028-029 » the winds of change

[villagemod]

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: Eastern/Central Mathias.
WHEN: Days 028-029
WHAT: A town meeting is called.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. PM this account to have a warning added!
NOTES: Plotting post over here!

RECOMMENDED ♫ Deadly Avenger "Ikiryo"

DAY 028
SOMETHING ON THE WIND
Another day dawns in the fair town of Mathias. The sky is a blanket of light grey, tiny specks of snow lightly falling as the hours pass. It makes the town feel almost quaint, the scenery quite peaceful in its winter garb. But beneath the veneer of peace there is a pervasive dread of something approaching. Something inevitable is on the wind, something that has come before and will come again...

Throughout the day, residents will consistently experience feelings of deja vu, that sense of having done or seen or said something before that can never be fully recalled. It happens again and again, tugging at the back of their minds, the memories just frustratingly out of reach.

Residents will also notice a note pinned around town:




The note can be found on the town hall's bulletin board and the front doors of many town establishments, including the Grey Gull, the library, and the boarding house. At the bottom of the note it is specified that the meeting will take place "tomorrow, when the sun is over the town square."


NEW ARRIVALs
The newest arrivals to Mathias will wake on the frozen lawn of the town hall atop a snowdrift. They had best hurry inside and get warmed up before hypothermia sets in.

DAY 029
A GATHERING OF MINDS
In the late afternoon when the sun hangs over the town square, residents will converge upon the Town Hall, where a larger meeting room has been filled with rows of chairs. After most people arrive, John Constantine stands and addresses the room... and then sits again. A grand introduction, truly.

Residents are encouraged to share their experiences and information they have gathered in the town while holding questions until the end. Rather than getting tangled in the intricacies of each person's tale, it seems better to absorb the broad strokes and try to connect the puzzle pieces to get a look at the bigger picture that is the mystery of Mathias Township.


THE INEVITABLE
As the meeting comes to an end and residents begin to converse among themselves, the feeling of something approaching and sense of deja vu begin to build, becoming almost oppressive as night falls. An hour after nightfall, residents learn the reason for these sensations that cease immediately as the earth begins to rumble. The buildings shake, furniture tumbles, and breakables crash to the floor as the earthquake sets in without warning.

The tremors last around a minute, far longer than a normal earthquake, and then the town settles again. There are no aftershocks, which many may note is quite unusual. Residents will find quite a bit of mess in their homes and other locations around town, but there is no structural damage to be found despite the intense shaking.

---

CONDITIONS UPDATE

— THE WEATHER is fairly typical of a northern winter. The sky is grey, the temperature hovers just below freezing during the day (colder at night), and a light snow falls during both days. Residents should bundle up when going outside and not venture too far into the dark night...

— 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 with Sherlock Holmes being the latest victim of the town's unsettling whims.

---

OOC NOTES

— TOWN MEETING STRUCTURE The town meeting section of the log is designed for characters to share any information they would like to with the other residents in attendance. ICly, characters should "hold questions until the end" with the intent that they can get the Big Picture first and connect any dots they see. OOCly, this means players should post their character's information sharing tag in the Meeting section, but the actual conversation about whatever they share happens after the meeting proper in the Mingle section. That way, these conversations can happen however players prefer, be that one-on-one or in small or large groups.

— HOUSING Please be sure your character's housing arrangements are up to date on our list. We're missing a few people and it really helps to know where everyone is for planning. Frequent updates for wandering characters are perfectly acceptable.

— THE BULLETIN BOARD has been updated. Players should note there is a change to the wall near the board that may be of great interest to some residents.

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Comments

[tinstar]

"The belts are a recent upgrade. If you are lookin' to set up your own, you're gonna have to raid the closests we didn't. We're also fresh outta handcuffs. Pro tip, don't use bunjee cords."

What a way to stumble into the knowledge of Malcolm's nightly routine but it had been a long time since he had watched and enjoyed watching someone put their foot in their mouth. Sorry Klaus, he likes you, but there was no stopping that from happening.

[bestfuneralever]

"What kinda law enforcement are you, to not be able to offer me handcuffs when I want 'em, Raylan?" He shoots back at him, smirk on his face the whole while. Klaus is at an Expert Level of foot-in-mouth issues. Stick around, Raylan, you'll have plenty of opportunities for that.

[tinstar]

"The kind that's solid enough with a knot that it doesn't matter. 'Sides, I don't tend to use them much - I let my partner in law Tim do that. Tickles his fancy, I think. But if you want in 'em, there's a waiting list behind John Constantine." John had been promising to show Raylan how he got out of them for near three weeks now and frankly, Raylan wanted to see it.

[abrightboy]

“I do still use bungees in the straps,” Malcolm told them. “Just not in the cuffs.” He looked at Klaus. “The hook snapped on one a few days ago and I got this ugly scratch on my wrist,” he explained, tugging up the cuff of his sweater sleeve so he could see the healing scrape. “Though if you’re going to be awake when you’re using them, you might not have the issue with it snapping before you realize it’s going to snap.”

