004-006 » it was the possibility of darkness...

[villagemod]

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: Eastern Mathias.
WHEN: Days 004-006
WHAT: Where has the day gone?
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. PM this account to have a warning added!
NOTES: Plotting post over here!

RECOMMENDED ♫ Graham Plowman "The King in Yellow"

DAY 004
THE DAY OF DARKNESS

For those who ventured out on the third night, the day will look eerily familiar, for this is no day. The sun does not rise in the morning as it should, and the black sky still stretches ominously above them with no stars or moon to light their way. It is impossible to tell either the hour or the passage of time, a truly disorienting experience for those used to the normal cycle of day and night.

Beyond the safety of that initial cluster of houses are three blocks more of residential spaces, along with streets branching off on either side into neighborhoods. There are no lights on in any of these homes, though there are occasional streetlights illuminating the way. The unwilling residents of Mathias are welcome to explore these home, though it is wise to take care of being out in the cold for too long. The temperature hovers near the freezing point, dipping lower the further one ventures down those side streets. At a certain point, the temperature drops sharply and those comforting streetlights blink into darkness. These same conditions befall those who try to walk beyond the Mathias Public Library.

The silence from the start of the unearthly night also continues into what should be day. No sounds travel through that bitterly cold air and while there is no physical impact on any who wander outside, the silence feels oppressive and like the rest of the world has disappeared beyond their small circle of sound and whatever light they carry with them.


A NEW ARRIVAL

A terrible time to arrive in Mathias, surrounded by darkness and freezing cold. The newest resident will find herself shivering awake beneath a streetlight outside the Public Library, with no sign of how or why she has ended up in this unfamiliar place.

Best get inside, dear. It isn't safe in the cold.

DAY 005
NIGHT CONTINUES

There is still no sign of the sun. No moon. No stars. Nothing but darkness and painful cold greets our weary fellows on the fifth day.

Indeed, it seems almost monotonous, like this stretch of hours will be exactly as the last... until it isn't. At unpredictable intervals, the power begins to fluctuate within buildings where it had previously held steady. Lights flicker, central heating stutters, and as the hours wear on, there is the notion at the back of the mind that the electricity may go out entirely. Many houses and buildings in Mathias have fireplaces — it might be a good time to start using them.

DAY 006
SILENCE BROKEN

Across Mathias, the power fails completely. Now our ill-fated friends understand why emergency kits are so easily found in residences and businesses in town. Candles, matches, crank flashlights — these are the only means to light your way if you're foolish enough to move beyond the safety and warmth of a fireplace.

The silence is no longer relegated to the outdoors now, but has seeped inside. Sounds almost seem to be absorbed by the impenetrable blackness, disappearing into its depth so completely that one might begin to believe they never existed. The feeling of utter isolation becomes almost maddening, relief only provided slightly by the company of others. And then, suddenly, within that dark nothingness—

Voices. Indiscernible whispers from within the black, one voice or a dozen, with no source to be found. Lasting a mere second or for minutes or hours on end, coming from any direction or from nowhere at all, heard by only one person or by everyone, there is no shutting them out. Following the whispers is ill-advised, as they may lead away from the safety of a group, or out into the cold and beyond the point of no return.

---

LOCATIONS

THE PUBLIC LIBRARY A large brick building with a string of round lightbulbs draped across the double door entry way, the library resides at the intersection of Phillips Drive and Jackson Boulevard. The building is older than most in this area and coated in more dust than an ill-used library might usually see. There are a number of tall windows throughout the main room that are either broken with glass and debris scattered across a wide stretch of floor or coated in grime so thick that light couldn't penetrate even if there was any. There are lanterns with candles set around the room on lower shelves or the tops of pedestals, and low lamps with green glass are perched on reading tables at one end.

The books are what one might typically find in a small town library - classics, history, dry biographies, but nothing too controversial and nothing published after 1990. But these books are all collected at the front half of the library — toward the back is a different story. Almost as if walking into a different era, the shelves suddenly filled with old leather-bound tomes that smell add a musty smell to the air. Those shelves rise up toward the high ceiling, the tops barely able to be seen with one of the lanterns should it be lit, and as one reaches the very back of the library—

Streaks of soot cover the shelves, or what remain of them, and those along the wall are a blackened mess of what is left behind when books burn. From floor to ceiling, these shelves are a mangled ruin, and there is no way to tell what these books might have contained, or why the fire did not spread further into the room.

