villagelogs | 059-061 » the place where you stop the story

Entry tags:

059-061 » the place where you stop the story

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.

navigation | faq | locations | report updates

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

His brow pinched a little further. He'd done all he could but.. Maybe if he'd let somethin' go or gone back to Glynco, taken the demotion. He could have worked jobs on the side for extra money. Money they needed now that Willa was around. Collage to think about.

A life he didn't get to have, it felt like.

"Never," he promised, features pinching in a brief sharp expression of deep sincerity. It was the one thing he tried not to do, ever. It was why he'd refused to fight Callisto - he'd shoved her away, rolled around in the dirt, but he hadn't swung. Hadn't fought her the way he knew how.

"Doesn't matter much now," he said, taking a deep breath and shifting on the wall, somehow settling their fingers together enough to interlace. He was bad at this but he appreciated how passionate Malcolm was in his defense. "I got the sense that her two sentence goodbye was a final one.."

Then a soft smile broke over his face, breaking away the storm cloud that had been brewing there. "But Tim say's she's had the baby. Named her Willa." He still had a possibility with her. For a real family like relationship that didn't leave him burnt and bruised and furious in his loneliness.

Malcolm's features shifted from concern to a warm, soft, genuine smile.

"Willa. That's beautiful. I'm so happy for you."

Even if it was sad that he was stuck here instead of with her, it was still wonderful news.

"I bet you'll be great with her. I bet you'll be an amazing dad."

She was out there. She existed. She was being taken care of. Those were the most basic things Raylan could ask for. Being part of her life would be a gift. A blessing, if he believed in those. Still, he hadn't asked Tim if he'd seen her yet. In person. At some months old. He was worried about the answer.

But Raylan's smile spread a little at Malcolm's opinion of the name.

"It'd fit in the holler and any city. Willa Givens." He was already smitten. Had been since he found out. "I hope I will," he continued with a genuine smile. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I'll find someone accepts her and the job and me." He looked over sidelong.

"You, the fountain of hope for everyone else."

Malcolm beamed at him.

"That's what you deserve, Raylan. That's the least you deserve." He squeezed Raylan's hand. "I hope I get to meet her some day. See which of your genes she got. Cleverness. Athleticism." He holds his free hand at the height of his head and then above it. "She'll probably grow up to be taller than me," he said with a light laugh.

He gave Malcolm a soft smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. He could say the lie, pretend he had the hope for it all and some part of him did but that part was getting smaller and smaller some days.

"She probably will but don't take that personally. With Ainsley next to you, I got a feelin' your family runs short. Frances and Helen were both 5'9 at least. She'll be tall. Unless Winona's genes take a few inches away from her." The smile twitched towards pained and simmered down to a faint tilt of his lips. He bet she was beautiful, Willa.

"I told Tim when he first got here that I didn't want spoilers. But the more I sit with it, the more I want to ask everythin' I can. Like I can.. extract an image of her outta his head or somethin'. I'm thinkin' about askin' him for spoilers anyway. Just to..." Just to see if he and Winona did get back together or not.

Raylan loved Malcolm, Henry, Tim. He did. And none of them got close to the hook that Winona had deep into him. He'd hung so much on them being together. He never thought it'd be over the way it had been.

"I don't see any harm in it. If knowing she's healthy and safe makes you feel better... if learning what you can helps you cope... I don't see how it can hurt." He looked up at Raylan with a charmed smile. "And it looks good on you," he informed him. "That unfettered love."

"You think?" he asked, features curling in Malcolm's direction for a long second before he shrugged. "I never wanted kids. Not until this one case.. then a yard fulla little Givens wasn't so bad."

He would have had a herd of children with her, if she had asked. But they'd been on the same page on that subject for so long, even one was.. pushing it.

"You ever thought about havin' kids?"

Malcolm huffed a self-conscious laugh.

“Me?” He shook his head. “No. I mean. Nobody is going to... want that. With me.” He took a breath. “Anyway, I’m probably not what anyone would call ‘dad material’, right? Without meds, I can barely take care of me,” he laughed awkwardly.