[bestfuneralever]

"Is that a promise?" He asks Raylan, eyebrows arched enough to give no room left to doubt the suggestive turn of that question. A smirk spreads wide and sly across his face at that last remark. "Oh yeah? You and John have need for handcuffs, huh? Didn't know you were friends like that." All in jest, but....

The awkward mic-drop moment seems to have washed over and Malcolm is just....candidly explaining everything in that impeccable oversharer kind of way he has about him that is more endearing than off-putting. HAs been, really, since they met. "Ohhh, ow." He hisses. He props his chin in his hand and leans in Malcolm's direction. "Oh, honey, you sorely mistaken how lost I get in the throes of things happening in the bedroom."

[tinstar]

"I've tied up people I like less for more if you're interested," he replied with a bounce of his eyebrows over a grin. "But John's need for handcuffs is largely to keep him from doin' somethin' stupid. Malcolm's, at least, is for somethin' that can't be controlled."

Sorry Klaus, no juicy anything there.

Raylan watched Malcolm as he spoke out of the side of his, waiting for any sign of discomfort that would have him radically changing his tact. He could joke and be joked about himself all day long, but Malcolm was.. well protected at the table.

[abrightboy]

"Might have to go with belts, then," Malcolm assured Klaus, cutting a bit more chicken. He met Raylan's glance with a small smile. He was okay. "For safety. Better safe than sorry. You probably don't need the flexibility in the straps that I do either; I have to be able to undo them myself. Presumably your usage would... involve someone being there to let you out. You know, you probably could sacrifice flexibility for strength."

[bestfuneralever]

"Oooh, I might be." Don't step into waters you're unsure of, Raylan, Klaus will make you follow through. He snorts a little at the comment about John. That makes sense, really.

How disappointing!

"Belts it is, then." He grins. "You really have it all worked out, don't you?" His eyes light up, "Are you gonna help me test them out?" He waggles his eyebows; and yes, he means that exactly how it sounds.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm just stares at him for a moment, opens his mouth, closes it again and then, without thinking how it might appear, looks at Raylan. Then looks away because it occurs to him how that might appear. He looks at Klaus again.

"I don't know that recreational use is... really... my thing," he says awkwardly.

[tinstar]

Raylan just watched the exchange with an innocently curious look that was blinked at Malcolm as he struggled to answer. To Raylan's credit, he didn't let his lips curl too far as lifted his eyebrows a fraction more in a silent 'hmm' kinda face before he popped another cut of food into his mouth.

No, he wasn't going to say anything.

[bestfuneralever]

He sees Malcolm's gaze travel across the table and land on Raylan. And he sees just as plainly the way he cuts his eyes away from him. An eyebrow arches curiously upward, but a realization is already forming and it quirks one corner of his mouth up in a smirk.

"Maybe it could be." He practically sings the words. "With the right person...?" he gives a pointed glance between Malcolm and Raylan. There's something, isn't there? He's not blind, guys.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm just stared at Klaus for a painfully long moment before he finally weakly answered "......I don't know."

[tinstar]

Klaus could have been talking about dairy cows for all Raylan's expression told, eyebrows lifting a fraction, hazel eyes pointedly, silently taking in the conversation. There had been a metric ton of innuations about Raylan's sexuality and what he got up to, but those kind of secrets, no matter how unselacious they were, weren't appropriate for the dinner table.

Sorry Klaus.

"Can't imagine it'd be easy for someone who has to sleep in those to associate them with a good time. Maybe if we had silk or somethin' but leather bites." No, he's not as vanilla as he looks.

"But BDSM goes better with after dinner coffee. You ever a boy scout?" Seemed like an arbitrary question maybe, but it all came back to knots. "Or are you more used to gettin' tied down for seances or somethin'." A subtle redirection but one put out there, nonetheless. Malcolm looked like he was going to swallow his tongue; Raylan wanted to help.

[bestfuneralever]

He giggles and looks at Malcolm over the rim of his glass as he takes a drink. He’s not going to push the issue, but oh, buddy, you better believe he’s following up on this later.

He sets the glass back on the table and grins at Raylan, “Ohh, cowboy’s got some kink, huh?” He winks. “I’ll keep an eye out for something softer.”

“Tied down for seanc—” he laughs, shaking his head and his tone instantly switches from the fun playful jab it has been to the overly facetious one he uses any time he is dismissing childhood trauma. “No, no, you misunderstand my childhood. The knots came from the torture training daddy put us through.” It sounds like a joke, he certainly delivers it like one, and he desperately wishes it was just poorly timed gallows humor. But almost everyone at this table knows enough of the pieces of the story to know that this is just the terrible way he handles his own trauma.

