001-003 » a chilling mathias welcome

[villagemod]

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: The east end of Mathias, along the waterfront.
WHEN: Days 001-003
WHAT: The newest residents of Mathias Township are welcomed with a storm.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. PM this account to have a warning added!
NOTES: A small love letter from your mod. This spot can be used for plotting.

RECOMMENDED ♫ Deadly Avenger "Mara"

DAY 001
THE ARRIVAL BEGINS

Is it the whooshing crash of waves on dark jagged rocks that wakes you? Perhaps. It might also be the near-continuous rumble of thunder growing closer every second, the vibrations almost seeming to come from the wet sand beneath your hands. Or maybe it’s the shivering of your own body as water recedes from the pebble-covered shore, the cold sinking into your very bones as a chilled wind picks up. It could be any of these things that rouse you from a deep slumber that leaves you feeling groggy and out of sorts--

But it’s the fear that gets you moving. A deep, intense terror grips your chest and squeezes the breath right out of you, and you know without a shred of doubt that you have mere minutes before whatever it is you’re so afraid of arrives on that stretch of rocky beach to greet you. Even if you want to stay rooted to that spot and faced it head-on, your body betrays you, a survival instinct etched into your genetic code forcing you to seek shelter.

Welcome to Mathias. You should probably run now.



THE STORM ARRIVES

When the storm crashes into the small township, it's hard to remember what life was like before it. The ocean becomes a raging thing, waves rising and falling as if trying to attack whatever they can reach along the coast. Any foolish enough to venture along the beach have no hope of surviving the encounter; their bodies will be swept out with the current, gone in the blink of an eye.

The wind is a howling beast, screaming between buildings and driving spikes of cold into any crevice it can reach. The rain is just shy of freezing, every drop like a shard of icicle trying to itself into your skin. It will bite at your nerves and leave you shaking if you stay out in it too long, so you had best get inside if you haven't already. You certainly don't want to attract the attention of the lightning that arcs in the sky like a vengeful god ready to unleash its wrath.

The Grey Gull restaurant sits at the edge of the town along the beach, and just a few yards away are two parallel rows of houses lining what might be a picturesque street if the world weren't beginning to resemble an apocalyptic landscape.

Move quickly, and choose wisely.

DAY 002
THE STORM RAGES ON

The storm has somehow become even more violent overnight. The world outside your shelter might be trapped in an endless night, for all you can see through the thick covering of storm clouds. Lightning continues to streak across the sky, thunder following almost immediately in its wake, threatening just how near those spikes of electricity truly are. You can see them touch the shore at times, even the street between the homes, but never the buildings themselves. A blessing, perhaps, or an oddity to take note of?

Some may be foolish enough to try venturing outside. They are welcome to, of course, that is their right, but the rain is still like ice and that lightning is so very near. You may try heading further into town, and you can certainly see buildings beyond this row of houses, but should you walk toward them...

Well. It is far from a pleasant experience. Exhaustion sinks into your bones so quickly that it leaves you reeling, and every second you push through it makes you physically ill with a feeling that you might collapse at any moment. The second you turn away from that path, however, you feel infinitely, and even more so each step back the way you came.

Something wants you to stay where you are. Perhaps you should.

DAY 003
THE CALM DESCENDS

The third day begins much as the second, with waves crashing upon the shore and thunder booming with such force that the ground seems to shake. It feels very much like the world might end right there, torn apart by a force of nature unlike any seen before. Any who venture outside at this time are almost immediately afflicted with a terror so intense that they can make it no more than a few yards or the short distance to cross a street before they become incapacitated by the fear that sets their heart beating dangerously fast. The term scared to death may very well become literal this day.

And then, suddenly it stops. The rain, thunder, lighting— all if it just stops and the silence that fills the night is deafening. There are no sounds of life within the town, no car motors or dogs barking or the voices of anyone beside those new arrivals in the immediate vicinity. In fact, none of those things even exist in Mathias. There are no cars, no animals or insects, no other people. There is just... emptiness and silence.

It may be best to wait until daylight to move further inland.



THE NIGHT DARKENS

For those who are foolish enough to leave the relative safety of the cluster of houses near the Grey Gull, they will find their journey quite chilling, in a very literal sense. There is another row of houses beyond where they had been, branching off on either side into a neighborhood. There are no lights on in any of these homes, though there are occasional streetlights illuminating their way. But as they continue further, reaching a third block of houses, those lights begin to dim, until they have gone out completely, and what had previously been a simple fall chill becomes biting cold as the temperature sharply drops.