Raylan clucked. "As much as you care about people? C'mon. You'd be great. Shapin' a little person, cognizant of what they should and shouldn't be aware of at that age. You're too sweet to not be good with kids, I'm sure." His lips curled a little more.

"You know.. If you and I do come from the same world.. With Willa and all. She's.. It's a package deal." He knew he was betting against himself. He knew there was no way they were from the same world; Malcolm was right about Raylan around the whole topic. His balloon had been burst and now he couldn't reinflate it.

"Think you'd be able to handle that? That and an ex-wife?"

Malcolm hadn’t ruled it out, he and Raylan coming from the same world. It was possible. To hear Raylan even breathe the possibility lit something in his eyes as he looked up at him. He felt like he was holding something sacred and he was afraid to breathe or he might break it.

At the same time, Doc’s words still lingered in a corner of his mind. Maybe he figured the two of you can handle the scorn, a few threats, name-calling, unnecessary commentary, being pariahs. But his kid sure as hell can't. You can't ever be seen, with Raylan, in public, in Kentucky. Do you really think he thought that one out when he said he wanted you there?

“I could be part of your daughter’s life? You’d want that?” The part of his life Malcolm would be in and the part with his daughter and his job and his ex-wife. Together.

But where was he gonna fit you, between spending his nights sitting in his car outside a wanted man's house, arguing with his ex-not-ex-woman... thing, raising his kid, getting shot at, going back to the inn he's living out of where he can't refit the bed to suit what you'd need, probably drinking whiskey out of a plastic cup, waiting for the phone to ring to listen to someone else's voice? Where did you think you'd fit into all that?

“There’d be... space for me there?”

It was impossible to miss all the hope and slight terror in Malcolm's eyes as he looked up in response to that and it all made Raylan smile a warm crooked smile at him. They could pretend. For a little while.

"Anyone I would be wantin' to be with would be part'a her life. She's part of my life.. Or will be. I hope." His head tilted a little. Something about the way Malcolm asked about space sent up a flag in the back of his head.

"If you mean emotional space, plenty of it. Physical space is.. less plentiful but.. That's only while I'm in Kentucky. But dealin' with it all would be.. a lot. Winona is a lot and she won't take to this kinda.. self-discovery well." He could understand if dealing with what made up his life was too much. Honestly, he expected it to be too much for Malcolm. Yeah, Malcolm did a similar job but he worried and Raylan could imagine what that worry might turn into at home.

Malcolm was already waving his free hand to dismiss the 'a lot' before Raylan finished describing it. His family was 'a lot'.

"I can handle 'a lot'," he promised with no concern in his tone. "But... emotional space. Yeah. And... logistics, I guess. Like. Tim will be there, too. I haven't confirmed his suspicions but he didn't seem happy about it when he made the accusation. Are... are you going to tell people about us? If you don't want to, will he keep it a secret?"

Raylan nodded faintly at the waving off of it; there was no accurate way to convey how it was. Everything fell a little short anyway. Malcolm would have to experience it himself.

But the question posed was an amazingly difficult one and Raylan couldn't do anything other than shake his head. "I don't know. I'm not.. Tellin' anyone at home isn't wise. Tim's a gay man in rural Kentucky - he knows how to keep a secret. Mainly because breakin' it could ruin everythin'. Our Job, his general safety. Your safety.. No one is 'out' in Kentucky. It's not the place for it."

He was sure he didn't need to go into detail on that one - the crimes against those seen as Other in the south went just as deep.

“Well... then your wife can’t know about us, right? Her portion of the ‘a lot’ won’t be a factor.” He took a bite of eggs. “If nobody knows, then... I have to stay away from them. The people around you. Except maybe Tim. Except he thinks I’m annoying so he probably won’t hang out with us either.” Malcolm poked at his eggs thoughtfully. “You could transfer out of Kentucky. But I’m not sure that would change anything. I’m sure we’ll be able to make it work, wherever you need to be,” he concluded with a shrug and another forkful of eggs.

He felt weighted down by the guilt of it all. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. How was it fair to ask anyone to live like that? Winona would figure it out shortly once she laid eyes on them - it was hard to hide anything from her. It was bound to happen, her figuring it out.

