! Management this, Management that, sure, but that's not gonna fly no more if I can't leave when I want to.

Light's on in Will's trailer, but there's somethin' about it that's shut off, and I don't go knockin'. Shit, I've not been in there for weeks. Not up to me to coax him out of a bottle, or more likely away from his wrench. Never seen someone so wound up about workin' all the damn time. 'Sides, not like I haven't helped him into the bottle enough times, goin' out drinkin' with him. I duck into my tent and grab my pack - mostly empty, stuff strewn all over the place, but it's got my road coat in it. Pull that on. And there's incense on the little altar (or, you know, upturned box. Whatever, it works.) so I spark it up, settin' the little figure right. Supposed to stop fishin' boats from runnin' aground, but I guess it's kinda the same with the road. Second thoughts, I shove her in my pocket, grab the small bottle of whiskey from under my bed roll, and tie up the door flap tight when I leave. Jus' get fuckin' goin, best plan.

Best thing about the road is you don't have to walk no where to get to it. Head into town over the bridge, then pick south, cause it's as good a way as any, and there's a niceness to walkin' by a river even if I wouldn't go drinkin' from that thing. Swig of whiskey. Then I walk. Bye Mr Ojisan, you crazy ol' fox. I'll tell you about it if I don't make it out. ...Which is fuckin' stupid, cause what's gonna stop me? After about four hours of walkin' I start feelin' mighty silly. By some orchard all gone to crap, still an hour or two to sunup, an' I'm knackered and full of whiskey, so I lie down under one of the trees and decide to sleep it off.

Wake up with some bastard chicken peckin' at my head. Yeah, that helps, cheers for that. Wicked fuckin' bright too, an' I wish I'd thought to bring some water. Aww, shit, all that walk back too. Eat one of the sour, shitty apples and make my way back onto the road. Only there's town, right fuckin' there, not twenty minutes walk away and right fuckin' there. Even see the carnival. What. The. Fucking. Shit.

Aw, man. This shit is too weird. I sit down on a rock by the road and spark up the joint in my pocket. Just gonna sit here and have a smoke, then I'm gonna go back into Weirdo Town and see about some breakfast at the cafe, (pancakes, hell yeah) then I'm gonna go and kick up a fuckin' fuss with Management. One thing bein' an idiot and not movin' on, quite a-fuckin'-nother kidnapping folks with some weird-ass magic or secret dimensions or whatever. I did not sign up for secret fuckin' dimensions.

[OPEN to anyone at (or on the way to) the cafe]

Continued from here

Verite opens her salon to a great reception from Faith and Hope, Nohte, and Will, who's been helping out. After showing off her talent with her new customers, Verite and Will chat a bit, and are joined by Boden, who drops in on impulse while taking a better look at the town.

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"Yup. You wanna come in, seeing as I'm open, or are you here to spirit Will off to somewhere else?" says Verite, winking at Will.

I grin at her and wink at Will too, mainly cause it seems like the thing everyone's doin' today. "Sure, give me a quick look round, yeah?" It's a hair salon, but fuck I guess there's no harm in showin' a bit of interest. Always seems like a nice enough kid. I shove my hands in my pockets and come in all the way. "You mean he's not working his ass off in here? Shit, Will, is that a chair under you?"

[closed]