What Would Jesus Decorate?

Jim tries to help a family in Measure 2, and things get spooky

Date: 11/04/2018 Time: 10:00am EST	Measure 2, Detroit, MI
Cast: Jim Storyteller: Grayson
Jim has a plan. He will find a Measure 2 home. Occupied with a family. Needing repairs. Flying around in corvid to find sucha house. And in a street of such homes, there is one to be found. Fading, as are all the homes around it, but perhaps not fading as fast as the rest. There are signs of attempts at repair, although with neither skill nor appropriate materials they're more cobbled-together than anything else. Jim is glad of that. Noting the address, he flies back home, shifts, and gets into the F-150. Driving down to the Home Depot, he rounds up a few day laborers, speaking Spanish to recruit them. Adn then drives them in the truck on down to the house. Upon arrival, he'll leave the men in the truck, walk up to the house, and well, knock. The door is answered several seconds after the knock; the inside of the house appears to be similar to the outside. Repairs cobbled-together, shabby, but perhaps not as bad as others around. The woman who's answered the door is visibly nervous, her eyes going beyond Jim to the truck of labourers; at the sight of them, she blanches. Jim takes a breath, and smiles. "Howdy," he says, trying to be as nice as possible. "My name's Jim. As part of a church project, I'm trying to help a family here in detroit. Y'all are the ones whose house caught my attention. Would you let us help fix up your home, make it safer?" "Sir, we have nothing," the woman says - gabbles - in Spanish. "Please, I beg of you, believe me." And that's when Jim gets the uncanny feeling that he's being watched, and whatever's doing the watching is witholding judgement - for now. Jim will glance around, as he holds up his hands, palms out. Shifting to Spanish himself. "Ma'am, I'm not here to rob you. I'm here to help fix your roof and stuff." He then lowers his voice a great deal and adds "And if somebody's threatening you, ma'am. I have friends too. No police." There's no sign of anything unusual; just the guys in the truck, the street of run-down houses, and the woman whose door he's at. The woman's expression clears at least a little when Jim proves capable of understanding - even speaking! - Spanish. "I promise you, there is nothing of value in here," she says. "There is no electricity, no water, and everything we had was gone by the time we came." That presence, whatever it is, is still watching. Jim purses his lips, trying to figure out how to say this. "This is a gift. You dont' have to pay anything. You won't owe me anything. This is a church project for me. I'm a college student. My parents are paying for everything. They're in Texas. May we come inside and take a look?" The woman doesn't believe Jim - that much is obvious - but with another glance towards the truck she opens the door and steps to one side. Inside, the place is almost painfully clean. The decor is dated but doesn't bear as many of the marks of age as one might expect; the lace on the curtains is intact, the chairs are marked but still sturdy, and the carpet looks as though it was laid a few years ago instead of the forty years that the pattern suggests. Either it was redecorated by people with old-fashioned tastes a few years back, or it's been a showhome for decades. Jim raises his arm and signals for the pair of day laborers to come inside. He'll keep an eye on THEM, making sure they're not the ones she's worried about. But he'l instruct them where she can hear "Please take a look around, see what needs fixed, and make a list of what materials and equipment you would need to handle it this weekend. Just the most important stuff." He'll then go the woman. "Anything I can do for you to make it easier to wait? Pizza or something?" It's not the day labourers the woman is worried about - well, not more than she's worried about Jim himself, anyway. When the labourers are told to look around, she calls out, and two children - a girl and a boy of about nine and seven - come to stand with her out of the way. There's still a sense of being watched, and one of the labourers is apparently feeling it too, by the way he's rubbing the back of his neck as he looks around. The woman looks torn as well as worried, but the boy says, "Pizza? Mama, can we have pizza?" Jim will pull out his phone, looking at the woman to see if she objects. Otherwise he'll order a few pizzas. Giving them some leftovers. Plus another one for himself and the men. Once ordered, he leans in to her and murmurs "If there's anything you need to tell me, whenever you're comfortable. I'm here to help. It's like that hymn. ~Enviado Soy de Dios~" The woman doesn't object, but by the expression on her face the boy is in for a scolding later - that is, until Jim actually orders pizza. Lots of pizza. Apparently the woman understands more English than she speaks when terrified. She's still worried - very worried - but there's a tiny sliver of hope in there too. "We have no electricity, no water," she says - there are several bottles of water, full and empty and one half-full, in the kitchen with the labels cut off - "But there is no rent, and this is truly a house of God." Jim's still being watched, though. Jim gets the pizza ordered, ruffling the boy on the head, and smiling to the woman. Then he finds the men and smiles. Alright. "First job is to get them power and water. Then anything urgent like roof, leaks, stuff like that. LEt me know what you need, I'll get it right away." "Measure two," says one of the day labourers, as though that says it all. "The house we can fix up - structure's sound - but there's no electric or water going to happen." The other nods agreement. Jim hums. "What if I get a generator and a water collector? Could we set that up?" "Water collector, sure," says the man. "Generator, though..." He looks to the woman, who shakes her head. "It will make noise, and it will need fuel," she says. Jim takes a deep breath. "Well, it'll be noisy, yeah. They won't be able to use it all the time. But they can use it when they need it, you know? Homework, emergencies, stuff like that. One of you two stay here, the other come iwth me to get the generator and the rainwater collection system." And then he'll head out to do just that. The woman doesn't look convinced, but it seems she isn't going to argue. Jim and the labourer head out, leaving the other one talking to the girl while he starts taking down the cobbled-together repairs, explaining what he's doing and why. Jim doesn't imagine it'll be any big trouble to pick up a generator, barrels, and stuff for these additions. He'll also get a gas can and fill it with some gas, as some