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

[walkingtrigger]

"You don't cause problems for Raylan, Malcolm." The Ranger said in a low but direct tone. "Just, stop knocking alright?"

[abrightboy]

Malcolm looks over at him, watching him for a moment, then turns back to stirring.

"Okay."

He always feels like there's data that would clear up all the things that Tim says, but he's not allowed to have it.

"So was all this Athena's idea, then?"

[walkingtrigger]

"Team effort," he answered, turning back to the pot of soup he was stirring. "I T-ed up the initial idea, but Athena had a lot of good input."

[abrightboy]

“Like inviting people?” Malcolm suggests.

He puts the spoon in the sink and goes to the freezer to retrieve a handful of ice and throw it in.

[walkingtrigger]

Well.

When you put it like that?

"Yeah."

[abrightboy]

He puts the pitcher in the fridge.

“What else needs done?”

[walkingtrigger]

"You can start putting butter on the bread," Tim had the response ready to go, even though he could easily manage from here. He recognized a bleed of nervous anxiety when he saw one.

"Two pats, try to space them out diagonally from each other."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm follows the instructions, but also notes something about them.

“You’re very fastidious. Though maybe you just recognize that I need precise instructions for food related tasks.”

[walkingtrigger]

"The Army is responsible for the general fastidiousness," Tim corrected as he left the soup to start heating and moved to start opening and stacking plastic cheese slices. Not an arduous task, unless the cellophane sleeves were being difficult.

"The instructions for the butter come from years of failed attempts and practice to do better."

[abrightboy]

“I’ve never had a grilled cheese sandwich,” Malcolm tells him, carefully buttering.

[walkingtrigger]

"You thinking of breaking that streak tonight?" Seemed a reasonable question.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm smiles faintly and looks at the butter and looks at the cheese.

“No,” he says simply and softly. “Thank you. I can’t.”

[walkingtrigger]

Tim simple gave an agreeable nod and let the subject alone. Perhaps the kitchen wasn't the picture of lively chatter but at least the tension level seemed set to mostly neutral?

[abrightboy]

“What... do I do with them when they’re buttery?” he asks, looking around.

[walkingtrigger]

"Just leave them there," Tim instructed. "I build the sandwiches in the skillet so it helps to simply have an assembly line of buttered bread and cheese."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm sets each one aside as he butters them.

“Is this your go to or just for party food?”

[walkingtrigger]

Tim meant to only say that it was a 'go to'. But his brain tripped over itself and the fact that as a general rule he did make an effort to eat healthy, which a diet of grilled cheese would not support. So he ended up saying more than he meant to at this time.

"It's a go to, when I need a comfort food."

[abrightboy]

“Mine is licorice,” Malcolm tells him. “Red Twizzlers, specifically. Raylan found some in the movie theatre for me.”

[walkingtrigger]

For some reason 'Red Twizzlers' stuck out in his head. Tim paused for a moment to rewind his mental tape until he hit up the image of Malcolm offering him a Twizzler.

Ah.

A little too late to go back on that specific interaction, so Tim went forward.

"Never had much of a taste for chocolate or candy," he admitted, simply to make conversation, not calling anyone out on their choice of comfort nummies. "Salt, carbs and dairy are my vice. I can go through a quart of icecream and a box of tissues when I watch Old Yeller."

[abrightboy]

“I find ice cream heavy. I can manage yogurt, frozen or otherwise. I rather like sorbet,” Malcolm tells him.

[walkingtrigger]

"I always get sorbet and sherbet confused," Tim responded and he was stepping up to the stove to start making sandwiches. "On it refreshing, I agree with you there. The other has a texture like someone tried to freeze bubblegum."

The young marshal's tone said clearly how he felt about that texture. Spoiler. It was not positive.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm looks at him sidelong.

“Does your PTSD mess up your appetite?” he asks.

[walkingtrigger]

Malcolm. You have all the tact of a Sherman Tank.

Tim considered reminding the smaller man of the idea of boundaries, but he figured that he owed him for the melt down in the tunnel.

"No it does not," he drawled out as he set the first piece of bread into the skillet, butter side down and then began to build three slices of cheese onto the bread. "You don't get through Ranger training without learning the value of a meal when you have it."

[abrightboy]

He nods.

“Between complex PTSD and GAD and clinical depression, I have every kind of food aversion. Loss of appetite, food trauma, texture issues.” He shrugs. “Raylan and Doc worry.”

[walkingtrigger]

"They care about you, Malcolm. Of course they're going to worry, and want to attend to your wellbeing." The second slice of bread was laid atop the perfectly portioned cheese and Tim picked up a spatula and waited, occasionally nudges at the edges of the lowermost crust.