THE RESIDENTIAL HOUSES The stretch of new houses mentioned on Night 3 may still be explored as the night continues. Phillips Drive continues on for three blocks past where Mathias's newest residents took shelter, and the cross-streets of King Lane, Stoker Park, and Jackson Boulevard are also open for one block in either direction. Venturing beyond this area is met with painful cold and debilitating exhaustion.

The houses in this section of town are both locked and unlocked, ranging from pristine (if dusty) condition to rundown and falling apart, as if some houses have aged where others have not. The "oldest" houses have been overtaken by rot, interior walls missing whole sections, holes in the floors between levels. There is running water in all the houses in this area of time, but only the best condition houses have working electricity, though the electricity will begin to fail as the night stretches on. The corded landline telephones found within the homes are still working, thankfully, and new sets of numbers (this time without names) are easily found for each block.

As utterly empty as the "newest" houses seem to be, the oldest are... less so. There's a feeling that someone could walk around the corner at any moment. It is almost the sensation of being watched, or of there being thing else there that cannot be seen. Nothing in the houses is disturbed and there are no shadows springing out, so perhaps there's really nothing there at all...

THE BOARDING HOUSE Another large brick building at the intersection of Phillips Drive and Jackson Boulevard, the boarding house occupies the opposite corner from the library and seems to be almost as old as the larger building across from it. There are three stories to the building: the first floor contains the kitchen (fully stocked), dining room, shared living room space, and a half bath; the second floor has four single bedrooms and one full bath; the third floor also has four single bedrooms and one full bath. There is a locked door on the third floor that leads to an attic. Each room is furnished with a double bed, desk, and small table and chairs, and in each room there can be found the clothing and personal effects of the former boarders. The electricity and other utilities in the boarding house function just fine until the power fluctuations begin as in the rest of town.

Room 1 — unclaimed
Room 2 — unclaimed
Room 3 — Daisy Johnson
Room 4 — Max Guevara
Room 5 — Number Five
Room 6 — Phil Coulson
Room 7 — Claire Novak
Room 8 — unclaimed

To claim a house for layout designing/exploration or a room in the boarding house, comment here. House numbers will be generated in response to comments.

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Comments

[chuju]

[ Just sitting and talking. Somehow, that sounds like the best thing in the world right now. It's only been... what, two days since she first learned he was also trapped in this weird town, but already she's exhausted from keeping things from him. Her talk with Henry has been weighing on her, nagging at her to not waste this time, like he'd said. So she smiles and nods, agreeing to the proposition. ]

Yeah, I have. Let's see... A couple cowboys. A time traveller trapped in a kid's body. A few people with lives fucked up on a scale I'm very familiar with...

[ But he doesn't even know the half of it. She looks down at her lap, bruised fingers playing with the bandages wrapped over her palms. ]

Henry said I should make the most of this time we have now because it's time we didn't have before. Things have been really hard the last few years, really busy and crazy and we haven't had a lot of time to just... talk. It's all a lot more than it used to be; a lot harder, a lot more painful. And the stakes are so much higher. [ Taking a shaky breath, she focuses on holding back the tears burning at her eyes. If she's doing this, she's doing it right. ] I miss being able to sit together and talk. You'd dork out over your collection of old stuff and I would roll my eyes... That was just really nice.

[ She looks back at him with a vulnerability in her eyes that she hadn't actively decided to let him see but that she can't hide. Not from him. ] You're my family. You're who I turn to when things get heavy, and it feels like I can't do that now. Because I have to 'protect the timeline'... and I hate it. I just wanna have a conversation with the man who is like a father to me and I— [ Her jaw trembles and she feels like a little kid again all of a sudden, looking to the parent she'd never had the first time around. ] Tell me it's okay. Please.

[ She doesn't know what she means by that. Tell her it's okay to... keep things from him? To say screw the timeline and just talk like they used to? Or to think of him like this when he probably doesn't think of her the same way yet? ]

[40seconds]

[ At least just sitting and talking seems harmless enough on a surface level. Call it intuition or whatever, but Coulson can't help but feel like even doing that much with her is going to only contribute to the feeling of awkwardness between them. It's a feeling he hates very much, but he's trying to see it from her side: it has to be ten times worse for her, knowing so much and not being able to speak freely about it.