In all of this, there is silence. No sounds travel through that night air to comfort them, and even looking up to the sky stretched out above them offers little reassurance. That sky is black, without a single star and not even the faintest outline of the moon to guide them. All that reaches them here is the barest hint of light traveling from the way they've come. The longer they linger outside in this place, the colder it will become, and any light they carry with them will slowly begin to dim as well.

Truly, they should have waited until the sun rose once more.

---

LOCATIONS

THE GREY GULL is what one might expect of the most frequented restaurant in a small coastal town. The wrap-around porch is lined with white chairs characterized by peeling paint. Exposed wooden walls and worn seating speak to its many years of existence, and the mishmash of décor confirms that the owner never much cared for how the place looked. What mattered here was the food, and faded chalk menus advertise soup specials and a daily pie. The bar appears to have once been well-stocked, but all the bottles remaining are unfortunately empty. There is, however, quite a bit of food in the kitchen that is somehow as fresh as if it were purchased that day.

The second floor of the restaurant is a sparsely furnished apartment. There are no personal items to be found; perhaps it was waiting to be rented out to someone.

THE HOUSES are well-kept, middle-class homes, four lining either side of the street. Their doors are unlocked, windows unshuttered, and everything within feels like the owners might return at any second. There is running water and electricity, fresh food in the fridge, photographs on the wall... but also dust everywhere. If you didn't know better, you'd say the place had been abandoned for years, and yet nothing has aged. It is both strange and unsettling, and yet no matter how hard you search, no answers may be found within these homes.

What can be found within them, however, is a phone. One single black phone within a main room of the house, and beside it, a list of handwritten numbers and names that have been crossed out.

1302 8-5491 Thomasen
1304 8-9256 Lyrie
1306 8-4712 Anders
1308 8-3201 Mulcalley

1301 8-0415 Sanderson
1303 8-6762 Reese
1305 8-9132 Evers
1307 8-9025 Hirano

Should your character choose to shelter in one of the houses, you are welcome to choose the features of that particular unit. Please reply to the comment thread below with the details you decide upon, specifying the house number in the subject line.

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daisy johnson » day 1 ota

[chuju]

is anybody out there? — closed to max

[ It isn't the rumble of thunder that wakes her, or the crashing of the waves on the shore. They should have. Both sensations should have pinged her senses, the buzzing vibrations in her bones humming from the stimulus in the earth and the air. But there's nothing like that now, only the slightest tremor that is a ghost of what she usually feels.

No, it's the cold that wakes her. Biting, stinging, a wave of freezing water pulling on her like a blanket of ice. It leaves her gasping and shaking, thrown into wakefulness with a jarring jolt that does nothing to shake the disorientation from her mind. And then—

She wishes she could say it's been a long time since she felt fear like this, but that would be a lie. It's like an old unwelcome friend, setting in her veins and pushing her pale, trembling body to rise and run. But she can't just go, not as she looks around and realizes that she isn't alone. Not her team, not Coulson or May or Jemma or Sousa, but someone else. And she can't just leave them, that's not who Daisy Johnson is. ]

can you lead me to the light? — open

[ The Grey Gull. It's easy to guess what the restaurant will look like when they get inside, the picture the outside paints perfectly matching the interior of the building. The wind whistles in through gaps in the wooden walls but at least it seems sturdy and warm enough. Dry, too, which is good with the way the rain is coming down now.

Daisy takes one look at anyone else in the main dining room and knows in an instant that they have no more answers than she does. Great. There are no words offered to a single one of them as she turns and heads to the kitchen, shivering the whole way. It's not difficult to locate a large stack of hand towels — half the stack is left on the counter for someone else to use while she claims the other half for her own use. Peeling off her soaking wet black t-shirt, she wrings it out into a sink and then drapes it over the edge, steadfastly ignoring the way her body shakes from the cold that has settled into her bones. Drying off doesn't do much to help with that, but it's a start, and her jeans follow suit, though she's not quite strong enough in her present state to properly wring them out.

Yes, she's standing in the middle of a dusty restaurant kitchen in her underwear, with boots set aside to hopefully get a little less squishy by the time the storm lets up. Does she care that there's a pack of strangers milling about the place who could walk in at any second? Nope. She's tired, sore, and cold, so if they have anything to say about it, they can damn well keep it to themselves. It's too bad the towels aren't quite big enough to wrap around her hair in a turban but she does the best with what she has.

