059-061 » the place where you stop the story

[villagemod]

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: Eastern/Central/Southern Mathias
WHEN: Day 059-061
WHAT: Time returns to "normal" and Mathias grants a reprieve.
WARNINGS: (PM this account to have a warning added!)
NOTES: Plotting post over here! The next log will be posted the weekend of May 15th May 22nd.

RECOMMENDED ♫ Nathan Johnson "Foul Play"

DAY 059-061
A BRIEF REPRIEVE
“There is no real ending. It’s just
the place where you stop the story.”
— Frank Herbert
Residents awake to a peaceful morning with the sun shining and earth remaining still. There is no unsettling shaking to rouse them at dawn, and time has continued moving onward as they slept. Whatever state they were in the night before, they remain that way now, for good or for bad.

On the surface, there seems to be little lasting effect on the tiny town from that strange series of days, save for the memories of any traumatic experiences residents may have faced — but there are always consequences within Mathias. The perpetrators of acts against the town are tormented by nightmares of those acts being used against them, and those who did not raise a hand to stop those acts of destruction may yet face consequences of their own. For now, however, the unwilling townspeople should do their best to rest and recover from the disturbing ordeals of late, for this reprieve from the madness shall surely be shortlived.




THE NEW ARRIVALS
The newest arrivals to Mathias will wake up on the beach near The Grey Gull. It's a bit chilly out with their wet clothes, but surely there's something to help warm them inside the restaurant. They may even find some alcohol within — and not just the cowboys' homemade moonshine.

---

CONDITIONS UPDATE

— THE HISTORY MUSEUM has not fared well with the return of "normal" time. The once esteemed wooden building is now a charred ruin, the recent fire leaving behind little of the contents within for study. The structure is unstable and it is not wise to venture into the ruins for long.

— THE WEATHER conditions remain fairly typical for early fall: warm days and cool nights. It feels almost like spring arriving except that there fewer red and orange leaves on the ground and more of them oddly returning to the trees and slowly fading to green. It's like watching one of those nature documentaries that have a timelapse of the seasons, only it's going in reverse.

— THE FOG has retreated from some areas!

— Residents may now wander the southern stretch of the forest surrounding Mathias Township — it is possible to leave the paths but potentially unwise to do so.
— The fog has also retreated farther into the western section of town, now stretching across town between Stine Road and Shelley Drive. This has revealed the Chasm in the earth that stretches from one side of town to the other between Stine and Hill Lane.
— Access to the northern section of the forest is still blocked beginning a few dozen yards past the treeline; this section of fog will urge residents to stay huddled within the town proper by inducing a physical reaction of panic and fear.

— DEATHS & DISAPPEARANCES continue! Max Guevara has vanished into the fog. Claire Novak's body can be spotted on Day 059 facedown at the bottom of the Chasm between Hill and Stine, near Phillips Drive; by the morning of Day 060, her body will be gone. (Attempts may be made to reach her body but will likely not end well for those involved. Such attempts should be reported under Exploration.)

— ALCOHOL is still in Mathias! Just barely. (Supply is running very low after recent town events.) 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 was also restocked with its lower-end offerings of a variety of alcohol types. (Alcohol does not replenish as food does.)

---

OOC NOTES

— PROJECT HELP Your mod needs help with some projects!

— FUTURE PLANNING If you haven't, please answer the questions here for future log planning. I will almost definitely need some of these answers for the log going up the weekend of May 15, so act quickly! Late submissions will not be considered for that log.

— UPDATES Don't forget to report updates as they come up! Changes to locations (like toppling a few bookshelves in the library), big plots you have coming up that will affect the game (parties, major property destruction, etc), or exciting discoveries that may tie into the game's mythology (even the things provided by the mod) are very helpful to have in one place so relevant page updates can be made.

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

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Comments

[exsto]

He'd do more than just make it up to her. Daisy needs someone who will be there because testing any kind of limit, especially there in Mathias, was a foolish thing to do. She needs to be able to not worry unnecessarily; to not be another reason to stress over the what-ifs and maybe's. And if that meant letting this place uncover whatever truths it had to without getting too involved then he would. For her.