So in that regard, he knows he has no business asking anything from her, but that doesn't help settle his nerves. They've always been able to talk, so any gaps in between them just serve to annoy him.

But for now, at least he can focus on discussing the other unfortunate individuals who are stuck here with them. ]

Cowboys? Okay, that I can see, but a time traveller? And in a kid's body? There really is no rhyme or reason to this place.

[ He's shaking his head, because he already thought that nothing about this place made sense, but hearing this, it makes even less now.

He's about to add something about her last comment, but she's plowing on ahead, and something about her tone tells him it's best if he just stops talking and listens.

It takes about five seconds for his throat to close up, because he can hear the emotion in her voice, and that look in her eyes makes him want to reach out for her and pull her in for a hug. But she's not done yet, so he refrains for the moment.

When she's finished saying her piece, ending with practically begging him to reassure her that it's okay, he opens his mouth to say something, but the words just won't come. Knowing that this is what she's been feeling this whole time feels like a punch to the gut, and while he understands why she would feel that way, he has only one thing to say. ]

Daisy.

[ He reaches out for her hands, intending to take them in his if she'll allow it. ]

Screw the timeline. [ It comes out a little harsher than he intended, but if he has to choose between helping her preserve the timeline and just plain helping her as he's always tried to do, he knows what choice he has to make. ]

It's okay. It's always going to be okay.

[ Sure, he doesn't know that, doesn't know what repercussions might or might not happen because of this, but they're not in their world anymore. Maybe they're so far removed from it that what they do here has no bearing on the timeline. It's a chance he's willing to take. ]

You can always talk to me about anything. [ He chuckles quietly then, and he adds: ] Even if you're going to tell me that you've seen giant green space rats, I'll always want to hear about it.

[ He's almost 100% certain that whatever she wants to talk about won't involve that, but he just wants her to know that however crazy, hard, or dark things have become in the future, right now, he'll support her however he can. ]

[chuju]

[ Screw the timeline. A weight lifts off her chest with those words and she squeezes his hands slightly, holding them just a little more firmly. It's hurt so much to keep this from him, to hide the part of herself that is so desperate to tell him things, to share this side of herself, to just let him know her the way her Coulson does. She's been so scared of messing things up, making everything worse and hurting someone she loves again—

It's always going to be okay. But it isn't, and she can't tell him that. As much as she wants to tell him everything, she can't bring herself to hurt him. Knowing that he only has a few years left, that so many of them are filled with pain and hardship... She can't do that to him. She can't tell him about losing Trip, about almost losing May because of her own stupid choices. She can't tell him that she's the one who pushes the button that brings him back, even though she'd known he wouldn't have ever wanted to come back like that.

But then, when she's ready to burst into tears at the thought of all of that, he goes and brings up giant green space rats. He always did know how to get her to smile. ]

They were red, actually. That was one of the more memorable planets we visited... [ She'd never gotten to tell him anything about her months in space before. He'd left with May and she'd gone in the Zephyr to find Fitz. The next time she'd seen him, the real him and not just some alien wearing his face, they'd been hurtling through time. ]

[40seconds]

[ He can almost tell when that weight lifts off her. Even if there's a lot of years between them, she still keeps a lot of things on her sleeve for anyone to see. Or maybe it's just that he's used to being able to look at her and read her like one would read a book. That hasn't changed too much. ]

Something else is bothering you, isn't it? Besides being trapped here, with your powers not working properly.

[ Of course he figured that whatever's on her mind isn't simple enough to be put to rest with just a few insightful words. ]

Is it something I did?

[ He doesn't like to make himself the center of attention, because he'll go to his grave swearing that other people are far more important than he is. But if he did something wrong, or let her down somehow, he'd rather hear about it plainly than letting it go unchecked.