It occurs to her that she should be out in the other room questioning people to see if she can connect the dots of what's happening here, but... Well, they're not going anywhere in this storm. They're trapped. She's trapped. Again. She tries to ignore the feeling of utter helplessness that threatens to consume her, attempts to push aside the pain in her body as it's further abused, pretends not to notice how faintly she feels each crash of thunder in the air, and doesn't pay one bit of attention to the exhaustion begging her to rest. If she gives into any of those things right now—

She can't. It's as simple as that.

So she focuses on the tasks at hand. Find something to wear (the restaurant has t-shirts with their logo), find something to eat (how is the food still fresh here?), and try not to fall over when her body is screaming at her to rest. She tries to avoid that last inevitability for as long as possible by making a very large pot of coffee in the restaurant's coffee maker. (Yes, she'll share.) ]

[ ooc: Will match format! Daisy is in this outfit; her permissions/info are here (note the identifying marks). Plotting comment if you'd like anything for late on day 1 or day 2/3. ]

» day 1 (can you lead me to the light?)

[hellblaze]

[ Yess brackets

Where else would John Constantine settle? The bar, of course. His infamous trenchcoat is hanging over the back of the chair as he's rummaging behind the counter. A few of those lovely bottles are broken - namely because he's realized that they were all empty. No alcohol. That meant it was onto his next major vice to help settle his nerves: cigarettes.

Obviously there'd be no cigarettes in a bloody restaurant. Still, John is hoping. He might have to just hope the ones he has on him will dry out in a few hours. This was off to a great start already. Waking up on some random beach, gripped by a fear that reminded him of the largest screw-up in his life, and now nothing to clam his nerves.

He sighs and stands up from behind the counter. Hands run through his hair to shake more of the seawater out from it. ]

Brilliant, this is. Bloody fantastic. [ John lets out a long aggravated sigh before looking up and seeing that he's not alone in the room.

When did someone else get here? ]

[chuju]

[ Daisy heard some of those bottles breaking but chose to ignore them. She feels like breaking something too, so she doesn't blame the guy one bit for that particular reaction. One bit of her attention does keep watch for any sign that things might be getting violent out there — the last thing they need is to be attacking each other when they've all apparently been brought here against their will.

Tugging on one of the grey t-shirt with the restaurant name arched across the front, she takes a chance with the coffee and throws some into the pot to start brewing, hoping for the best. Then she sighs and resigns herself to heading back to the main dining room, bare feet leaving prints in the dust coating the floor. She's not shaking quite so badly anymore, at least, though she probably looks half dead.

She's just in time to see a very British display of frustration from one of her fellow kidnappees who also looks like he's been drowned. ]

Hey. [ She gestures toward the kitchen she's just come from, her expression flat and just tired. ] Want some coffee?

[hellblaze]

[ Drowned and half dead. What a pair they are already.

John looks up at the voice addressing him. He glances at where she points to, inhaling and puffing his cheeks out. He wants some damn gin. Though it seems like the universe is out to disagree with him so, ta for that. With one more shake of his hair he walks to the bar counter and motions for her to sit down.

The half dead look didn't pass him by. ]

How about you sit yourself down before you end up falling down, luv. [ He turns side to side before finding a cloth and hastily dusting off the counter for her. Well. He tried. ] Don't suppose you've got some hidden gin to put in that coffee.

[chuju]

[ Any other day, she would have given him a snarky comment and remained standing in protest of his thinking she couldn't — but this is today and she's not sure she actually can. So, after narrowing her eyes at him for a moment, she reluctantly perches herself on one of the chairs at the bar, leaning her arms carefully on the spots that he's so kindly tried to clean. It's better than nothing, and she does appreciate it. ]

Sure, let me check my invisible pockets, I'm sure I put a bottle in there last week. [ A very tired attempt at a joke, but an attempt nonetheless. She'll make up for it later, promise. ]

[hellblaze]

[ Normally he wouldn't think twice about the place being as dusty as a grandmother's attic. Except he's agitated, frustrated, and a girl that's nice on the eyes looks like she's half-dead. If that's because of the storm or something else... well. None of his business, and he doesn't much care to know either.

