018-020 » what he hides

[villagemod]

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.

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Comments

[40seconds]

[ Coulson's just put on a fresh pot of coffee, and he's in the middle of absentmindedly pouring himself a cup. He's been outside himself, checking out the makeshift cemetery, because a lot's happened in a short amount of time, and he's still working on processing things.

There's still one thing he can't accept, though, and it's the fact that Daisy just disappeared without a word. One day she was there, and the next, she wasn't. And to make things worse, there's absolutely no indication of what happened to her, despite his efforts to find her. And he did try, but ultimately came up empty.

He figures she's better off not being here, if she did in fact find a way out, but that doesn't stop him from missing her. With his coffee poured, he takes the mug over to the table and sits down to drink it and begin thawing out after his venture outside. ]

[chuju]

[ Stepping into the boarding house is like walking into a dream. After everything she'd just learned, it should feel different, right? But it doesn't, not really. There are a few noticeable changes, of course, thanks to whatever the fog had done, but otherwise it's just as she'd left it all of maybe an hour ago.

An hour. Three days. Time never seemed to have any real sort of meaning in this place.

The smell of fresh coffee hits her and she moves toward it instinctively, not knowing who's there but hoping it's a friendly face. The snowflakes clinging to her coat and hair begin to melt as she moves through the house, turning into the kitchen—

And she stops, her throat going tight at the sight of him there. Safe. Whole. Swallowing thickly, she offers a wavering smile as she greets him with a simple: ] Hey.

[40seconds]

[ He registers the sound of the door opening and footsteps approaching, and he figures the least he can do is offer whoever just walked in from the cold some of the coffee. Without looking up right away, he just says: ]

Hey, I just made fresh coffee. You're more than welcome to it.

[ Of course, he knew the new arrival said something, but his focus has been a little bit lacking lately, so it kind of flew right over his head. A few more seconds go by, and he realizes just who's standing there, and that realization hits him like a ton of bricks. ]

That's really your opening line?

[ She'll have to forgive him because he looks more than a little incredulous. The offer to drink some of the coffee still stands, of course, but he's looking at her like he's seeing a ghost.

After all the time he spent looking for her, only to come up empty-handed, that casual greeting just hits him like the worst sort of punch. ]

[chuju]

[ His voice is the same. The same inflection, the same kindness and cordiality. How many times had she reread his letter during that year, wishing she could hear his voice just one more time? She might have Coulson back in the form of an LMD, but this living breathing version from her past is no different. The both of them are the most important person in the world to her and she is so very glad to see him there.

Taking a few steps closer, one of her half-frozen hands wraps around the back of a chair, her fingertips white from the cold. ]

Sorry. Not really sure what you say when you apparently disappeared for a few days and don't remember it. Hey seemed like a good option.

[ The coffee smells amazing and she desperately wants a cup to help warm up, but she can't tear herself away. She can only stand there watching him, because what happens if she looks away and he disappears too? ]

[40seconds]

[ He's really not mad, because reason tells him she didn't disappear on purpose. And any twinges from raw nerves brought on by conducting a fruitless search and being forced to conclude that she was really and truly gone fade just slightly when he takes in her appearance from the snowflakes still clinging to her hair to those too-white fingertips. Whatever he's feeling, he can't just let her freeze.

So, rather than answer right away, he just gets up from where he's sitting and crosses over to the coffee pot himself so that he can pour a cup for her. Once that's done, he brings it back over and holds it out. ]

Here. You look like you really need this.

[ He's not any more sure about what to say than she is, so getting her coffee is at least a way to buy some time. ]

[chuju]

[ Most of her isn't feeling anything. Aside from being extremely cold, mostly she's numb inside, with a layer of confusion and distress over the top of that almost emptiness inside her. She accepts the mug of coffee without even a smile, just cradling it close and ignoring the sting as the heat tries to seep into her too-cold fingers. ]

I was out by the woods and I met Constantine. He told me some of what happened. [ Shifting her stance uncomfortably, she watches him closely, feeling like a small child waiting for an adult to tell her everything's okay. Somehow, though, she doesn't think this is one of those times where it will be. ] With the fog and... people dying.

[ And she hadn't been here. Three days she'd been gone to who knows where while the rest of them mourned and then dealt with the fact that apparently, not everyone stayed dead. Sort of. She might be angry about it but for that pervading numbness. ]

[40seconds]

[ It's probably not going to do anything to counter that numbness inside her, but at least the coffee will warm her, and there's something else he can do besides. Once she takes the mug of coffee, he grabs his coat (well, it was someone's coat before it was his, but it's warm and that's what matters) from where it's draped over the back of a chair and moves back over to drape it over her shoulders. ]

Are you all right? [ He wonders how much Constantine told her, and if he knew just how many of them died. It seems to him that she'd be more upset if she knew that he was one of the dead, so maybe the other man didn't say too much. ]

You really don't remember the last few days?

