037-040 » the reason for time

[villagemod]

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: Eastern/Central Mathias
WHEN: Day 037-040
WHAT: The dead return and the living wake to changes within Mathias Township.
WARNINGS: Some explicit sexual content in threads. (PM this account to have a warning added!)
NOTES: Plotting post over here!

RECOMMENDED ♫ Kammarheit "Sleep after Toyle, Port after Stormie Seas"

DAY 037
THE DEAD RETURN
“The only reason for time is so that everything
doesn't happen at once.” —Albert Einstein
The dead return to Mathias forever changed by their experiences. Waking along the beach, near the tree line, or among the graves, they will find that their bodies are not as they remember them. They are whole again and not torn to shreds by the shadow creatures that cannot be described, but they are also not as they were before the Hunt. These residents will find, so strangely, that their bodies are in the physical state in which they first arrived in Mathias — any injuries or recovery they have made since their initial arrival no longer exists, as if their time in Mathias has simply been a horrible nightmare. Except they all now carry a last reminder of the Hunt with them: spiderweb-thin healed scars marking their injuries from the Hunt. Those who were injured by fire in the other realm also carry those burns with them.

The dead are not the only things that have returned to Mathias. Inexplicably, fall is back, with the temperature finally reaching above freezing and snow falling from trees to reveal beautiful autumnal colors. As the sun rises higher in the lightly cloudy sky and the day warms, the snow begins rapidly melting, puddles growing in the slowly revealed grass and little rivers forming in the streets. And with that snow comes the frozen blood from the deaths to the Hunt, tinting the street river on Phillips Drive a sickening shade of red.

Another oddity that residents will notice: houses with broken windows from the encounter with the fog on Day 015 have now been completely repaired, though any boards put in place are still there somehow. A small bit of good news, at least? And truly, how kind of Mathias to clean up its own mess.

Finally, alcohol is back. Enjoy in moderation, friends, for more will not be arriving the following morning.


THE NEW ARRIVALS
The newest arrivals to Mathias will wake up on the beach near The Grey Gull. It's quite chilly out with their wet clothes, but surely there's something to help warm them inside the restaurant. Indeed, their timing is perfect, for alcohol has finally returned to Mathias Township — and not just the cowboys' homemade moonshine.


DAY 038-039
THE CHANGE OF SEASON
The continued warm weather proves that the unseasonable shift of the previous day was not merely a fluke. Once again, the sun rises and brings with it a temperature that feels almost spring-like, save for the fact that each day there seem to be more and more leaves on the trees in hues of red and orange. For those who have been in Mathias for some time, this new type of weird may be almost normal at this point, but newer arrivals will likely find it quite odd.

The gently trickling river running along Phillips Drive is still somewhat pink in color as the snow continues to melt and refreeze each night. By Day 040, the bloody snow will finally be gone completely, though the relief will be... short-lived.

DAY 040
THE BLINDING WHITE
In the late morning of Day 040, when the sun is visible through patchy greyish clouds, the fog sweeps into town like a like a tidal wave. It moves in quickly and without warning, not from the waterfront but the forest, cascading through every street in a thick wave of white. Rather than a soft blanket enveloping the town, it is a heavy weight pressing down, blotting out the sky in a way that almost feels suffocating, for none can see further than their outstretch hand.

Those outside when it rolls in are left wandering blind, stumbling toward shelter as you're unable to even see your feet beneath you, let alone any obstacles in your path. Perhaps you call out for help, hoping for another voice to guide you toward shelter or simply another living soul. Or perhaps you were lucky enough to already be inside when the fog descended, quickly closing doors and windows to keep it from creeping in.

Unlike the last time the fog swept into the town, residents who encounter it are not immediately killed. Instead, they are simply disoriented, possibly losing their sense of time and place, and it is only after prolonged exposure that they will begin to feel off. A sense of being ill will cling to them if they are in the fog for too long, including dizziness, lightheadedness, or nausea — the time it takes to manifest varies from person to person, as does the duration it will last after leaving the fog.

By nightfall, the fog still has not dissipated.

---

CONDITIONS UPDATE

— THE WEATHER conditions are fairly typical for late fall: chilly "sweater weather" days and nights that can dip just below freezing. You don't want to be outside without a coat, but it won't kill anyone if they bundle up. Probably.