Maybe once his mood has improved. ]

Leave it to the pockets to always screw it up. [ John puts his hands on the counter and easily rolls with the sarcastic joke. It's right up his alley. ] Thought not. Can't blame a man for trying.

[ Given he can't find gin to warm himself up? Coffee is the next best thing. He clicks his tongue to his teeth and gently smacks the counter before heading to the kitchen and untucking his shirt. Might as well try to wring it out as much as possible.

His voice comes from the kitchen as he rummages for a decent looking mug. ]

Now, I suppose you got stuck out in that damn storm too. I'm guessing you also woke up on our very lovely beach out there.

[chuju]

[ Agitated, frustrated, cold; Daisy is all of those things, along with a good heaping dose of utterly exhausted. If Sousa were here, he'd probably be constructing her a bed to rest on out of tablecloths and chairs. (Though, honestly, that sounds pretty good right now. Not that she's going to let herself rest.)

She watches him head back to the kitchen, probably to get the previously mentioned coffee, and she can distantly hear him moving around in the other room, just out of sight. ]

Your powers of deduction are astounding. [ That sarcasm is still there, but just like before, it isn't the hostile kind. If she were being hostile, they'd be having a very different kind of conversation. Rubbing at her hands, she contemplates for half a second before taking a leap. ]

You have any idea what brought us here? [ Might as well start gauging who he is and what his connection to all this might be. ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZzS79Ar2b0

[revvedup]

[ it's not that she doesn't remember anything. she can remember where she was just fine - strapped down to a chair, drugged and drilled for information as she was tortured in an attempt to give up what she knew about eyes only. she knows where she was but she doesn't know where she is, or how she got here, and that's even more terrifying than being tortured had been.

max is jolted fully awake when the ocean crashes against her, soaking her to the skin and spurring her into action. she pushes herself into standing on shaking, aching limbs and looks around, trying to take stock of where she is and if there's somewhere safe to retreat to. she thinks she sees movement out of the corner of her eye and whirls around to spot it, nearly falling over from the vertigo. she allows herself a second for her head to stop spinning, then tries to focus on the moving figure.

and cries out in pain as ice picks pierce through her brain, cowering forward as she clutches her hands to her head. ]

[chuju]

[ The other woman stands, at least, though only seconds seem to pass before she's obviously in pain and having trouble staying upright. Daisy isn't feeling all that great herself, the world tilting on its access as she forces herself forward on shaking legs, but it's not the first time she's been through something like this. She has to be the Strong One, the person people can count on, so she ignores the pain in her body and pays no attention to how she shakes more with every step. All that matters is helping this person who so clearly needs it.

Moving closer but not yet within arm's reach, she raises her voice to be heard over the combined noise of the ocean and oncoming storm. ] Hey, are you okay? I mean, you're not, but— We need to get inside.

[ She wishes suddenly that Jemma were here, but there's no sign of her best friend who would have known instantly what to do. So she continues approaching the other woman, reaching out with trembling hands but still not yet touching her. ]

[revvedup]

[ the spike of pain passes within a few agonizing moments, and max removes her hands to find the woman now much closer, regarding her warily. she's not exactly in a position to refuse help (and it looks like the woman is in need of it herself), but it would be stupid not to be on guard in enemy territory.

but she's right. they need to get inside. by the look of things she can at least be relatively sure that the woman isn't manticore, and for now that's enough for max to place at least a little trust in her. she straightens, reaching for her hand. ]

You didn't happen to see an 'inside' anywhere around, did you?

[chuju]

[ There's something in the look she's given that tells Daisy she isn't trusted, which in turns tells her something about the young woman in front of her. Trust is something that has to be earned with her, it isn't freely or easily given. Which, okay. She can work with that. ]

Uh... [ Taking the other woman's hand firmly in her own, her other hand hovering over her back in case she needs extra support. She'll drag her up the beach, if that's what it takes. Glancing around, she notices a building at the other end of the beach, something big and hopefully sturdy. ] There's something over that way. It's worth a shot.

[revvedup]

[ honestly, she might. it's not as if anyone's all that steady after going a few rounds of torture (that she can only vaguely recall at the moment, all she knows for sure is that she was strapped to a chair as a laser bore into her eyes, having something injected into her arm as she was drilled for information), but max is a little concerned with just how unsteady she's feeling at the moment. the storm certainly isn't helping matters, but what's got her legitimately worried is the sudden migraine when she'd tried to focus her vision. however flawed her genetics had been, that's not something that had ever happened before.

she'll have to worry about it later. because the woman's right, they need to get inside fast. ]

Okay. [ out of instinct, max's arm goes around her waist, attempting to provide some stability for herself and the other woman, because she looks like she's in need of it, too. ] Let's get moving.

