kore_logs | Time to make moonshine

Entry tags:

Time to make moonshine

Who: Ellen and Ruby
What: Making a still, and accidentally appropriating supplies.
When: Afternoon Day 68
Where: Around.
Warnings: Probably none. Though swearing is probably a good bet.

Ellen scowls at the back of the bar and then heads to where she's gathered the one supply she'd managed to find: an old metal wash basin. It needs scrubbed and boiled a while, but it'll do.

Her eyes sharp, she starts looking in the least likely of places: the back of the library, the church, and then she heads for the general store. If anything, she should be able to find something in there. Tubing, more tubs, something.

Nothing, the place is a bust.

Ellen isn't going to let that stop her. She has to find...

In back of one of the houses, she finds them. A tiny bit of tubing a couple of wash basins.

Bingo. Almost enough to make a still.

The hairs on the back of her neck rise and she reaches under her coat. The heavy butt of the .357 is comfortable in her hand.

"I'm just lookin' for supplies. No reason to start anything."

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Ruby hadn't thought to start anything until Ellen's words register and she sees the gun. She'd been scouring for her own supplies.

"Oh, I'm not looking for trouble, either." For a moment, she forgets that she can move fast enough to likely avoid a bullet. She's not used to thinking about it like that.

"I was just looking for that tubing." She gestures towards the small coil of it. "Really not that useful. Everything else is all yours."

Ellen straightens, leaving the gun under her jacket. Not that she's underestimating the woman, but no reason for this to escalate if it doesn't have to. "I'm takin' it. I'm working on something." No way. She needs a still. Spring will show up, eventually, and then she needs to start scouring for fruits, grains and other things that can be distilled into liquor.

She grabs the coil of tubing, which will go nicely with her rusted tub. Maybe she can get Cas or Balthazar to help her test the alcohol.

"I'm Ellen." She offers.

"My name's Ruby." She studies Ellen. The woman seems reasonable so far. Most people don't introduce themselves before they shoot someone over rubber tubing, right?

"Would it make a difference if I said I needed it for something that can benefit the community as a whole? Sort of."

Ellen's body language is open in a way that only long years of training as a bartender allows her to be. She knows how to seem open and welcoming without offering too much of herself in return.

"I've got a few things in the works, myself. May not help the entire group, but it'll keep more than a few from doing something stupid." Like Dean, or herself. Hell, mostly herself.

"What's yours?"

"I've been making alcohol in my bathroom. I was going to try to up production." She really hopes she's not about to get admonished for using town resources. She knows that the alcohol isn't really necessary, but if they're all trapped here, they can at least try to not be miserable.

"A couple of the boys are putting together a card game. I told them I'd help out with refreshments."

Ellen's eyebrows rise. She can't help it. Another person here working on a still. She guesses she shouldn't be too surprised. Everything else here is shot, so alcohol is needed to keep something going.

"You're making a still? What kind of grain you going to use?" Because that's important to know. She'd been hoping for rice or corn, but right now, she'd settle for just about anything.

"I already made it. I wanted to make another one so I could try something else, but I used corn meal for what I've been making. It's a limited supply, but I mostly cleaned out the general store and no one seemed to notice or care." She hadn't really felt too bad about that, either. It's not as if she took a necessary nutritional item.

"I was thinking about trying something with the berries that grow on some of the bushes around here, though. The book I found in the library says you can use fruit."

"Book?" Oh, oh Ellen's mouth twitches at that. "Kid, if you've got a still, I can teach you how to make all sorts of things. Fruits, vegetables, grains, pretty much anything. Hell, I'll even teach you to make dandelion wine." Because that's one thing she's planning on making.

This is going to be interesting. Dean obviously didn't know about it. Otherwise he would've told her. Or he better have.

Ruby's face lights up, because this is pretty much the best thing that she could happen upon.

"That would be great! Do you want to come see it? Maybe we can work together." She's so used to working for Granny that doing everything on her own has been a little daunting and while it's done wonders for getting her old confidence back, she really does miss that dynamic and Granny.

Ellen nods, shouldering the hose she'd found. "Sure, lead on." She tucks her hands into her pockets, still holding onto the gun. "You know if we have any rice around? Quickest way to make alcohol is to use it. It'll probably send half the folks blind, but we'll have it for volunteers only."

