024-027 » neither reward nor punishment

[villagemod]

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: Eastern/Central/Western Mathias + ???
WHEN: Days 024-027
WHAT: The consequences of their actions.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. PM this account to have a warning added!
NOTES: Plotting post over here! The next log will be posted January 23rd.

RECOMMENDED ♫ Deadly Avenger "Onryo" 怨霊

DAYS 024-025
CONSEQUENCES
“There are in nature neither rewards nor punishments —
there are consequences.”
— Robert G. Ingersoll
When the unwilling residents of Mathias Township wake on the morning of the 24th day, they will find themselves in yet another set of frustratingly unnerving circumstances. None of them are where they last remember being, and some of them have strange marks on the palms of their left hands. It's all incredibly unsettling, but truthfully they should be used to it by now. No one will remember traveling to their new location.

Residents can wake up anywhere within their new location and in any position. Curled up in a bed, sprawled on a couch, huddled beneath a coffee table, propped against a wall... Wherever they are, they will themselves to be in quite an unusual state. While they are wearing whatever clothing items they went to sleep in, plus their shoes and a coat. The newest arrivals to Mathias Township will perhaps stand out for being slightly more appropriately dressed than their new neighbors. They are all a bit damp, physically worn out, and half-frozen from their apparent walk through a blizzard.

Each of the four locations is inescapable — residents are trapped, with exterior doors and windows being shut tight and a blizzard raging outside. The locations are stocked with fresh food and water and a large pile of firewood for the fireplaces in each building. The circumstances residents will face, however, may vary wildly between locations as the forces at work in Mathias respond to the recent actions of certain individuals.


BOARDING HOUSE | GREY GULL
NEW HOUSE | MYSTERY MANSION

These residents will wake with a mark on their left hand palms, a spiraling black symbol similar to those some may have seen around town. All marks are identical and cannot be removed, but will have seemingly vanished from their skin on the morning of the 26th day.

Castiel, Daisy Johnson, Dean Winchester
Elena Gilbert, Elijah Mikaelson, Helen Magnus
Phil Coulson, Quentin Coldwater, Sherlock Holmes

DAYS 026-027
IN THE AFTERMATH
After their ordeals of the past two days, the unfortunate residents of Mathias Township will be grateful to find that they were back where they are supposed to be, a chill still clinging to their clothes in whatever place they went to sleep the night of the 23rd day. New arrivals will wake in the living room of the boarding house. None of the residents will wake with anything in their possession from the locations in which they were previously trapped, including any notes or documentation they may have made during their time there.

---

CONDITIONS UPDATE

— SNOW continues to fall heavily on Days 024-025, resulting in white out conditions from the wind that blows in gusts of over 35 mph; the temperature also drops drastically, making conditions extremely dangerous for residents. The blizzard clears on Day 26 and residents are left with a cold, calm world covered in white.

— THE FOG remains blocking the paths in the forest, urging residents to stay huddled within the town proper, and it also now blocks the northern section of town, beginning just before where residents know the chasm in the earth to be. Venturing into the fog is... ill-advised.

— DISAPPEARANCES continue to plague the town. Kylo Ren and Thomas Richardson have vanished without a trace.

— NO NEW DEATHS have occurred in town, but there is a new "grave" in the small makeshift graveyard near the schoolhouse. Rey's corpse has been moved and covered with stones to wait for the ground to thaw enough for a proper burial.

— THE LANTERNS will be gone from the morning of Day 024. No trace of them remains.

---

OOC UPDATES

— A GIFT for everyone! As a thank you for being part of this spooky little game, every character in the game is being gifted 2 Activity Points. These may be banked over here — instead of linking to an AC post, you may put "New Year gift" in that field. Happy 2021, friends!

— NEW LAYOUTS have been installed for our communities! Huge thanks to our Eldritch Librarian Stars for putting in the time to get this place looking shiny. (You may have also noticed some new page layouts being installed — these are also our Librarian's handiwork!)