[chuju]

[ They're quite the pair, huh? Now that she's up close and personal, it's easy to see the other woman is unsteady for more reasons than just their strange arrival on this beach that's soon to be under siege by mother nature. It's just an instinctual understanding, recognizing something that Daisy is feeling herself. She doesn't question it, doesn't even consider demanding answers to questions she'll have to ask eventually. They can cross that bridge later, when they've survive whatever is approaching.

Firmly holding onto each other, Daisy moves them forward, the cold combining with the ever-moving sand to make it slower going than she'd like. They need to move but neither of them seem to be in the shape to do so very quickly. They both stay upright though; that's a good start.

After a few feet, she glances at her new companion briefly before turning her eyes back to the ground to keep her steps steady. ] I'm Daisy.

» day 3 ota/closed

[chuju]

[ooc: She's a bit busy on Day 3 with saving Coulson from a fear storm, adventures with Ellie, and Bad Decisions with Doc Holliday, but she could chat with people at the Gull in between those!]

[thering]

With enough supplies to last about a week out and about on his own, Doc had set out to explore further away from the restaurant and the houses that people have started settling down in. Yes, some of those dwellings are big grand houses, and given how everyone he's met had also washed up and are equally clueless as to what might have happened, he could have stayed in a vacant room with little trouble at all. For the most part everyone has been hospitable, polite, if a little miffed about their current circumstances. That's surely understandable.

But he doesn't much like the idea of sitting around waiting for the next terrible thing to happen. Leaving a note for familiar names to find at the Grey Gull, Doc has been straying away from the growing crowd as far as he can. Earlier he had been out knocking on the next two rows of houses he'd come across. No lights and seemingly as empty as the first, so he's not hopeful, but at least he'll have tried.

By the time she might cross his path, he'll have wandered out truly far indeed. It's bitterly cold and he has no luck starting a fire. He's plenty noisy though, breaking branches and crushing leaves everywhere he goes, so short of calling out into the darkness, he's definitely making his presence known.

[chuju]

Daisy hadn't started out alone that night, but she's alone now. With a flashlight in hand that she consistently cranks and a backpack full of supplies, she wishes she'd also brought a few more layers of clothes to add to what she's wearing — the second pair of socks helps, and so does the sweater under the raincoat she's not ready to abandon just yet, but the cold is already seeping straight to her bones. She can see her breath in the air and the shivers running through her are aggravating her bandaged injuries, but she reminds herself she's been through worse. All of this could be so much worse...

Still, she's not ungrateful to finally hear the sounds of life out here. Following those quiet branch cracks that seem so loud in the silence, the eerie nature of this creepy town almost has her imagination running away from her, so it's a relief when she catches sight of a very real, very much alive man.

Huh. Another cowboy. What are the odds.

Her flashlight probably gives her away, along with the sound of her boots on the ground, but she still calls out to let him know which side she's on. "Hey, you a kidnappee too?"

[thering]

They're barely been here three days and she's got bandages already. Doc Holliday is not amused. He tilts his head away out of the path of the beam of light, though he does manage a friendly smile.

"Is that what we're calling ourselves now?" he calls out as he slowly approaches her. He's not armed beyond a butter knife he absconded away with from the Grey Gull, and he wouldn't consider that as being armed, but it's still safer to approach with caution than get overly friendly and court a gun, fist or slap to the face.

"Did you get hurt out here, ma'am?" He slows to a stop in front of her. They're barely silhouettes in the dim lighting, but at least, at this distance, they can see each other better.

"It's a little cold and dark to be wandering alone, wounded," he observes quietly, hovering close and never quite breaking eye contact.

[chuju]

She lowers the flashlight's beam when he approaches, pointing it off to the side so there's still a bit of light to see by. Not much, especially not with the way most light has seemed to disappear with the onset of the bitter cold, but it's better than nothing.

The concern is touching but also feels a tad bit condescending. This cowboy (and he is absolutely one with that hat, accent, and mustache) has no idea who she is and what she's capable of, yet he's already assumed that she can't handle being out here while he obviously can. Wrong foot, pal. Try the other one.