"You deserver better than all that. Something.. where you don't gotta hide somethin' else. Where it ain't gonna be a fight of some kind."

“I don’t think you’re ready for that yet,” Malcolm said with a simple, understanding tone, without realizing he was misconstruing what Raylan meant. “Maybe in time, but we’ll see. It’s not the worst thing,” he promised.

It wasn’t being alone forever. In some ways, the secret room that was their private time together was like.... a different place. A magic place that belonged to only them. Raylan’s love was a high. Having a place in that secret room was a privilege. He felt special to see sides of Raylan he hid from most people. He felt special to be wanted beyond the bubble. Doc’s advice lingered in the back of his mind but Raylan’s assurances overrode them.

“Besides, you don’t want to stay in Kentucky forever.”

That hadn't been what Raylan meant but it spoke to Malcolm's sweetness that Raylan's comfort of being out was so accurately judged and considered. He wasn't ready for that, no. He didn't know if he'd ever find a place that made him comfortable enough to do so.

"Just til I handle Boyd. Once Boyd's in jail, I plan on goin' back to Miami. Beaches and views are better there, even if most of the state is a swamp." A better focus for their conversation than Raylan's status. "Food's good too."

"Maybe I can help you handle Boyd," Malcolm said with no small degree of excitement, leading forward in eagerness again. "And then we can leave."

"Mm, only way to handle Boyd is by catchin' him red handed. Can't go settin' him up, he's too smart, he'd smell it. We gotta let him walk into a trap of his own makin'.. With a little help, if we know about it beforehand."

He didn't want to tell Malcolm that he might not like Kentucky for a whole host of other reasons that had nothing to do with who stuck what where. There'd already been a lot of No this morning, a lot of argument.

"Won't be much longer, I'm sure. We just gotta find the right CI. You'd stick out like a sore thumb in those suits you wore. Might blend in in jeans though." If he was willing to try and blend that was.

"I have jeans," he said quickly. Jeans that actually fit, even. Maybe they were designer and tailored. That didn't matter, right? "And t-shirts." He wanted to blend in if blending in helped Raylan.

And helped him stay with Raylan.

No one would really notice, unless his shoes were super shiny.

"Put a flannel or something over it and you're set," he assured with a squint of one eye. "They'll still mark you for bein' from outta town, but. Nothin' to be done about that. Probably better that way, in Lexington. They'll think you sized down, might even be the talk of three or four blocks."

“Well, I’m not going to leave here with any shortage of flannel,” he teased. He reached over and rubbed the collar of Raylan’s flannel shirt between his thumb and forefinger. “Or maybe I’ll wear one of yours. The sleeves will be too long, but I’ll smell you just faintly all day.”

[OOC Note: As noted in another thread, slight flubs. These conversations are meant to be in this thread. Conversation will resume with a mix of both of Malcolm's last tags.]

Raylan hummed a pleased note, glancing at the lapel that Malcolm had fingered. Just as cute as it had been when Malcolm curled up in his clothes to keep him around while he was dead. "Is it emasculatin' to say I think that'd be cute as hell?"

He nodded at the can, one eye squinting to almost shut. "I think the rice will be carbs enough but if you want toast and can't eat the other half of that. A garbage disposal, at your service.

Malcolm laughed. “I’ve been called a lot worse than ‘cute’,” he teased, though his face gave away that he was actually delighted. He gestured to the soup. “I prefer chicken and rice to chicken noodle. The texture of the noodles...” he winced slightly. “They’re always so.... squooshy.”

"It was always my go to when I feel like crap with a sore throat. No effort needed beyond mushin' it against the roof of your mouth. Aunt Helen would bring it with Saltines and 7-up. Never seemed like rice belonged in there, but I won't hold it against them. I'm fairly sure I could find a few stock recipes if I looked, and that's where all the goodness is, right?"

While Malcolm tended that, Raylan headed for the coffee pot. Never too early for coffee.

"Neal settlin' back in alright? I've seen less of him than I mean to."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject