villagemod: (sᴛᴏɴᴇ)
The Village Mod ([personal profile] villagemod) wrote in [community profile] villagelogs2020-12-05 01:22 am

018-020 » what he hides

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: Eastern/Central/Western Mathias.
WHEN: Days 018-020
WHAT: The fog recedes!
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. PM this account to have a warning added!
NOTES: Plotting post over here!

RECOMMENDED ♫ Graham Plowman "Edge of Darkness"





DAYS 018-020
THE HIDDEN REVEALED

“Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.”
— Benjamin Franklin


As the sun rises in the distance above the sea, the fog slips away from the unsettling town, winding through streets and across buildings until it is nestled soundly in the forest. There it waits, ready to snare any who dare test its limits — residents would do well to remember what happened the last time they encountered the fog so intimately.

With the fog receded, the western portion of Mathias is now revealed and available for exploring. There are more businesses on the town square and even some on the street that runs off the square. The schoolhouse is nestled by the southern treeline, not from the little makeshift cemetery at the end of Jackson Boulevard that is courtesy of a few kind residents in town. To the far north of the square is a sprawling garden, now covered in snow, and a greenhouse that once supplied the botanical shop. And to the west, beyond the square, is another residential district of the same size as that to the east. What is different, however...

These buildings are all in some form of decay. From the beginnings of rot to completely collapsed and little more than a pile of proverbial bones, none of these homes are anything resembling livable. Well, as far as one can tell, at least. For between the streets of Hill Lane and Stine road there is a crack in the earth. A dozen feet across and fifty feet down, the crack extends from one side of the forest to the other, either end cut off by the fog. The view to the other side is clear but there is no way across.


THE NEW ARRIVALS

There are quite a few new faces in Mathias on this day. Awaking throughout Day 018, they will find themselves laying in the snow beside that unsettling crack in the earth, houses both quaint and decaying surrounding them as the snow begins to cover their bodies. Best get inside and warm up, dears.




SPECTRES IN THE NIGHT

The days are short now that winter seems to have set in unseasonably early. Though the clocks in Mathias fail to properly keep time or sometimes even work at all, the sun rises around 8:00am and sets at 5:00pm. There is far more darkness than light in these days, but in that darkness there is, in fact, light.

In the distance all across Mathias, there are lanterns lit against that darkness. Their lights dance across the snow, the warm flickering shining like tiny stars and offering an almost ethereal glow to the crisp white snow. It would be a beautiful sight to behold... if it weren't for the shadowy figures that held them. With partially raised arms, the figures hold the lanterns and walk the streets of Mathias, drifting in between buildings and disappearing into the forest. Still yet, there are some that simply stand in place, as if waiting for something or someone.

No matter where or when these figures are seen, they always seem to be facing away from our residents, and attempts at reaching them are all for naught. They will fade from view if one gets too close, and return to sight when that distance is regained. And in the morning, those lanterns may be found in the snow, their lights extinguished but their glass somehow still warm.


STRANGER IN THE SNOW

Those investigating the western part of Mathias and venturing near that inexplicable crack in the earth will have the most unsettling feeling of being watched. Most of the time, there is nothing there and no one to be seen, but then—

On the other side of that expanse, sitting on a porch, in the shadow of a home, or standing in the oddly moonlit street, there is a man. His features are shrouded in darkness and not much can be discerned about him, but instinct tells you he is dangerous. There is a sense deep in your bones that he is maliciously amused.

He makes no move to speak, nor will he respond to any attempts on your part. Instead, he sits, or he stands, and he watches. By the end of Day 020, all sign of him will be gone, along with the eerie feeling of being watched.







LOCATIONS


Unless otherwise noted, all new locations have working electricity and other utilities.

BENEDICT BOOKS Nestled quaintly on the square surrounding the Town Hall, a thick layer of dirt covering the front windows. A portrait hangs at the front of the store to illustrate the namesake of the little shop... that may, in fact, not be so little. Dust covers everything in sight and detritus litters the wooden floor, as if someone left the door open and allowed half the forest inside. (more info)

MATHESON ANTIQUES Also on the town square is an antique store that is a lesson in chaos more than culture. The items within are stacked haphazardly, creating narrow aisles running throughout the space. Furniture, light fixtures, old revolutionary and civil war memorabilia, all of it is jumbled together with no rhyme or reason. Indeed, one wrong move could create an avalanche of aged wood and peeling paint.

POE'S CLOTHES Located on the town square, this shop carries only the basics. Loose jeans in a few sizes, khakis, solid color dress shirts and blouses, flannel in various styles, socks and underwear.

SPIN RIGHT ROUND RECORDS On the square across from the beauty store, the music shop is as dusty as everything else in this town has been. Tables line the walls of the long shop, filled with rows and rows of vinyl records, while a few wall shelves display cassette tapes for sale. One side of the store is for New items, while the other holds the Used section with items for resale. Residents may recognize some of the artists but many are unfamiliar to them.

CLINIC Outside the decayed, crumbling building just north of the square is a still miraculously intact sign with the name of the clinic's doctor, Dr. Ken Suzuki. There is no way to treat patients in this location, but with care, some salvageable supplies may yet be found in the remains.

BARKER BOTANICALS Not quite a flower shop and not entirely an apothecary, the botanical store to the far north of the square is something of an amalgamation of both. With a few broken windows to let in the rain, parts of the shop have been overtaken by nature, the house plants growing beyond their pots and rotted flower petals littering the floor to tell of seasons past. The still unclaimed walls are filled with decaying plants and jars of dried herbs and other vegetation, along with a few essences and tinctures.

GREENHOUSE A few dozen yards from the botanicals shop is a sprawling garden, now covered in snow, and a greenhouse that once supplied the botanical shop. The glass is still miraculously intact, though covered in grime so thick that one cannot see inside.

GALLERY The gallery is essentially a large empty space with framed and matted black and white photographs of the town lining the walls. There is a small selected of prints available for sale near the front entrance, and a few rooms at the back of the building — a dark room for developing photos, a small office, and a locked room.

MOVIE THEATER This single-screen theater is quite small, having only 40 seats, but there is a large collection of movies in its storage room. These are all old film reels however, so hopefully someone knows how to thread a film projector.

HISTORY MUSEUM Across the street from the Historical Society, this once esteemed wooden building has seen better days. Windows and doors are boarded up and there is visible rot and decay on the exterior walls. Part of the roof has fallen in and the accumulating snow threatens to collapse the rest of it as well. It is not wise to venture within.

HISTORICAL SOCIETY This brick building has also seen better days, though in a different sort of way. Where once had been carefully cataloged collections and cozy reading rooms for aficionados of local history, there are now stacks of bankers boxes and weathered tomes in every nook and cranny. There is no organization to any of it, everything seeming to have been stashed in a hurry and then left forgotten. Anyone who dares to dive into this archive will need to devote quite some time in order to find anything worthwhile. They will also want to bring their own light source — the electricity does not work here and the windows are quite dark from the accumulated dust and grime.

SCHOOLHOUSE A much smaller school than most of our residents might be used to, there are only a half-dozen rooms in the building, with a few comprising classrooms, meeting areas, and workspaces. All ages were taught here, and one might almost imagine the sound of children's whispered voices and distant laughter while within the empty building.





CONDITIONS UPDATE
SNOW continues to fall in Mathias. Days 18-19 see light snowfall that very slowly accumulates, but the snowfall turns moderately heavy on Day 20 and sees significant accumulation. The temperature hovers just below freezing and dips lower when the sun goes down.

VOICES are not openly haunting our residents, though they may still be occasionally encountered in the more heavily decayed buildings where some rooms seem to almost swallow whatever light tries to enter them.

THE FOG has receded from the town proper and much of the eastern and northern beach. The path through the northern forest to the lighthouse is now also clear.

DISAPPEARANCES continue to plague the town. While Daisy Johnson has returned, Zed Martin, Rey, and Quentin Coldwater have now vanished without a trace.


OOC UPDATES
MADNESS has now been unlocked. Congratulations to Inky for Claire earning the first Madness! Who will be next? (Please be sure to keep your sanity updated regularly; Stars has created an amazing tracker for anyone to use if they'd like.)

HELPERS are officially in residence! Kelly is our Registrar and Stars is our Librarian — both of these delightful members of our community are helping behind the scenes to keep things organized and updated (and doing wonders for the mod's own sanity levels), so please give them some thanks for their hard work!

REPORTING updates is still a thing that your mod and helpers beg you to do. Changes to locations, plot notes that affect the community, and discoveries should be reported over here so these can all be noted in their appropriate places. (For clarification, reported Discoveries are not public knowledge unless a character has ICly shared this information.)

A MAP of Mathias now exists, thanks to our wonderful Librarian! Please note that it is not to scale and there may be a few minor errors due to your frazzled mod. Expect updates in the future as more secrets are revealed.

BULLETIN BOARD — don't forget about it. That's all.


CLAIMING AP REWARDS
Normally, only one AP reward can be claimed per log, but due to the plethora of new and old locations to explore, this restriction is being relaxed. Instead, for this log only:
— Players may spend AP on up to three rewards, though only Spot Hidden may be repeated.
— If a player is spending multiple Spot Hiddens, they must be with different characters and in different locations.

If two characters are investigating the same location together, they may each spend a Spot Hidden on that location. Players should record their spent AP after the AP request has been approved. Sometimes there is nothing to Spot with your Hidden and the points will be "refunded" to use elsewhere.


navigation | faq | setting | mod contact

cholesterol: 🇩‌🇴‌🇳‌'🇹‌ 🇹‌🇴‌🇺‌🇨‌🇭‌ (not mine)

wrap!

[personal profile] cholesterol 2021-01-03 06:41 pm (UTC)(link)
( Consider the tch-ing finger gun Dean gives, then. He is insufferable sometimes. And this was a maddening first meeting. )
vampirebats: (pic#14493393)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2021-01-03 10:01 pm (UTC)(link)
"Ain't that the truth." And no matter how you try to control it, half the time... God likes to kick you right in the nutsack sometimes. Or maybe that's just because he's been a shit person in his life and only learned too late to really stop it, make a damn bit of difference. Now he might be dying here, or contagious... who the fuck even knows?

"Some years? How the fuck old are you?" He looks at Doc for a second, quiet and thoughtful.

"You never know... I would've never pegged myself as a leader of any group before the end of the world. I was a fucking coach at a school. I taught kids, I was married. Hell, I wasn't even a good husband. So we survive this, you can always learn and do better at keeping people alive."

He lets out a sigh at the mention of snow. "I'd rather be sipping drinks by a pool or something."
vampirebats: (pic#14493359)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2021-01-03 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
"Don't worry... I've heard the zombie thing a bunch of times already." It's not a term where he's from, but hey. He'll take it.

"Sounds like you lucked out. Not that dealing with assholes all day is great by any stretch of the word..." But having to live your life in fear of being bit? Also not great.

"Yeah... I did. Creepy as fuck. How'd you handle it?"
tinstar: (Neon confused)

[personal profile] tinstar 2021-01-03 10:34 pm (UTC)(link)
"US Marshal. I wake up in the mornin' hopin' to be the asshole to ruin an asshole's day," he assured with a coy little curl of his features. No, Raylan enjoyed his job. Maybe a little too much.

"But I'll take the privilege of what it is." That was to say, he understood that he had gotten a better hand, from a few perspectives.

"I got the phone answered and after sticking my head a few feet out the front door, stayed my ass inside. Glad I did too. Someone's gotta be around to bury the poor bastards that got caught up in it." Whatever mirth had been in his face had vanished at the start of that part of the conversation. It wasn't something he toyed around with - it was serious business. "And since I didn't come across you dead, I'm guessin' you did somethin' similar?"
fika: (pic#14564538)

[personal profile] fika 2021-01-03 11:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[ oh great, company.

five loves company.

except, the comment on the state of the clinic earns negan a curious glance up. did everyone have to be taller than him?

jesus, he couldn't wait for the growth spurt. a huff.
] You been there already?

[ and we're back to a glower. ] ...So do I. [ his sutures aren't terrible! ] But first aid doesn't typically help with fractures. [ honestly, anyone who wasn't an asshole would appreciate the offer, negan. but five operates on denial when it comes to injuries. he's already failing quite fantastically at that. ]
bestfuneralever: (N4_134)

[personal profile] bestfuneralever 2021-01-03 11:53 pm (UTC)(link)
"I know the feeling." He shrugs a little. "M'used to it... been like this for most of my life, by now, actually." That's kind of depressing to admit, but there you have it. Life as a medium, he supposes. And a Hargreeves. He wasn't left wanting for reasons to not be able to sleep, really.

"Sure, no problem." He smiles up at her and nods, gesturing vaguely, "Do you draw much?" He asks curiously. He hadn't in years, but apparently the talent hadn't atrophied completely, and he is glad of that, honestly.
bestfuneralever: ({Curls} Drink ~ Smug)

[personal profile] bestfuneralever 2021-01-03 11:59 pm (UTC)(link)
He grins back, eyes sparkling with something that's part mischief, part something flirty.

He laughs and shakes his head, "Nope. I jumped off that wagon all on my own, buddy. Before I even showed up in this hellscape town." Apocalyspe will just bring it out in you, honestly. And broken hearts.

"Well, I guess we're gonna find out." he smirks, holding the bottle back out to him.
aprofoundbond: (And triumphant)

[personal profile] aprofoundbond 2021-01-04 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
Who would I be to judge anyone else for their transgressions? I've made plenty of my own, in my own time, not to be hypocritical for it. [Castiel knows this well. He also knows that he's paid for those transgressions, but that doesn't change the fact that he's made them to begin with.

When Henry mentions that they seem to have retraced their own steps, Castiel glances down and sees that he is right.]
Indeed. Should we call it a night, then?
abrightboy: (empathy)

[personal profile] abrightboy 2021-01-04 04:59 am (UTC)(link)
“Wait, you mean living people did that? Why would they do that?” Malcolm asked. “Wouldn’t... wouldn’t dealing with apocalypse go better if everyone worked together?”
thering: (Doc197)

[personal profile] thering 2021-01-04 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
"A hundred and sixty six. Or so." Has he lost a few years since they have technically travelled back in time to arrive in this place? He's not certain how that all works or whether it matters at all. He might be dying tonight, there is no point in keeping secrets.

"You were a schoolteacher?" A coach, he had said. He certainly does not give off that impression. Not that Doc would call Negan not respectable to his face, but the teachers that Doc had met before did give off... a vastly different vibe.

"I will confess to not having been a good husband, either." He had a wife once. Kate. He does not speak of her anymore. It is all ancient history now. Even what he is talking about now is ancient history. Still, he does not mind to share. "I was drunk. Sick. In pain, all the time, wasting away succumbing to an illness there was no cure for, and not getting any better at hiding it. She mostly put up with me. Your relationship changes, when you are no longer equal partners, when your lover becomes your caretaker slowly getting suffocated by the elephant in the room." He does not know of Negan's personal struggle with this, he is only speaking from his own personal experience.