Still, he smiles when she lightly corrects him about the color of the space rats. ]

I bet they were a sight to see. And I'm still wrapping my head around the idea of the team going to space. [ It's a thought that makes him smile to imagine it. ]

[chuju]

They were, yeah. And it's... Space is wild. And amazing. [ She doesn't explain that he doesn't go with them. He was there for the future, but that had been the remains of Earth and Kree overlords. He'd missed traveling to other planets, meeting species so incredibly different from their own. Getting high on alien junk food. It's something he would have loved to be part of.

But he died and never to experience any of it. And then she brought him back. ]

You didn't do anything. [ How could he even think that? She shakes her head, watching him for a moment, then looks down at their hands. If she's going to tell him this, she can't see the way he looks at her. She just can't handle that. ]

Something... happened the day before I was brought here. Happened to me. I— [ She pulls in a deep breath that sounds sharper than she means it to. ] Inhumans— Our powers are genetic. Someone saw me use mine and he... He, uh,... He took my blood, and other things, and put it all in himself to take my powers. [ Her hands tighten on Coulson's as her voice breaks. She clings to him like he's the only sane thing in her world. ] He learned how to do it from the man who did it to my mom.

[ And there it is. In a jumble of words that can barely be counted as an explanation, Coulson now knows that she was tortured just like her mother. Because somehow it's the least painful thing she can tell him about her life that he hasn't seen yet. ]

[40seconds]

Well, maybe one day, I'll get to see it. [ Together goes unspoken, because whatever happens in the future, she had said that she's still with the team, so that's somewhat comforting. Little does he know that he'll most likely never experience it for himself. ]

Just making sure. [ If he did something wrong, he can't just leave it unfixed. But he's quick to abandon that line of thought, focusing back on her and how her gaze drops as if she can't stand to look at him. That just confirms for him that whatever she's going to tell him, it's bad.

He stops and listens, though, as she explains, but as she does, his expression darkens and his brow furrows into a severe line. It's worse than anything he could have imagined. ]

And we- [ He wants to say "I", but he can't quite bring himself to yet. ] What were we doing? Why didn't we stop it?

[ Meaning the rest of the team. They're supposed to work together to prevent things like this from happening.

Unfortunately, he has more questions than anything else, except for extreme anger. His hands are still twined together with hers, but he involuntarily fists them as best as he can without hurting her. ]

Tell me we found the person who did it.

[ And put him down. Locked him away. Something. ]

[chuju]

[ It breaks her heart to hear him ask those questions because she knows what he's really asking. Why didn't he stop it. And she can't tell him that either. She can't tell him that he'd been busy blowing himself up to stop a race of alien robots from destroying SHIELD and taking over the world.

Still, as much as it hurts to know that this is hurting him, his anger is almost... soothing. It's the reaction of someone who cares, which she needs pretty desperately right now. ]

We were in the middle of a mission. A big one. You couldn't have stopped it. [ Because he does need to know that, if nothing else. ] And yeah, he's... He couldn't control my power and brought the building down on himself. He won't hurt anyone else.

[ But she still wakes up terrified that she's back in that barn. And every second she spends in this place, she's reminded of what happened because of how weak her powers still are. Nathaniel Malick haunts her like a psychotic ghost and she worries she'll never be able to escape him. ]

[40seconds]

[ This feels a lot to him like he let her down. Not the team, just him. He's supposed to keep them all safe to the best of his ability, and from what he can tell, he failed at that particular task. Knowing that she was taken and tortured on what he thinks was his watch is unforgivable and insurmountable.

Yes, of course he cares, and of course he's angry on her behalf, but he's angry at himself too, and her words do little to calm that. ]

So? The stakes couldn't have been so high that I couldn't have done something to get you out. [ He switches to that more personal word, because from where he's standing, this is on him. ]

What happened to not leaving anyone behind?

[ He hears what she's saying, that he couldn't have stopped it, but all he's thinking of is how she got him out when he was in Raina's clutches but he couldn't do the same for her? ]

I'm glad he's not a problem anymore, but- [ At what cost?

Suddenly it makes sense why she won't stop using her powers, even at the cost to herself. He can only imagine what sort of terror might be lingering in the back of her mind all the time because of what Malick did to her. ]

I'm sorry you had to go through that. [ And he's sorry he let her down. It's his turn to avert his eyes. ]

I let you down.