— DISCOVERIES have been collected and collated for your review. Please note that this is OOC information only, put together for the purpose of helping you as players see connections and possibilities for CR and your own character's potential avenues of exploration and investigation. (If we are missing something, please report it so we can add it to the list.)

— REMINDERS — Don't forget about the bulletin board. Please continue reporting your updates to locations, plots, and discoveries. The map of Mathias has been added to the locations page for ease of reference. Make sure your character's sanity level is kept updated. Prospective players are still joining the TDM, so it's recommended to track new top-levels so you don't miss them.

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Comments

[conning]

[ He shifts to hold her, one hand around her waist, the other twining into the hair at the back of her head.

Neal lets out a long, shaky breath. ]

Pretty sure I already did. [ It's surreal, the relief he feels, knowing this whatever-it-is isn't one sided. ] No take-backsies and everything.

[chuju]

[ She should fight this. He doesn't know what he's doing, he said so himself. How could he understand what he's getting himself into when he doesn't know even a fraction of the baggage she carries with her? He'd said before that he would help carry it, but that weight would be too much for any sane person to willingly take on.

She should fight tooth and nail to make him understand why this is a terrible decision that he cannot make. But all she wants to do is fight to keep him for as long as she can. ]

This is crazy. [ Lifting her head enough to look him in the eye, she shakes her head so slightly but still keeps a firm hold of him. ]

This is crazy. [ She says it so forcefully but she can't tell if she's trying to convince him or herself. ] It's been four days. How can we already feel like this after just four days...

[conning]

[ Neal laughs. He can't help himself. ] To be fair, it's been a very strange four days.

[chuju]

[ And she can't help but smile at that laugh. Going by everything he's told her, it's probably been some of the strangest four days of his life. ] Yeah, it has. Not the strangest I've ever had, but pretty high on the list.

[conning]

[ He clears his throat, voice soft. ]

You’re half the reason I feel like I’m not going to lose it at any given moment. So. There’s that.

[chuju]

Neal... [ She loosens her grip on him so she can reach up and rest a hand against his neck, framing his jaw with her thumb. There's something like wonderment in her eyes as she studies him, though it wavers into another wave of doubt. ]

My life has been full of strange and horrible things. Are you really sure you want to get tangled up with someone who's been broken by all that? [ She smooths her thumb against that slight prickle along his jaw. ] Because I am. I am so broken and I'm not sure it's fair to put that on you when you have no idea what you're getting into. I might be helping now, but I might just make things worse later.

[conning]

I'm pretty sure everyone I've met here has been broken by things I couldn't have started to imagine before this place. [ He bends enough to retrieve the rose, holding it up between them, eyes on her face. ] If you're broken, it's a beautiful, human kind.

[chuju]

[ It's too much to meet his gaze after he says that, so she lets her eyes fall to that rose. Made of paper and wire, it's clear he put time and effort into it, which heals a little piece of her that broke with his confession. He'd prepared for this even when he'd had no idea of the outcome.

She moves her hands to wrap around his and that beautiful flower before looking up at him again with a little pout. ] I didn't agree to you being wonderful.

[conning]

[ It startles a laugh out of him, one that's as relieved as it is anything else. He leans forward to press a kiss against her forehead. ]

I'm broken too. I can promise you that.

[chuju]

[ She smiles up at him, more tentative than outright happy, but happiness is still there underneath a very thick layer of nervousness. Some part of her is still so worried about everything, though she's trying her best to embrace her emotions instead of running from them. ]

Yeah, well, I'll remind you of that when you wake up to the room shaking from one of my nightmares. [ A moment of pause, then she quickly adds in a slightly flustered state: ] You know, if we ever— If you—

[ And then she just stands there awkwardly, because what the hell, Johnson. ]

[conning]

[ He grins, and it's not the most innocent expression. ] Agent Johnson. Are you propositioning me?

[ He slips his arms around her waist, leaning in to speak against her lips. ] I'm not sure about jurisdiction around here, but as a responsible member of law enforcement, I might have to take you in.