Turning his hand slightly, his thumb moves along the side of her hand, a tender response to her words. "Yeah, I do," he nods mentally preparing for the challenge of something so simple. As she does that, Bucky listens and peers around slowly to see if he can hear or catch sight that would tell him if Neal was close by.

"Where's Neal?"

[chuju]

Daisy loves Neal. She does, more than she thought she'd ever be able to love someone. But with how reckless he's been, with or without some strange compulsion behind the urges... Bucky's right, she needs someone to be steady for her. A rock she can count on to stay firm while the rest of the world falls apart around her. Having Bucky play that role in her life will only speed up the process of her falling in love with him too.

She gets up to get a glass of water for Bucky, placing a straw in the glass to make it easier for him to drink since he can't sit up on his own. A special trip to the General Store had been her few minutes away from the house, one brief productive task that she'd desperately needed. Settling back down beside him, she holds the glass close, moving the straw to his lips so he barely has to move to drink.

"He went out for a little while, but he'll be back soon," she explains with a soft smile. "Malcolm was having some sort of group thing and we both thought he should go and support his friend. I told him I'd stay with our Sleeping Beauty."

[exsto]

Bucky would have told Neal to do the same thing. They took care of each other, sure, but things have been rough for the other man and the last thing he needs right now is to have him be another reminder of what the township can do to people. Daisy doesn't need it either, but he's grateful she's here with him none the less.

He pauses before taking a drink to huff out a breathless laugh. "If that's the one I think it is, I think I got robbed out of my kiss." he looks at her with a small smile before taking a few swallows.

"Anyway, he's prettier than me." Bucky lets out a laugh that instantly turns into a grunt when the slight movement sends a flash of pain through him.

[chuju]

Bucky isn't going to be alone for any of this, she's set on that. Whether it's herself, Neal, or someone else visiting the man, he's not going to spend one minute of this alone unless he asks for it specifically. He's been through enough without that anxiety added in.

Daisy quickly sets aside the glass before moving her hand back to his hair, combing through it gently in the hopes of offering some comfort while he weathers that bout of pain. After a few moments, she offers him another soft smile, though there's no hiding how concerned and worried she is about him.

"I wouldn't say that," she informs him, trying to bring a bit of levity back to the conversation. "I'm a very lucky woman to have two gorgeous men around me all the time. And as for that kiss... I think we can do something about that."

She reaches up to tuck her hair behind one ear before leaning over him and carefully pressing her lips to his. It's not the kind of kiss she wants to give him, a far cry short of the physical reassurance she craves, but it'll do for now.

[exsto]

He's never really understood how healing someone's touch can be until he realizes how alive Daisy's makes him feel. It brings him a sense of calm that he can only feel and not put any kind of word to. But then no one really could if they've never experienced a certain situation or been able to understand how it makes them feel.

Watching as she nears, he closes his eyes and takes in the soft warmth of her lips on his and then slowly opens then again when she draws back. For a moment, Bucky finds himself just looking at her while feelings of guilt try to move back into the way. He pauses, brow pinching slightly as he makes the decision to bring it up anyway. The last thing he wants her to believe was that this was an accident because of his own stupidity.

Finally, after a long moment, he tells her. "It wasn't an accident, Daisy. I was pushed."

[chuju]

Daisy has always been someone who finds comfort in touch. She'd been deprived of it as a child, never having a loving parent or lasting friends to give her hugs or a hand to hold. Her team has filled that void over the years, each of them welcoming her unspoken need for closeness, but now with Bucky and Neal... It's different in the best way.

When he says those words, she finds herself desperately wishing that she could cling to him with every ounce of strength in her. Instead, she just goes very still, turning over his word choice and all the implications therein. It wasn't an accident of carelessness or bravado, he was—

"Did you see what did it?" The question is posed very quietly, her expression torn between panic, anguish, and rage. What, not who.

[exsto]

She knew something and part of him isn't sure he's ready to hear about a similar experience she had before he got to Mathias. But there had been no warning about the supernatural presence that he damn near came face to face with; the shadow man that had nothing in the way of a face or anything else for that matter.

"Yeah," he gives a vague nod. "It was some kind of shadow man. I saw him as I was climbing up and then heard him in the lighthouse when I went to go check it out and then again after when he pushed me. If any kind of message was received, it was that it didn't want me there."