— THE FOG remains blocking the paths in the forest beginning a few dozen yards past the treeline, urging residents to stay huddled within the town proper, and it also now blocks the western section of town, beginning just past Hill Lane, before where residents know the chasm in the earth to be between Hill and Stine Road. Venturing into the fog blocking these areas is ill-advised.

— DISAPPEARANCES continue. Castiel and Sam Winchester have vanished, and Dean Winchester has not returned with the others after his death during the Hunt.

— THE GRAVEYARD has now seen around a dozen burials, both below and above ground. With the weather warming, though, something may need to be done about the handful of temporary graves aboveground...

— ALCOHOL has returned to Mathias! A small stock of beer and cheap wine may be found at the General Store, and some homes may have a small store of alcohol in the fridge or pantry. The Grey Gull has also been restocked with its lower-end offerings of a variety of alcohol types. Alcohol does not replenish in the same way as food.

— THE GREY GULL has been cleaned up and stocked with moonshine. Along with the newly restocked usual offerings, the place almost seems like an actual bar again.

— THE GENERAL STORE is in a bit of a state following the brutal slaughter of two residents during the Hunt. Cleanup on aisle 3, anyone?

---

OOC NOTES

— FOOD is now being mysteriously restocked as per usual, including inside homes and at the General Store. Alcohol is not being restocked. Use those rationing skills, friends.

— REWARD REDEPEMPTION is back and will soon have a new option for anyone looking to spend big AP and learn a bit more of the lore of the town.

— MADNESSES due to the Hunt have been earned by Klaus Hargreeves, Ellie, and Malcolm Bright and may now be claimed. Players may also claim additional sanity loss from the aftermath of the Hunt; only losses from the Hunt itself have been deducted from totals thus far.

— SANITY REGAIN is now available! Players will submit a form with some details of the progress their character has made and the mod will review and decide on the numbers of points that will be regained.

— MOD STATUS The usual reminder that it's mostly just Amy steering this ship for now, so things will probably be pretty slow for a while. Apologies in advance, and please don't feel shy about pinging me if you're stuck waiting for something.

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Comments

[abrightboy]

It was true. He could see that in Raylan's face when he said it. The conviction. He stared at him a moment, then he kissed him urgently, his hand sliding back up around the back of Raylan's neck.

[tinstar]

There wasn't anything that Malcolm would do that would put himself on the level of the people that Raylan was used to dealing with in his personal life. He hadn't said much about it, his roots, his childhood experiences, hell - even Winona, except to Doc and the gunslinger was already a rare exception. Raylan didn't have the words or the tools to make all that clear, to provide a context of contrast to what he was used to.

The idea that him falling into this, into the kiss and the heat of the man against him, was proof enough of that.

When the kiss broke, Raylan leaned his forehead against Malcolm's. "I can't say it's gonna be okay, but we're gonna do our best." He didn't know how to get through this but he was going to do his damnedest. For all of them; Doc couldn't shoulder the rock job all on his own and Raylan aimed to make sure of that. Support, for all of them.

"I'm not leavin' either of you."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm watched his face for another moment, then pressed his temple to Raylan’s temple before setting a kiss on his cheekbone, then on his cheek, then on his jaw.

“The house was wrong with just us there,” he murmured, pressing another kiss along Raylan’s jaw.

[tinstar]

He hummed quietly, tilting his head into those kisses, hands tightening a fraction before loosening. Whatever this was, however this was defined, he wasn't sure but there was no arguing the raw comfort Malcolm brought.

"I'll come back to the house tomorrow. Then maybe we can shamble back together some semblance of normal and try to move on to the next obstacle. Expand that garage or somethin', make room." He didn't object to Yennefer and Ellie posting up at 1306, he just couldn't face them fresh from it all. That required too much.

"It'll be okay. We'll figure it out."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm was pretty sure that Yennifer and Ellie were only staying temporarily. He expected they'd drift back to their house next door once things had settled in the wake of the massacre.

But that didn't make it easier to face faces that Raylan felt the need to be strong for. That he wanted Malcolm there made him feel... privileged.

"I can help," he said, pressing his face into the crook of Raylan's neck. "Doc said he'd teach me how to use tools as long as I put them down if I.... felt unwell."