[chuju]

I'm okay. [ She manages a smile this time, one hand tugging at the folds of his coat to make sure it stays in place. With anyone else, she would have shrugged it off and made some posture of being fine and not needing the help, but — this is Coulson. Even with so many years between them, she's more than happy to let him take care of her even for just a few minutes. ]

I don't remember any of it. One minute, I was out on the porch, wanting to try some of the old exercises I used to do with May, and then I was near the woods and it was snowing.

[ The more she speaks, the more lost she sounds, a thread of that distress in her heart beginning to wind through her words. She doesn't remember. How can she not remember it? Of everything they've faced, this really isn't that big in comparison to something like the end of the world, but in this very moment? It's huge. ]

[40seconds]

Yet another mystery about this place that we have to figure out.

[ He shakes his head, not really liking the idea of adding another question mark to the already lengthy list of things they don't know.

And he can hear that distress in her voice, so while being mindful of her coffee, he pulls her in for a hug.

It might not help, but he's never hesitated to offer one in the times that she's been distressed, so he hopes it's calming even when everything is the opposite of calm. ]

[chuju]

[ She'll take a hundred mysteries to solve if she can just have his hugs to help get her through them. Making sure not to tip her hand and spill hot coffee over both of them, she clings to him like he's the only sane thing in her world. And, really, that isn't an exaggeration in this case. With everything they're dealing with, he's the one solid thing in all of it.

Squeezing her eyes shut tight, she forces her power to focus in a way she hasn't been able to manage much since waking up here. There, she can feel it. His heart, scarred and held together by something he didn't fully understand, but still beating. ]

We'll get through this together, just like we always do.

[40seconds]

Of course we will.

[ And then he hesitates even while they're still hugging. He has something he needs to tell her, before she hears it from someone else.

That wouldn't be received well and he knows it, but she's too rattled right now. ]

Come on, why don't you sit down for awhile.

[chuju]

[ That's the Coulson she knows and loves. If he'd refuted her statement, tried to be anything less than confident in their capabilities to handle this, she'd have known immediately that something had shaken him. Because Phil Coulson has always been the one pushing them forward even when everything is on fire and none of them can see a way through the darkness.

He's the heart of them. He's her rock, her solid ground, and she can't imagine going back to a life without him. Nodding against his shoulder, she carefully pulls back, mindful of the coffee still in her hand. ]

That's probably a good plan. It's kinda been a rough day so far. [ Her smile is small but there's a joke in there as she tries to lighten the mood even the tiniest bit. ]

[40seconds]

[ That's the thing. He can say that with confidence because he believes it. They can handle this town, whatever it throws at them, even disappearances like Daisy's. It's the other things, the things he's not talking about just yet that he's not sure about. ]

For me too. I don't have a problem admitting that. I- Well, when you disappeared, it was hard. [ He says that plainly, but even as they pull apart, he returns the smile too, even if his is just as small. ]

We've had rough days before, but I have to say, these last few took the cake for all of us.

[ Once they're both seated, he asks the question (well, one of them) that he's curious about. And maybe, even if he doesn't want to go there, it'll be an opening for what he has to tell her. ] What did Constantine have to say?

[chuju]

[ In comparison to other days she's had, this one is pretty low on the rough scale. Sure, it hasn't been an easy one thus far, but she can think of plenty others that were a hell of a lot worse. The day they learned Ward was HYDRA. The day she lost her parents. The day Lincoln died. The day she learned Coulson was dying. The day she almost lost May in Izel's temple... There's a pretty long list of Very Bad Days in her past and this one doesn't make the cut.

It's still sucked though.

Sipping at her coffee as they settled into their seats, she gives a little shrug. ] He told me a bit about what happened with the fog. That some people died while I disappeared, that others have disappeared since. It sounds like it was a hard couple of days for everyone and it's not getting any easier.

[40seconds]

[ Conversely, the last few days were hell for Coulson, and he knows he doesn't use that term lightly. His own death is something he can compartmentalize and push away, but Daisy being missing without a trace? Knowing that four others died? That's something he's still trying to work through and push past. ]

Some people did die. Four- Well, five, to be exact.

[ He has to swallow hard then, and he hopes she just attributes that to him having difficulty talking about people dying. ]

You're absolutely right. In a lot of ways, it seems like it's only getting harder.

[ And where he'd try to be a little more composed, maintaining that stiff upper lip, he more or less fails. This place is getting to him more than he'd like to admit. ]

[chuju]

[ Five people died. There seem to be so few of them here at all, for five of them to... And then she'd disappeared and now others have followed. More than anything else here, this information just makes her feel small. A black hole of helplessness settles in the pit of her stomach and for the moment, she can't see any way out of it.