"She no longer looked at me the same way she did when I first came into her life. I had been her hero then. Not her burden. At least this... disease you speak of is fast. There is mercy in that."
vampirebats: (pic#14493446)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2021-01-04 06:02 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm sorry, what?" Negan's initial thought is that this asshole is pulling his leg, but the mannerisms, the looks, the name... Hell. Now, is it bad manners using their possibly limited time to figure out how the hell a six hundred and sixty-six year old is running around still?

Or just accept the old crazy at face value like he did The King back home?

"Yeah... yeah. I was a teacher. Man, the parents hated me. I cared about those kids though. Really connected with them. Trick is, you gotta treat them like they've got some fucking brains, not like they're goddamn infants." You show respect, they tend to give it back.

Negan's expression darkens as Doc continues on, something like shame twisting at him inside, that rock solid guilt that stays in the pit of his stomach. Doc has no idea how close to fucking home that hits. "My wife-- I haven't told many this story, just one other guy, but she was a fucking angel, man. Better than I ever deserved. I was a fucking asshole to her. We tried for kids, didn't happen... somewhere along the way, I started sleeping with other women, lying to her about it."

He falls quiet for a moment, brows furrowing. "Then she got sick. Cancer, no treatment worked even if she put up a hell of a fight. Even if I pushed for every treatment in the goddamn book. You never know which is worse, you know? Watching the person you love the most suffer and knowing you can do fuck all to stop it or actually losing them and any chance you got to make up your past."

Negan drops his eyes, carefully not meeting Doc's. He knows what kinda look is probably there. Same one that was on the preacher's creepy as fuck face. Disgust, looking at him like the piece of shit he really is. "Sometimes I wonder if-- I brought it on, you know? If God was trying to punish me and she got caught in the crossfire of it all. Only positive thing is she was gone before things got real bad. 'Course I didn't even have the balls at the time to stick around, put her down when she came back."

And he should have. Fuck, he should have. She deserved the rest. "I'm-- sorry you were on the other side of that, man. I don't know your circumstances, but I can say from being on the other end... sometimes you just don't fucking know how to act. Sometimes you're just scared shitless and trying to be as brave as you can be. Although gotta say, for a dying man... impressive you made it to six hundred. What's your secret?"

He snorts after a moment, rubbing a hand down over his face. "Yeah, I guess that's one way to look at it. You only suffer a little while."
vampirebats: (pic#14493424)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2021-01-04 07:03 am (UTC)(link)
"Because people are the real assholes." His expression twists up before he shakes his head.

"It would've been, but it didn't happen that way." And from Negan's perspective? It was Rick's group at fault. Who in the hell slaughters people in their sleep? He kills, sure, when he has to, but it's not reckless slaughter. Lives are a valuable commodity in the apocalypse, you don't waste them.
thering: (Doc148)

[personal profile] thering 2021-01-04 07:08 am (UTC)(link)
Doc knows very little about children. He had never planned on having any. But life, as always, chooses these things for you sometimes. It remains to be seen whether he would be any good with them or not. But he is also accepting of the fact that he may never find out.

He lets Negan talk. He did not know this of Negan. Did not expect it to be shared, even though they don't know whether they will make it through tonight. At some point, Doc moves on in closer, sitting down next to Negan without touching. The Town Hall is a big empty chamber and they need not be shouting their misery at each other across the space.

It's not really cathartic to dredge all this up anymore. Not for him, anyway. Doc does not find that release when he talks about the things that he has felt hurt by in his life. He watches the floorboards like they have come alive before his very eyes, closes his eyes and listens to Negan speak. They are both too sober for this conversation. And yet they will continue it.

"She would have wanted you to be happy, even if it was with another woman," he says after a long stretch of silence on his end. "Kate left me, towards the end. I was angry at first, but. We fought a lot even when I was in better shape. We were volatile, not good for each other. I knew it was inevitable. But I was happy for her, in the end. She was right to leave. I did not want her to see me, in the shape I was in in my last days. And she deserved so much more than I could ever give." Doc clenches his teeth and clears his throat, not wanting to let old wounds get raw again.