Her eyes still look around, waiting for the telltale growl, or shift in the air. She doesn't believe for a second that there aren't hellhounds around here. Not for a second.

"Edgar has most of the real food. We can check with him, but there should be some rice."

Then Ruby laughs as she starts to lead Ellen towards her house. "I volunteer Dilandau to try anything risky first. He'll probably say yes, anyway, just to prove he's a man." She doesn't sound particularly convinced that he's a man or that being an idiot would prove that he is one.

She glances back at Ellen. "The town is relatively safe unless they throw something at us. I don't think there's anything right now, though."

Edgar's a new name to her. She doesn't know it. But the last bit catches her attention.

"I'm going to assume you don't know what's in this town, or you wouldn't say that. Whenever Angels and Demons get involved, nothing's safe." Ellen isn't normally one to worry about demons, but dying puts everything into perspective. Especially when part of the reason she's here is living the high life with Dean.

Still, she doesn't have the Colt - not that it'd do her much good here anyway - but she's not taking any chances.

Oh, right. Ruby hasn't met any angels or demons, but she's heard things on the network.

"There was a man called Lucifer, but he's been quiet. Honestly, I can't say I've had many dealings with angels or demons, but I've known a few fairies." She shrugs. "They aren't really all that scary. The angels are dangerous? I mean other than the one who thinks he's Satan?"

"Archangel. Raphael and Gabriel are here too." She doesn't want folks blindsided by the angels that are here. "Cas is here too, but he's a friend." Ellen explains. She likes Cas.

Her last memory of him, before this place, is sitting and drinking at a table in Bobby's house. Laughing, talking, before Bobby insisted on the stupid photograph....

Ellen forces herself to focus on other things. "Dunno if you know your bible or not, but Angels aren't kind. They aren't supposed to be. They're the enforcers, the ones who punish. Demons are just oily bastards, but Angels are righteous and that makes them dangerous."

Nothing more dangerous than a righteous man. Hell, look at Dean.

"I can't say I'm all that religious." Not that she'd expected fat, naked babies, but maybe something in between? This is a lot to take in.

Then she remembers Bruce saying that Gwydion was an angel. At the time, she'd thought it was just a joke or something. Now, she's not so sure.

"So I should watch out for them, then? What do I do if one of them comes after me?" Not that she expects to be attacked by Gwydion, but the other ones... well, who knows?

"It's the apocalypse back home. Religious or not, we got involved." But then, she hadn't planned on it. Opening the gate, then taking on War of all creatures. And finally, the hardware store. She ignores the swift ache that kicks her in the gut.

"Don't get on their radar." As near as she can tell that's the best way to handle them.

"We don't have holy oil here, and beyond that, I don't know of anything that can get rid of them." She shrugs. "We're stuck with them, and have to hope they aren't bringing the fight here."

"Wait, the Apocalypse as in the end-of-the-world Apocalypse? That Apocalypse?" She's been to more than one world, but none of them have ended. That's crazy. No wonder Ellen's so intense.

"I think I might have already gotten friendly with one of them, not that I'm sure which one. He won't give anyone his real name." She shakes her head. Gwydion doesn't exactly seem dangerous, but then neither does she. Appearances can be deceiving and she knows that better than anyone. "I'll have to keep an eye on him now."

As they reach her house, she holds the door open for Ellen and inclines her head towards the second bathroom. "It's all in there. You seem to know this stuff an awful lot better than I do."

Ellen huffs out a laugh. "That's the one. Michael and Lucifer throw down, everyone dies." They took her bar, her home, and her daughter. She does not like the angels. Never mind the demons and everything else.

"Yeah, probably for the best. They're all... well, they're angels." There's really no explanation beyond that for them, really. Ellen has tried to do it to herself if nothing else, but even driving with one she hasn't got a clue how to explain them.

Ellen ducks through the door with a nod of thanks. "Been a while since I ran one, but it's like riding a bike. You never forget." She finds the bathroom and frowns at the still. "You make anyone blind yet?" Because if not? Well, that's better than some.

"Dilandau's alright." Ruby shrugs. "Well, he's not blind. Alright might be a stretch. I didn't drink any until he'd had some." Because she's a good housemate like that.