A beat barely has time to pass before he downs what’s left in his glass, abandoning it to the table as he turns to get to his feet. “So, coffee! Yeah? Okay.” He has to stop shoving his foot in his mouth, and if he doesn’t walk away, it isn’t happening. There’s no wait for answers, he just disappears from the table to go make sure there is a pot being made.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm watches the change in Klaus, eyes narrowing slightly. They have a french press; he's not sure Klaus will find the coffee makings easily. He tilts his head towards the kitchen so Raylan knows he'll take care of it and he follows Klaus into the kitchen.

"Can you put the kettle on?" he asks. It's sitting on the stove. Easy to find and fill from the sink. Malcolm opens a cupboard and takes down the coffee grounds and the press, then sets a handful of mugs next to it.

[tinstar]

It was impossible to not see the knife edge shift of Klaus and Raylan almost felt bad for stumbling into the trauma nest, but he couldn't have known. He'd apologize later. He nodded back at Malcolm, a fractional incline of his head of acknowledgement. If anyone could smooth it over, it would be Malcolm.

[bestfuneralever]

"Yeah," He mutters softly. He really didn't want to be followed, but thankfully his back is to Malcolm while he prepares the kettle and he has that second or two to smooth the twinge of annoyed disappointment into a smile. Something soft and subtle, not the wild overcompensation that it really is beneath the surface, because he has so, so many years of perfecting the art of seeming fine when he's anything but under his belt.

He ignores the fact that it's literally Malcolm's job to note the subtleties behind the masks that people wear. He sets the kettle back on the stove.

The problem with Malcolm having followed him is... Klaus can't stand silences. He's the one in the room that will always find ways to fill them. Especially when he's uncomfortable, like he is now. "I didn't mean to--" He huffs and shakes his head, lets his hand drop down to his side. Isn't that the problem? He never means to, things just happen.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm reached out and set a hand on Klaus' arm, intentionally meeting his eyes.

"It's honestly fine." He gave his arm a gentle squeeze before letting go. "I've been sleeping in restraints since I was fourteen. Including in boarding school," he said, scooping coffee into the press. "Two different boarding schools, in fact. And there's not been anyone who ever saw my bed and didn't make the same assumption you did, more or less." He looked over. "It took me by surprise for a moment, but I'm not, like, offended."

[bestfuneralever]

His eyes drop to Malcolm's hand on his arm, then dart back up to his face. He smiles a little, "God, you're-- such a fucking good dude." He huffs with a laugh, shaking his head. It's honestly really surreal to him.

"Really? That long?" His eyebrows arch at that admission. Klaus has been an addict for that long, so he has a frame of reference most people might not, even if the specific issue is very different. "Is it- I mean...would I be an asshole for asking why?" There's a beat and he rushes to add, "You don't have to tell me. I know we don't know each other super well and everything."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm breathed a laugh down at the french press as he finished scooping.

“You’d be understandably curious for asking why,” he told him. He looked over. “My father is decidedly not a good dude,” he explained. “But I thought he was. When I was a kid, I thought he hung the moon. He was a cardio thoracic surgeon. He went to work every day and saved lives. I wanted to be just like him. Until the night I stumbled on his secret. When I was ten, I found a woman in a travel trunk in our basement. It turns out that he’s a serial killer. He’s killed at least twenty-three people. He currently resides in a maximum security institution for the criminally insane.”

[bestfuneralever]

Out of all the things he might have guessed, that certainly wasn't the information he was expecting to be dropped in his lap right now. He's a little stunned by it, honestly, maybe even more so the calm way Malcolm manages to deliver it. "Oh my God..." he breathes out, one hand drawing up to rest over his mouth. He doesn't feel any better for asking. That's more than he even knows how to begin unpacking.

"Mm- Malcolm, I-- I'm sorry." is all he can say for one, stunned moment before he can't stop his mouth again. "I shouldn't have asked. I shouldn't have said anything. I mean it, Malcolm, I'm... I'm really sorry." No, there was no way in a million years he could known, or even ventured to guess all of that, but that doesn't make it okay that he just dragged all of that out with one, stupid question.

[abrightboy]

"You don't have to be sorry," Malcolm told him. "You said I didn't have to tell you. I chose to tell you. It's... not exactly a secret around here, that my father is a serial killer. It's kind of hard to pretend I'm not a basket case when they found me in severe withdrawal and I scream like a banshee nightly."

[bestfuneralever]

He nods a little, it's all he can do to not make an excuse and apologize again. A habit his sister would understand better than anyone else. "Yeah... yeah, I guess that makes sense." He nods again, not sure what to say on the heels of that explanation.

[abrightboy]

"Anyway, you sound like you might have a bit of a sociopath for a father yourself, so if anyone understands what I'm dealing with..." He looked over sidelong.

[bestfuneralever]

"Oh," he huffs out softly and shrugs. "Yeah, I mean- I guess? I dunno, I never really thought about it like that..." He bites his lip. Was Reginald a sociopath? Maybe... "We can start a Shitty Dads club." he snorts.