"The journey is only over for the one of us. You deserve to be happy with whoever is lucky enough to have you, after we are gone." He knows such words bring little comfort now, so long after the fact. He says them anyway, in case they still mean anything to Negan.

"In the 1880s a woman came to me on my deathbed and said she could cure me, give me eternal longevity. You know this was the time they actually made and peddled snake oil to some fools who have more money than sense. No one would have believed her. But she asked for nothing in return, and I had nothing to lose."
vampirebats: (pic#14493362)

[personal profile] vampirebats 2021-01-04 07:19 am (UTC)(link)
There's a reason he doesn't talk about it. It doesn't help, doesn't soothe the pain away or stop him from sitting up nights thinking about her, thinking about what he should have done, could have done, if he hadn't been a selfish asshole. There's no point thinking about the past when you can't change it. He died with her the day she took her last breath and what he is now-- well, it's a shell. A fucking charming, good looking shell, but just a shell that exists to keep his fucking people as safe as he can.

Not that he's gonna say that bit out loud.

He looks over at Doc when he settles in next time him and breathes out a short sigh, steadying himself. "Nah, besides Lucille, there's no one I could love like that." And he's not talking about the bat, but he hopes Doc won't read between the lines.

"You ever have someone else? Sounds like you had time to move on too... after the freaky snake oil or whatever. What the hell did she give you?"
thering: (Doc133)

[personal profile] thering 2021-01-04 07:46 am (UTC)(link)
[He was expecting more judgement and less... self-awareness. This takes him by surprise - in a good way. He flashes Cas a tight-lipped smile that is near impossible to see in the dark, though it can be heard in the tone of his voice.]

It seems they do not wish to be spoken with nor do they mean any harm, for now. [Doc is sufficiently satisfied at this juncture to leave them be.] Allow me to walk you home. It is on the way. [Not that he thinks an angel would be needing his help getting anywhere, but. There is no reason to be parting ways right here when they are headed in the same direction to the same street.]
hellblaze: <lj user="synthnights">. (sad 🔥 i'm looking for a way to escape.)

[personal profile] hellblaze 2021-01-04 07:58 am (UTC)(link)
That could be in my favor... or it could mean you know a big bastard back home.

[ he gives her a squeeze back to show he knows she's there.

he stops briefly to look down with the lighter. it seems like only a few more steps, but... ]


A few things like it. This is the sort of thing I do back home. I go into dark scary places, find what's giving a haunt, send it back to Hell, then go have a drink.

Mathias is just a bit harder of a nut to crack.

[ he turns to look at her. with a notion, he pushed them against the wall. ]

How about this, then? Hold this for us. [ then, he hands her the lighter. ] I'll get us a bit more light.
thering: (Doc254)

[personal profile] thering 2021-01-04 08:05 am (UTC)(link)
Oh Doc is already making links between the dead wife, the baseball bat, the man left behind. He's got assumptions mapped out in his head with lines to link various ideas together. He will not speak of it of course. No need to hurt a man even more if this is how they are going to go.

"Bit of magic. Then she threw me down a well for 130 years." Suffice to say, he maybe should have thought it through more fully before committing to anything. Though he can't tell Negan whether he regretted saying yes to her. He made it out. Got his revenge. Still alive, right now anyway.

"I have tasked myself with assisting and protecting my friend's great great granddaughter." Suffice to say, that is a complicated relationship. One he doesn't feel the need expounding upon. "I do-- care about her, deeply." There is only the slight problem that she does not love him back.
descendent: (pic#14418069)

[personal profile] descendent 2021-01-04 08:14 am (UTC)(link)
[ she's very glad he's excited, even if he's not jumping with joy. ]

It's bound to still be there after the snow's thinned out.