fuel for her. When they get back, he hands out pizza, then has the men get to work whenever they're ready. As for him, he'll sit with the family, eating, and seeing what they have to say. The presence stops watching when Jim leaves the property, and starts watching again when he returns; the man he's with mutters something about his grave being walked over when they return. When they do get back the man they left behind proves to have been busy, and the little girl is helping while the woman and the boy work through a book of math at the kitchen table. The men get fed and then get back to work, complete with helper, and the conversation at the kitchen table is polite but a little stilted for a couple of minutes. The presence keeps monitoring - that is, until there's a spike of anger roils through the house, and one of the men - up in the attic, mending the roof - yelps and complains that a nail just shot past his ear. Jim tries to stay calm, and winks to one of the young ones "Sounds like he goofed up. Excuse me, I need to check on something." He'll then find a side room nobody's in, close the door, and start speaking in the Spirit Speech. "Who are you, and what do you want?" There's no answer to Jim's question. There is, however, some swearing from the loft. Apparently the nails just aren't going in. Jim takes a deep breath, and gets more forceful. He attempts the Rite of Summoning, on whatever spirit is watching over this house, right here in this side room. <<DICE>> Jim rolls gnosis, difficulty 7 <<DICE>> FAIL (1 2 2 3 4 7, Specialty: No, Willpower: No) <<DICE>> Jim rolls gnosis, difficulty 7 <<DICE>> 3 successes (1 2 5 7 8 8, Specialty: No, Willpower: Yes) [POOL] Jim spends 1 points of Willpower. Reason: Automatic Success <<DICE>> Jim rolls wits+rituals, difficulty 5 <<DICE>> 5 successes (6 6 6 9, Specialty: No, Willpower: Yes) [POOL] Jim spends 1 points of Willpower. Reason: Automatic Success The swearing from the loft stops, but confusion reigns above. Meanwhile, the response to Jim's Rite of Summoning is instant, but perhaps not entirely what he expected. The dated decor suddenly looks brand new albeit still old-fashioned, and two of the pictures in the room are somehow looking at him with curiosity, even though one of them is a landscape. Jim would love to say he's a cool cat and a world weary supernatural superhero, but nah, this surprises him. He rubs theback of his neck, and walks up to the pictures with repidation. "Begging your pardon," he tries again in the spirit speech. "May we fix up this home for the family living in it? Is there a problem I can help you with?" You know when the eyes of a painting seem to follow you around the room? Well, apparently the Virgin Mary is very curious about Jim, just as much as Alaskan mountains. There's a creak out in the hallway as the house settles, a creak that Jim's spirit-attuned self can understand. ~I am what I am, and I will not be anything but.~ Jim points behind himself. "Please. There are kids out there. Young kids, who need to go to school, and grow up big and strong. They need water, and heat, and a roof. Please let me help them." A creak, from the ceiling this time. ~I am what I am.~ A call in Spanish comes down from the attic - no problem now, boss, must have been something weird with those joists. ~I wish to be as I should be. And my humans are protected.~ Jim runs his hand through his hair, and puts his hands up, pleading. "What if... what if we all promise to keep the decor, the uh, the tone of the house in the original style and feel, while we add some things for the health of the family? I can work with you." ~Yes,~ the floor under Jim's feet replies, and then the door to the room opens itself. Jim bows low. "Thank you house spirit, for being so understanding and compassionate." He really means it, too, Looking back at the paintings as he walks out, and carefully closes the door slowly. He'll then walk on out to where the family is, and smile weakly. "I have something to tell you, but you might not believe me." The creaking of the house stops, and when Jim returns to the kitchen, the woman and boy have been rejoined by the girl. There's still that regard, but it's rather warmer now - albeit still not entirely friendly. The woman looks up at Jim, confused. "Yes?" Jim grabs a slice of pizza, and smiles. "There is a spirit living here. The spirit of the house. It doesn't want the house to change. But I made adeal. We'll keep the old fashioned colors and decorations, but the house will agree to let us put in water and electricity, and fix the roof. Do you understand what I mean?" The woman stares at Jim, then smiles politely and surreptitiously crosses herself. "Sir, there is no electricity and no water here," she says gently. "Not to this street, not to this area. But did I not say to you that this is a house of God? He and his mother, they watch over us here." Jim nods. "You did, and when I spoke with them, I spoke with the highest respect. I promise you." He pauses though. "We're going to put water in the house, with rainwater collection. The rain will be caught, and brought into drums, so you can use it for cooking, and bathing. The electricity, you can use for homework, cooking, and emergencies with a generator. I brought a gas can full of gas for you to use it. I can teach you how to use it." "Then you are an angel sent by the Mother of God Herself," says the woman. "Thank you." Jim rubs the back of his neck. "It's not me, I'm just the tool sent to help you. You know who to thank" he says, pointing upward. He won't tell her about mama bear, since that'll probably sound weird to her. "Why don't we all come together and pray a moment in thanks for what we're able to do today." Apparently prayer sounds like a very good thing, to all three of the house's residents, giving thanks to God for Jim's help in their time of need. Jim quietly prays with them, then with a ruffle of each kid, he goes on outside to call out to the men. "That trouble you had should be gone for good. I'll give y'all a bonus for having to dela with it though." The woman is quietly but effusively grateful, but when Jim goes out to talk to his workforce, he gets grinned at. Apparently more pay is good, but, as one of the guys explains, "Trouble stopped when we put the new where the old was. We working tomorrow? This place needs a few days." Jim nods. "That's right. THis house is funny. Keep everything looking the same. Looking old fashioned. But put new guts inside for the kids. Come back tomorrow, yeah. Two days if it needs it. WE're doing good today. We're working for God." The news of more work cheers the men up. The house is strange, but who cares about that when you have work tomorrow and maybe the day after?