[chuju]

[ Embarrassment rises in her before being eclipsed by a need to return that playful flirting. Keeping hold of the rose in one hand, she uses her other to gently poke him in the chest with a purposefully pointed finger. ]

A responsible member of law enforcement, huh? You know, Caffrey, I'm pretty sure I outrank you, considering I'm like second in the chain of command at SHIELD.

[ She's actually not entirely sure how that stands now, with Coulson back and their little adventure in time travel, but she feels pretty confident with that particular claim. ]

[conning]

Inter-agency politics. Sexy.

[ He kisses her, lingering. ] When you're comfortable with it, I'd love to spend the night.

[ Whether that means sex or not. ]

[chuju]

[ He is such a dork and it's surprising how much she likes that about him. That he can be so serious and so heartfelt one moment, and then joking like this the next... It's nice. Really nice.

She flattens her hand out against his chest, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath her fingers. Her eyes fall to that spot so she doesn't have to see his reaction to her next words. ]

I don't know what it says about me that I'd be comfortable with it right now, but it's true. I feel safe with you. [ Her fingers curl under into a fist, still resting above his heart. ] Maybe it has to do with how alone I feel in this place, and how I don't feel that when I'm with you.

[ She takes a quick, deep breath and keeps barrelling forward in her sudden introspective confession. ]

Ever since I joined SHIELD, I've lived with my team. I chose to stay here so I could be around other people; I haven't been on my own since just after Lincoln died. [ Those words come so much more easily than she ever thought they could. ] But the more nightmares I have... the more dangerous that seems.

I feel safe with you... [ Her voice breaks a little. ] But you might not be safe with me.

[conning]

[ I feel safe with you.

Those words practically take his breath away. No one has ever said that to him. Neal Caffrey isn't the kind of person who makes others feel safe. That position belongs to people like Peter, like Raylan, like Doc. Like Daisy herself.

He brushes his knuckles gently against her cheek. ]

I'm willing to risk it.

[chuju]

[ She wants to argue, to make him see reason, but there's a part of her that always wants to respect his choice. He knows what she's capable of, generally speaking, and if he's still wanting to be with her... She can think it's a bad idea all she wants, but she also wants desperately to have a normal night with the guy she really likes. There's a battle raging in her that only calms when she leans in for another soft kiss. ]

Then stay. It doesn't have to be tonight, but... whenever. Any time.

[conning]

[ He laughs quietly. ] Yeah, maybe not tonight. My new housemates might worry if I disappear again so soon.

[ Neal shakes his head. ] I've never had housemates before.

[chuju]

[ There's the tiniest bit of disappointment at not tonight but it's eclipsed by her relief that he has someone to worry over him here. She's grateful for that when he's so out of his depth. ]

It'll take some getting used to. You can expect everyone to be in everyone else's business sometimes — but it's nice just having someone there.

[ It's nice knowing you aren't alone even when you feel like it. ]

[conning]

Yeah. Back home, it would be June or Mozzie. Sometimes Peter. They all pretty much walk in whenever.

[ He smiles. ] June at least knocks.

[chuju]

[ Her smile matches his. It's nice hearing him talk about his life and the people in it — there's the tiniest change in him, in tone or expression or just the air around him. ]

Hopefully, your new housemates do too.

[conning]

Hopefully. [ He leans in a little. ] Particularly if you spend the night there some time.

[chuju]

[ Considering she's still not sure how much longer she'll stay living at the boarding house among other people, she's not making any promises of sleepovers at his place full of housemates. That doesn't mean she can't play along. ]

You seem pretty confident that your behavior will warrant repeat performances.

[conning]

[ He waggles his eyebrows. ] Let's just say I've never had any complaints.

[chuju]

[ She takes half a step back, setting her hands on her hips and giving him a playful stare. ]

And just how many people haven't had complaints?

[conning]

Would it be better or worse if I said I haven't counted?

[ He ducks his head a little, tone going from teasing to more serious. ] I'm safe. And I make sure I get tested.