I N B O X.

[catholicisms]

"You missed me, I'll get back to you. If you're leaving a message, I'd prefer voice to text. Thanks."

Comments

[catholicisms]

( yeah, uh, as humor goes.... that's pretty black. matt isn't unware of using dark humor as a coping mechanism, he just wouldn't have expected it from Jason. )

He died? What killed him? ( Matt isn't what you'd call a sailor, but he'd still like to know what to avoid. ) I'm glad you're in relatively one piece, but be careful with the market. I'm not sure they're trustworthy. That old machine they dragged up with them certainly isn't.

[notthatjason]

Yeah. There were these...things [he pauses, calling them fish feels too nice.] these creatures in the water. They were able to eat through the hull of the boat we were on in seconds and then got to us. It was like piranhas but 10 times worse.

[He wonders if Percy would have had better luck. He'd been pretty much avoiding the water since then, he'd stick to the skies but he knew even that was dangerous.]

I didn't have much to do with them after their healing device went on the fritz...what old machine?

[catholicisms]

Was it a wooden boat? Or metal? Either way, seems like water travel outside of the ferry is less than advisable.

( Matt hasn't talked about the Hint-o-Matic much, after being down for the count for a good month from the various costs of asking too many questions. he suffered enough that he's willing to try and avoid anyone else suffering the same. )

It's called hint-o-matic, or something like it. There's a cost for every question, and it counts rhetorical questions too. If you intend to ask, just be careful.

[notthatjason]

Wooden. One of the boats we'd been working on since the ferry crashed.
[He nods though, because...yeah. It seems whatever is out there in the lake or up in the air really does not want them going beyond certain areas.]
When you say cost...I'm guessing you don't mean the 'Insert Quarter, Get a Fortune' kind of cost?
[Because they have not used any kind of money here, everything was through information or trading goods. Jason wondered how it determined prices for the information or how it collected on those in the first place.]
I'll keep an eye out for it, thanks for the advice.

[catholicisms]

If only. No, it was a mix of things. I think the worst was the loss of sense of taste, but I had quite a few to deal with.

( losing your sense of taste might not seem like a big deal, but... for matt, it kind of is. )

Sure. And I'm glad you're back in one piece after your search. I wonder if you could get farther in a metal craft, the ferry gets on just fine... but I'd guess for now it's probably not a great idea to try again.

[notthatjason]

Maybe...
[Jason certainly wasn't going to try again any time soon.]
We do have the scrapyard. I don't know if we even have a way of putting together a stronger boat.
[Or if it was even worth it.]
I know it could come in handy in the future, but honestly I feel like we should be finding out more about what's immediately around us to use as resources before trying to sail out.

[catholicisms]

It might be worth it, if we ever need to explore the portal that's underneath. But I suppose it's more likely we'd have to hitch a ride.

( idle musing, since he's pretty sure a boat is only half the battle. they fell pretty far in that dream, after all... )

There's certainly plenty to find nearby. Maybe there's a way to figure out what we're dealing with before we head back into the water.

[notthatjason]

You really think they'll take us down there at some point?

[He assumes that Matt is speaking of the Night Market. They seemed nice enough, though Jason didn't think they'd be offering rides to just anyone. He knew they were all former residents of Beacon, but he hadn't quite gotten the story of how they decided who got to join Pluto's crew.]

What? Like going fishing? Or...maybe the library has something?

[catholicisms]

I suspect we'd have to earn it.

( seems the whole vibe of the Night Market crew. they'd help out, but not without some kind of incentive. )

Library, or maybe those who live under the lake might have an idea about what's in it. I'm not sure what they'd charge for information, though.

[notthatjason]

They don't exactly have prices listed...I'd imagine it'd have to be something really big though.

[That's how bartering works, right?]

Probably getting on their good side might lower the price a bit, but not matter what we offer it would probably only happen to one or two of us if we were lucky enough to negotiate it.

[He'd been pretty friendly with Pluto, though at the time he hadn't considered ulterior motives for this kindness. Well, okay that wasn't true. He had thought Pluto might actually be THE Pluto. But in hindsight he supposed that was just silly.]

[catholicisms]

I'd imagine so, yes.

( he hasn't dealt much with the Night Market, personally, he does have a fairly good idea all the same. they were already charging for their services, it seemed very doubtful they'd suddenly have a change of heart and offer rides to the bottom for free. )

It's something to keep in mind, anyway. I'm not even sure at this point if going down there would do us any good.

[notthatjason]

Maybe we should just try to find out more by talking to them first before deciding if we should start pooling sources to make a deal to get down there.

[Jason figures it would need to be worth the price and if they got down there and found nothing of benefit or found it to be a waste of their time...well they might have been able to use those "funds" for a different trade.

Though, surely if the Night Market had something to offer that would solve their problems in the long run they would have shared it by now.]

[catholicisms]

Sounds like a good place to start.

( knowing the price of the trip might help to make a determination if was worth an attempt. at the moment, Matt isn't sure, but it's worth thinking about. )

Anyway, I'm glad you're in one piece now. I know things tend to go south fast around here, but be careful out there.

[notthatjason]

Thanks. I'll do my best.

[Telling a demigod to be careful...yeah that usually doesn't work out. Sorry, Matt.]

I guess I'll head back. It's probably almost time for Combat Training.

[catholicisms]

Sure. Good luck with it, Jason.