She watches Ellen look over her handiwork. There's only so much you can learn from a couple of books. "So what did you do before the Apocalypse?"

"Probably better to test it out on a few folks before offering it for the public." Since Ellen knows that there can be issues with moonshine. Especially depending on which grains are used.

"Bartender. Ran my own saloon." Ellen crouches carefully, studying the boiler. They're going to need to fix that. Some of it is going to require more hardware. "Then, demons burnt it down."

Saloon? When is she from? Ruby smiles as she watches Ellen look over everything. This is so exciting. She hasn't had someone to work on a project like this with in a while.

"Man, your life is just full of all sorts of crazy stuff, huh? It almost makes mine look like a picnic." Regina had never tried to actually end the world.

Ellen chuffs out a small laugh. Someone being impressed with her life is... Well, it's never happened before.

The prick of sadness at losing the Roadhouse isn't as sharp as it used to be. Just another loss she's getting used to. Ellen forgot how easy it is to get used to some losses.

"It's not a bad set up. Probably should move it somewhere the fumes aren't going to build up. That way if something goes wrong, we lose a shed, or something, not your house." She pushes herself upright, able to feel the creak in her joints. She's getting too damned old for this. "What about supplies to make the alcohol?"

"Yeah, that's not a bad idea. I guess I haven't been thinking long-term enough to get too attached to the house."

She bends down, pulling out a box from behind the tub. It's not exactly stocked, but it's enough to make a few more batches. "This is what I've got right now."

"Not so much long term, but a stupid short could set it off. Not the best wake up call." Because getting blown up in the middle of the -

Right, she shouldn't follow that line of thinking.

Instead, she crouches to look at the supplies. "This'll be enough for a big batch. The weather ever warms up, we can get fruit and dandelions and things from the woods. Hell might even be some grapes to make a nice wine out of." Probably not, but it'll be better than straight rotgut.

This place is starting to teach Ruby that nice is all relative. At this point, she'll take anything that can pass for pleasant enough.

She smiles at Ellen. "Wow, I'm glad I found you. I get the feeling you're less likely to blind anyone with this stuff."

Ellen huffs out a laugh and stands up. She can feel the smile twitching her lips. It feels odd, after everything, to find something to smile about.

"No." Ellen admits. "Blinding someone is still a possibility, but I know a few folks we can ask to test it before we let anyone else try it." And she'll ask, not demand. But a few of the angels present don't seem to be as big of dicks as Lucifer and Michael.

... She needs to remember to not say that out loud.

"But I do know how to make a bit more than just rotgut. Depending on what we can find, we might be able to get a decent brandy. But that'll take most of a year. Not sure if I want to start it, out of hope or ... not." She shakes it off. "You know where we can store it? Locking it would be alright, but somewhere not put in with folks would be better."

"There are a few sheds around town. I'm sure we could appropriate one for ourselves." That should be safe, right? No one living in it and they tend to be set off far enough away from the houses that everyone should be fine if something goes wrong.

"I don't want to think that we'll be here for a year, but I've been in similar situations for much longer than that." Of course, she'd had no idea for most of it. This is scarier, in a way, because she'd known from the start that she's not in the right place.

She tries to remember, scraping hair out of her face. "There's a shed not far from the bar. I'm staying there, if you don't want it close to you. Plus, that'll give us bottles for the stuff close at hand." Because Ellen believes in recycling. Sort of.

"It won't have to be looked at too much, a couple times a day. But I should be able to get a batch ready in a couple of weeks. Ready enough to try, anyway." Try by people who weren't going to immediately go blind, anyway.

"Sounds like a plan." This is getting more comfortable. Ruby's not used to playing such a leader role. It's not that she's timid, obviously, but being self-motivated and being in charge of things are completely different and Ruby tends to take a little better to playing the sidekick, if she's honest.

"I think I saw a wheelbarrow not far from here."

Ellen nods. "You get the wheelbarrow, I'll disassemble this and get it ready to move. Then we can get it set up over there." Plus, she wants a good close look at it.

Her hands work swiftly and with the confidence of having done this several times before. It makes her miss her uncle's place back in Oklahoma, and the old still they used to have in the Roadhouse. She hadn't used it for years, because more than one cop had stopped by, but she misses it.

... Hell, she's pretty sure Bobby had one at one point.

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Time to make moonshine

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