[ surely, a building that's clearly out in the snow—clearly out there in this damn town—is going to still be standing when summer rolls around.

pursing her lips, she does try to think. eyes narrowed, she wants to set their expectations… and not build their hopes up to only be disappointed. ]


Unless it's demolished… but surely there'd be some demolishing company in town that we would've seen. Or at least a paper about it. [ she lets out a little annoyed sound. ] I hate not knowing things.
descendent: (pic#14439363)

[personal profile] descendent 2021-01-04 08:15 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, if only he knew how this face has haunted Elijah Mikaelson for a thousand years. He's right on the money.

Elena smiles, tilting her head at him to give him a rather amused look. He's a good flirt, she'll give him that. The whole wild west cowboy thing he has going on—the hat, the moustache, even the way he seems to speak—is very attractive. The fact that he seems like a caring person would make him the flame to a lot of moths.

"Has anyone ever told you that you know how to turn on the charm? I'm surprised there's not a line of people outside of this house just waiting for you to wink at them."
descendent: (Default)

[personal profile] descendent 2021-01-04 08:19 am (UTC)(link)
[ she doesn't like that he's making sense. let her ride out her emotions, be irrational, want to try and save the world when the world is beyond her saving… she doesn't like this douse of rationality and realism.

she inhales deeply through her nose and lets it out, seeing her breath come out as thin vapour. ]


What if they knew a way out of here and I blew that chance, Elijah? They were the first creatures we've seen here. We have to believe they know something.
descendent: (pic#14418059)

[personal profile] descendent 2021-01-04 08:20 am (UTC)(link)
[ she chuckles, shaking her head. ]

You are so smooth, Elijah.

[ and he's got her in his own little web. it's true; if she doesn't need to be protected, then she doesn't need to keep herself awake in the hopes he won't leave. deep down she knows he won't leave. he's protecting her.

eyes closed, she shifts on the armchair, slouching a little on it as she curls herself up. ]


I don't even know your surname.
descendent: (pic#14291629)

[personal profile] descendent 2021-01-04 08:21 am (UTC)(link)
And a lot of flannel, Madonna.

[ hey, if he can call her "argentina", she can call him "madonna."

pushing, pushing, pushing—elena's feeling a little overheated in her flannel, but she knows if she shrugs it off she'll be freezing cold in the snow. ]


Are you starting to regret living so far away? I didn't realise this town had such long streets.
40seconds: (𝟢𝟧𝟥)

[personal profile] 40seconds 2021-01-04 08:30 am (UTC)(link)
Well, between you and me, I'm just glad my mirror has never been anything more than a mirror.

[ Back home, that is. He's just operating under the assumption that all bets are off around here. ]
thering: (Doc248)

[personal profile] thering 2021-01-04 08:52 am (UTC)(link)
As far as he's concerned, he's just shamelessly paying a compliment to a deserving young woman. There is no other agenda beyond making her smile. He smiles right back at her, tipping his head to the other side.

"I have been told that real gentlemen are few and far between, these days. Men are not raised the way I was anymore. But the house is empty so far, and you are our only guest." 'Our', he says, so there are normally other people here.

"You would have all the time and space you need, should you wish to rest here." But he would understand her discomfort and unwillingness too should she choose to leave, not because she might not be used to being smothered with kindness but simply because she is in a strange house with a strange man. He would make sure she has somewhere warm and safe to sleep tonight, regardless of her misgivings.
descendent: (pic#14465030)

[personal profile] descendent 2021-01-04 09:33 am (UTC)(link)
Although his kindness is very much appreciated and it looks like there are more people who live here—is this where everyone's staying, sticking together rather than separating?—she knows if she chose to stay here, Elijah would freak out. It's best to stay, get to know Henry, and then be on her way… in a little while. She has so many questions. He seems like he's a good storyteller. Everyone from the 1800s seems to be.

"How many people do you live with here?" Peering down at the couch, she presses her hand against the cushion. "I hope I'm not sitting in someone's spot." It's a tease.