[tinstar]

The extension wasn't just because of Yennifer and Ellie. Raylan was still thinking about Klaus and Five too. Their slight crowding issue predated their new trauma and it gave him something closer to normal to fall back on.

He nodded against Malcolm's head. "See, you're already halfway to makin' things okay. The help'll be good. For you too. Do somethin' with those hands besides wring them. Surprised you haven't broken any of your fingers, if I'm honest. Worryin' over all of us and everything else too. I think it'll be good for us to have a little extra room anyway. Just in case we decide to throw a block party again."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm lifted his left hand from Raylan's neck to look at it and then he wiggled it for Raylan.

"I broke my first metacarpal once. But that was to get out of shackles."

[tinstar]

"I don't know what your metacarpal is, but shackles? When were you in shackles?" Who used shackles, unless they were out in old old country? It sounded like some Roman prison shit, but Raylan kept that to himself.

[abrightboy]

"A serial killer got the drop on me when I was chasing him. He chained me up in a basement. He wanted to... convert me. Turn me into a killer. He decided that murdering my family with an axe was a necessary step to that so... I took a ball peen hammer from his tool bag and broke this bone right here," he said holding the hand up again and running the index finger of his opposite hand from the base of his thumb to his wrist. "The first metacarpal bone," he clarified. "Which allowed the five inch hand breadth of my hand to fit through a three inch steel shackle. So I could go after him." He looked from his hand up to Raylan's face. "Which, I have to say, was a lot more painful than the stab wound," he added, shifting so Raylan could see the pink line on the left side of his abdomen, just below his ribs. "That was my first 'trial'. Then sacrificing my family was to be the second 'trial'," he explained.

bathtub - for my own orientation

[tinstar]

There was, eventually, a point where Raylan's face could frown no more but it took the whole telling for it to get all the way down. There was no helping him glancing over at the context of where Malcolm had broken himself, but he was deeply impressed with the length Malcolm had gone to.

"Jesus," he finally said after a long second. "Him sacrificing them or you?"

Considering the painted circumstances, it could be either or.

bathtub

[abrightboy]

Malcolm looked up at him. "They way he put it: it wasn't something I had to do, just something I had to endure. He felt our family was my father's weakness and that I shared it, so if they were sacrificed... I could surpass my father as a predator."

[tinstar]

That was insane but then again, Malcolm Bright didn't seem to deal with a lot of sane people.

"What the fuck is goin' on in New York City?" And they say Kentucky was messed up.

[abrightboy]

"That's a fair question," Malcolm admitted with a laugh. "Though it's not exclusive to New York. I arrested some pretty messed up killers all over the country."

[tinstar]

"Don't get it twisted, we got a lot of messed up people in the south, all over the place, I've seen 'em too, but.. Seems like it's either New York or you drawin' in the freaks." Reasons why Raylan was not a profiler 101 - you don't start by calling them freaks.

He shook his head. "What happened after you got out of the shackles?"

[abrightboy]

"That particular freak had been a friend of my father's. I sort of accidentally drew him out. Stumbled onto his killing ground, ruined his quiet routine of killing indigent junkies that nobody missed."

He took a breath.

"After I got out... I caught up to him. He was trying to break down the door to my mother's boudoir with an axe. But when he heard me shouting, he came down to neutralize me first. I was the one that knew the lay of the land, though. I grew up in that house. ....And I'd seen the house that he grew up in. His childhood bedroom, with evidence that his ultra-religious grandfather locked him in the closet when he was naughty. I knew he had to have claustrophobia. That's what happened to me after I got locked in a closet just once. Every time he was punished? There was no way he wasn't claustrophobic. So I hit him with a crowbar and pushed him into the travel trunk from the basement. Locked him in until the police came."

[tinstar]

That answered that question - it was the family, not Malcolm himself. Malcolm getting drawn into Martin's shit.

Raylan's eyebrows lifted back up as Malcolm continued, forehead curling in the waves of the wrinkles there. He wasn't surprised - Humans did what they had too, but in the same breath he was; it was a slick solution. Neat, passively functional. Nonlethal.

"That's.. smart. Real smart. Was your mother okay? You said they, you got a sibling?"

[abrightboy]

He smiled a little at the compliment, fingers absently tracing an invisible pattern along Raylan’s collarbone.