Daisy might not notice every nuance to the change in him, but she does see some of it. Leaning forward, she reaches out to take his hand in hers, wanting a solid connection between them to reassure her that he's really there. Even if he's not her Coulson, he's still Coulson. He's still one of her dearest friends and the closest thing she has to a dad. ]

But we're together. We can handle this. [ She says it as much for his sake as for her own. ]

[40seconds]

[ She's not the only who's feeling small. Honestly, the events of the last few days have left Coulson feeling more than a little diminished, and he's definitely not sure how he should proceed, if he ever really was.

Thankfully, Daisy reaches out at just the right time, and when she does, he links his fingers in with hers. Even with the years separating him, she still knows how to reassure him and how to ground him when he's starting to drift.

Even then, he still can't quite stop himself from asking the question that's been on his mind since he came back. ]

Can we, though? There's still so much we don't know, and when this place can take us out just like that, when all it needs is a little killer fog...

[ All right, so maybe he didn't intend to drop that detail so soon, but it's out now and he can't take it back. ]

How are we supposed to fight that?

[chuju]

[ How many times over the years has he comforted her during the worst of everything? He'd always been her rock, the constant in her life she could always count on. If she can offer him even an ounce of that in return now, she'll do whatever it takes. But she won't lie to him about it. ]

I don't know. [ The honest answer. She has no idea how they'll fight this thing, but in this particular moment, she doesn't doubt that they will and they'll win. ] But we'll figure it out. We haven't failed yet and we're not gonna start now.

[ Aliens, robots, magic. They've faced it all before and even with everything they'd lost along the way, they've always won. This time won't be any different, she won't let it be. ]

[40seconds]

[ He's trying to find a way to steer this conversation so that there's an opening for him to admit the truth to her, but so far, he hasn't found one yet. It's hardly something he can just spring on her, but however he tells her, he knows she won't receive it well.

But by that same token, she won't receive it well if she learns that he kept the truth from her, so he just sighs and tries to steel himself for her reaction, because this isn't going to be pretty. ]

Yes, we will. It might take us some time, but we'll figure it out.

[ He squeezes her hand then, knowing she might not be so inclined to hold his hand once he divulges this next part. ]

I have to tell you something, Daisy.

[chuju]

[ It's as if time stops completely when he says that, some instinct within her going on high alert for whatever bomb he's about to drop on her. Because with that phrasing, there's no way this isn't something important, and likely something she won't like one bit. If it weren't, he'd be making a joke, there would be a lightness in his voice and a smile curving his lips. But the way he looks at her now... ]

What is it? [ She feels like she's standing on the edge of a precipice, waiting to see which way the wind will blow — will she fall backward to safety or tumble forward into the abyss? ]

[40seconds]

[ Oh, he wishes he could lighten this moment with a smile and a joke, but doing that would feel wrong, like he was just treating her with kid gloves. She can handle the truth; he's sure of that, because she's received equally distressing information before. But then again, for someone like her who grew up being moved from foster home to foster home, any kind of loss at all is bound to be distressing.

Sure, he's fine now, but he wasn't at one point, and it's that one point that he's reluctant to mention. But he can't retract his words now, so he just plows on ahead. ]

You know that killer fog I mentioned? [ Is he stalling for time here? Maybe. ]

[chuju]

[ And with just those few words, she falls.

Daisy has always been smart. She had to be, growing up in a life where she'd been forced to fend for herself. Patterns and connections come easily to her, connecting the proverbial dots to reach conclusions that sometimes take others a great deal longer. So it should be no real surprise to Coulson that her panicked mind careens right into where he's going with that question.

Leaning back from the table, she leaves the mug resting on the surface, so much undrunk coffee still steaming. Slowly, she begins to shake her head, a look of distress settling across her face. ]

No. No. [ Something in her is breaking and it hurts. ]

[40seconds]

[ He still wishes he could shield her from this somehow, but still, he knows that doing so would only make things worse. It's bad enough that he can see that look on her face, knowing the upset he's making her feel, but he doesn't believe that withholding the truth would be the kinder option, even if this really does feel like he's being cruel.

He just hopes that she doesn't end up hating him for it. ]

I'm sorry, Daisy.

[ This wasn't something he planned, not that death is really something that can be planned (barring certain situations), but it happened and it's only right that he let her know. ]

[chuju]

[ She continues shaking her head and raises a hand in protest as if she can stop this from being true. Because it can't be true. It can't. He didn't— ]

No, you— You didn't— [ Her breathing becomes slightly shallower, faster, her heartbeat speeding up as the panic in her rises. And then it's too much, she has to stand and put a few feet of distance between them in an attempt to be able to breathe a little easier. It doesn't work. ]

You did not die. Not again. [ She hardly realizes what she's saying. ]

[40seconds]

It wasn't- I didn't do it on purpose. [ That much is true. The events leading up to his death just happened so quickly that they're little better than a blur when he looks back on it. ]

And I didn't want to wait to tell you, only for you to find out from someone else before I could.

[ It doesn't make this better, or easier, and he knows it, but he's trying not to regret his decision to tell her here and now. ]