MASK OR MENACE

WHO: Gregor Vorbarra and potentially YOU. Also probably a bunch of closed logs.
WHERE: Various.
WHEN: Throughout October (or backdated to September if you wish).
WHAT: Open prompts: whittling in public, handing out flyers for the Lucky Cat. Semi-open: practicing piano at the Residence. Also, I've started in prose but you're welcome to switch to brackets.
WARNINGS: Discussion of suicidal ideation with Miles.

    ONE; OPEN. PARK IN HEROPA. WHITTLING.

The arrival of a new semester has, for the first time in years, meant something to Gregor. The only period in his life in which he'd had to care about the school year was the few years he was at the academy prep school; the academy itself ran year-round, and prior to that he'd had tutors, as befit the emperor. Since his military service it's been much the same. So, it's extremely novel for Gregor to be taking a class at all-- even his requisite academy time and service had been a farce of treating him as an equal that no one had come close to managing-- and he's thoroughly enjoying the chance to be only interesting by virtue of being an imPort. He'd try to hide that, too, except it tends to make people forgiving of his Russian-ish accent.

And there was a lot of talking with classmates in an artistic woodworking class. Yes, Gregor had deliberately chosen the most impractical, useless skill possible for an emperor to start with at his venture at De Chima Community College. This leads to him needing to spend a considerable amount of time practicing his whittling, and he does like to see things other than the De Chima countryside or the path from the Porter to the Lucky Cat and back.

As a result, he can be found in assorted locations around parks in Heropa, a quiet figure bent over a small chunk of wood he is (ineptly) whittling. At least he handles the knife comfortably. Vor often have boot knives, so he's not prone to hurting himself.

The figure itself? Anyone with a discerning eye might be able to tell it's approaching some sort of bird.

    TWO; OPEN. AROUND THE PORTERS. LUCKY CAT FLYERS.

Standing politely nearby the Porter in each city at various times is a tall, lanky man with a prominent nose and dark hair. Gregor is the nice sort of flyer-pusher in that he doesn't push them at all; his t-shirt says most of the story for him, and anyone he makes eye contact with he holds up a flyer for the Lucky Cat Café in Heropa in question. According to the flyer, it's recently changed hands, and has a short note about trying to honor Cass's memory and keeping it running as she would've run it-- with a lot of autumn-appropriate sweets and drinks seasonally available, of course.

Or you can run into a sleek Russian blue cat primly sitting with its tail wrapped around its paws on top of the stack of flyers on a nearby table. Occasionally Gregor needs a break from such a highly social task. He's very unlikely to break 'character' and talk to anyone as a cat, though, unless they know about this already, so choose this option with that in mind!

    THREE; SEMI-OPEN. THE RESIDENCE. PIANO.

Gregor has been taking private piano lessons via the community college for a bit over a month now, which means he's not very good at it yet, a fact he is completely aware of. He tends to practice on his budget, portable keyboard, set up in the living space of his suite in an attempt not to bother others as he goes through scales. This largely ends up being fruitless, as the piano is perfectly audible through the wall.

He'll be sheepish, not annoyed, if he's interrupted. He hasn't quite come to grips with doing a hobby that's more performative than poetry, something he's had little difficulty keeping completely private throughout his life. An instrument sort of demands an audience, whether he wants one or not. Gregor has yet to get comfortable with that fact, but at least his faltering hands are graceful as they move over the keys.

    FOUR; OPEN. WILD CARD.

Fill in the blank! Hit me with your best shot.