"I'm fine," she informs him firmly, though she'll be pulling her sleeves down to cover the ends of the bandages on her hands the first chance she gets. "And it's a lot cold and dark to be wandering alone, so what are you doing out here?"

She's not impressed by the apparent chivalry that could very easily be an act, her expression both expectant and pointed as she waits for what had better be a damn good answer.

[thering]

"Looking for answers, same as everyone else. Though I'm not sure I will be finding any tonight." He can't even find his own ass in this rapidly plunging sort of darkness at this point, since she was the one smart enough to bring a torch, so...

"Don't suppose you would like to join me?" He doesn't know if it's irresponsible to get her to join him out here or if he should turn back and encourage her to return with him, but it seems easier to hit a dead end together than convince her as to what a lady with bandages should or shouldn't be doing at this time of night out alone in a foreboding, unsettlingly quiet town. Hopefully without either of them getting dead, of course.

can you lead me to the light

[warfares]

( it's the scent of caf that eventually draws him away from his study of the chalkboards. there'd been nothing of value to be learned, which had been somewhat disappointing given how rare it was to encounter high galactic in the wild. )

I don't suppose you have any of the pie I've been reading so much about.

( it's said by way of greeting, voice soft but with an edge of wryness that suggests he doesn't expect to be quite so fortunate. the caf will simply have to do. )

[chuju]

[ After their chilling and very wet arrival, the smell of the coffee really is incredible. It fills the kitchen and then spills out into the dining room, moving like a gentle wave that rises to soothe their rattled nerves. At least, that's how it is for Daisy, who is clutching a steaming mug in one hand while making an attempt at wiping down a counter with a damp dishtowel. She chose the one holding the coffee maker to clean, declaring the rest of the kitchen a loss, but even this small section is proving difficult. Still, it's been nice to have something to do, a brief distraction before she returns to what has thus far been a fruitless search for answers.

She's mid-sip when the stranger wanders in and asks about pie. The very tall, very large stranger. Honestly, she might have been a bit surprised by his size if she hadn't spent so many years working with Mack, the gentle giant who had been her partner until he'd been elected Director of SHIELD. ]

You know, I haven't actually looked to see if there's pie. There might be one in the fridge, if you want to check.

[ A gesture to the large industrial fridge on the opposite wall follows the casual suggestion, and secretly she hopes that there is pie in there. The coffee and milk are somehow still fresh here, so maybe whatever weirdness is at play will also gift them surprise pie. She'd be down for that. ]

[warfares]

( at daisy's suggestion, he moves toward the fridge and pulls it open, peering inside. and, it's the damndest thing because it's packed. raw goods, mostly ㅡ an embarrassment of riches unlike anything he's observed in literal years.

but no pie, alas.

still, that doesn't stop him from pulling down a few things: eggs and butter and a wedge of something that looks more plastic than cheese. )

Have you been here long?

[chuju]

[ That he emerges from the fridge without pie is disappointing, but what can one really expect from a creepy abandoned restaurant covered with grime but still miraculously stocked with fresh food? He did find some spoils, at least, and she wonders curiously at what he intends to do with them. ]

Here in the restaurant or here in Creepytown, USA? [ She sips at her coffee and then shrugs. ] Not long for either. Couple hours, at best. Did you wash up on the beach too?

[ The cold, wet beach that was currently being doused in ridiculously cold rain. She wants to be out there right this second searching for her team, but the sensible part of her (small as it can be at times) says to stay put until the storm passes — her teammates will likely have done the same. ]

[warfares]

( milk gets added to the pile, because milk is always useful to have to hand even if you aren't precisely sure what you're planning to do next, culinary-wise. but there's enough here to throw together something serviceable. even satisfying. )

I did, yes. Rather rudely, at that.

( to put it mildly. there's something ironic about spending the better part of a year chasing after a girl only to find her picking over your unconscious body in search of a weapon that had never been hers to begin with. )

Creepy Town, USA isn't the actual name of this place, is it?

( to his credit, he doesn't let any of his dubiousness leak out into the question. what is this planet? )

[chuju]

[ Daisy isn't someone who does a lot of cooking. She can microwave like a pro and make a passable sandwich, but she'd have starved without greasy diners during her hacktivist years. So watching this large stranger collect things from the fridge is its own form of entertainment. ]

Doubtful, though it'd be pretty great if it was.

[ That would actually make this whole situation a tiny bit more bearable. ]