“My mother was okay. I have a younger sister - Ainsley - she hit her head during the chase but she recovered.”

[tinstar]

"Hero of the day, huh?" Raylan's face curled back into a soft smile, thumb brushing along the line of Malcolm's bare, wet thigh in a silent comfort. "Just like when Henry and I got trapped. Out here savin' lives."

For the minute, all his horrors, the scars, the death, the feeling of his muscles contracting and popping free, were held outside the tub. He wasn't sure if that was because of the hot water that had banished away the cold in his bones or the profiler against him. Bets were on the latter. Raylan didn't want to leave the safety of it all yet.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm smiled at both the touch and the compliment.

The water sloshed softly as he shifted to look up at Raylan.

“I think it’s important to fight for something instead of just against something. To fight to save lives instead of just... fighting against taking them.”

[tinstar]

Malcolm did just as much for him as Raylan did for him in return, one of the few statements he couldn't include Doc in due to not knowing. It might come up when Raylan brings Malcolm up, just so he could know.

"People like us.. seems we only chose those two sides, huh." Success or Failure was something else entirely. "I feel like I've chosen both of 'em... I miss havin' my gun," he admitted with a breath and a little shake of his head. "You always thought this way?"

Did he ever find himself thinking the other way? Raylan couldn't help but ask, considering that Malcolm frequently saw his father who, Raylan did not doubt, spoke to him. Urged him to.. darker things.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm bit his lip. "I'm not..." His brow creased slightly. "I don't think law enforcement should risk their own life to avoid killing a bad person. I think if you need to shoot to survive, you absolutely should. My friends do, too. I just... can't. I'm afraid that if I kill someone I'll... develop a taste for it. Like he did." He turned slightly so he could look at Raylan more directly, a light in his eyes as he slid into his specialty. "It's not the first kill that worries me. Did you know that someone's first kill doesn't really mean anything? Not... pathologically. Anyone can kill a person by accident or on a whim or in the heat of the moment. But what happens when there's a second... and then a third.... And what do people say when the son of the Surgeon starts racking up a body count? No matter the circumstances?" He shook his head. "It's a slippery slope for me. And the optics are bad. I haven't carried since I left the FBI."

[tinstar]

'If you need to shoot to survive'. Oh if only that was the only reason he'd ever discharged his firearm. He wishes. As cute as it was to see Malcolm enthuse in such a way, the topic balanced that out with a macabre dress that left Raylan frowning a little in understanding.

"We ever get firearms back in this place, Henry and I get first dibs then. Anyone who's got a problem with my body count isn't here and I don't have the same issues you do." No reason to sugar coat it, right?

He studied Malcolm's face, face twitching a little as his brain reminded him- "Malcolm.. you said you.. cleaned me up. Doc burned Negan? What happened to Neal?" Not their bodies - them. He wasn't ready to climb that mountain yet.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm’s expression wavered at the question, but it was because of the memory, not because Raylan asked. His hand splayed on Raylan’s chest, his fingers fidgeting against his skin, his tone subdued.

“He was closest to the house. We cleaned him up first. Both of us. He was... clean in half. Will Graham came by and examined the scene, then... moved on. Towards town. We went the other way. Looking for you and Negan.”

[tinstar]

Raylan steeled himself for the answer at the waver of Malcolm's face, preparing for the worst and it was good that he did. Clean in half. He was glad there wasn't anything in his stomach with the way it clenched; he didn't want to add another round of hurling to all this. His face twitched towards a more severe pinch passingly at the mention of Will Graham - He'd have to track the man down.

"What'd you do with us? Why burning for Negan?"

[abrightboy]

His voice wavered as he answered.

“We had plastic in the garage that we were going to use to cover the insulation, when we... split it into bedrooms. We used it to wrap up... all the... pieces.” One package of Neal bits, one package of Raylan bits. Like a delivery from the butcher shop that nobody asked for. “We buried you. Under rocks. Like Rey. Rocks from the beach. We left extra over there... just in case. But. Doc said Negan told him that his body... he comes from a place with an infection that reanimated the dead into monsters and he didn’t know if he carried it so he had to either... have his brain smashed or he had to be burned. So we burned him.” Nobody had had the stomach for smashing his skull. “We have to collect more stuff for the garage; we used some of that wood in the pyre too.”