[ I'm sorry. ]

[chuju]

[ No. No no no. She can't just sit here and let him blame himself for someone that was completely out of his control, that he couldn't have possibly stopped. Scooting closer, she pulls her hands away from his so she can immediately wrap her arms around him in the tightest hug she can manage without irritating her injuries too much. ]

You have nothing to be sorry about. [ Her bruised fingers twist around the fabric of his clothes. ] You didn't know I was missing until it was too late. We were all separated and no one knew until we got back to the Zephyr.

[ It's important to her that he understand. There's no way she can let him feel guilt for something that has happened yet, especially when he wouldn't have any part in what happened. They've all made mistakes over the years, but in no way is this one on him. ]

[40seconds]

[ He allows the hug, unconsciously leaning into it as if being this close to her will reassure him that she's all right, broken bones aside. He's careful not to hold her too hard because of that, but whether he'll admit it or not, this is something he needs in the aftermath of what she's just told him.

But part of him is telling him he has no right to want this or to receive it. ]

But if I can't keep track of where everyone is and what they're doing, if they need backup, I'm not doing my job very well at all.

[ He knows he's missing some pieces of the puzzle, that he doesn't know everything about what's coming for him in the future, but if he's still in any sort of leadership position then, he's clearly failed at his job.

The last thing he intends to do is wallow in guilt, because that's such a waste of time, but if he understands anything, it's that she was put in harm's way and that he failed to prevent it.

But there again, his regrets or whatever they are pale in comparison to something else: her well-being. ]

By rights, you shouldn't even be here. [ It's tricky, because he knows how stubborn she can be, and how self-sufficient she is, but if he has anything to say about it, he'll do anything he can to keep her safe, whatever it takes. ]

You didn't even get to recover properly before being swept off. [ Things were already complicated, but before, he'd been happy to see her. Now he just wants to find a way to get her back home. ]

[chuju]

[ She leans back a bit to be able to look him in the eye, but her bandaged hands still stay on his arms. Holding on to him is the most important thing, the feel of his beneath her fingertips the reassurance she needs that he's really there. Because right now, he's all she has. Just like a year ago, there's nothing without him. ]

It's okay. I was mostly healed when I got here, we have a— It's a healing chamber, really advanced tech that works like magic. [ If Simmons were here, she could go into all sorts of details about the chamber and what it's capable of, but Daisy's just grateful they had it. Not so much for herself, but for May... Another story she can't bear to share with him. ]

But it's actually not your job anymore. You promoted someone else and you're just an agent again. What happened isn't on you, and no one could have known what Malick would do.

[40seconds]

[ He's glad she's kept her hands where they are; her touch is reassuring, while his mind spins with all the things she's told him in the last few minutes. Yes, he asked for this, and yes, it's a lot to swallow, but he still wanted to know.

The revelation about her being tortured is still a big one that he probably never will come to terms with, but he finds himself momentarily distracted from that by what she says next. Not the healing chamber part, although he's glad they have such a thing. ]

It's not my job anymore? [ He knows there's a disbelieving look on his face, because from where he's standing, that will never not be his job. Even if she can take care of herself, which he knows she can, he remembers all too well the time she was shot and almost died. ]

I'm sorry, but I can't imagine an instance in which I'd agree to just leave the team and you to someone else.

[ He can accept the team moving on, just like he can see Daisy being able to stand on her own two feet, but it's still difficult reconciling that with the fact that she was taken and experimented on. He falls silent then, needing a minute to process this. ]

[chuju]

[ It's like walking through a minefield, trying to navigate what she can and can't tell him. Not because of the timeline, screw the timeline at this point, but because she doesn't want to hurt him more that she already has. She can tell him about his becoming director of SHIELD and then stepping down when they went public again, even that it all went to shit when Aida went crazy, but she can't tell him that he appointed Mack director because he was dying. She can't put that on him. With everything he's been through, she can't add this burden to his shoulders.

She doesn't know if she can say any of that right now though. The look on his face — he's struggling, plain and simple. A bomb has been dropped on his world and he's trying to reassemble the pieces into something he can recognize. And here she is, just making those cracks bigger with every word she says. ]

A lot has happened, AC. More than you can imagine. [ She takes a deep breath that shakes a little and gives his arms a gentle squeeze. It still takes her by surprise that they're both real still. ] But maybe I shouldn't get into all that right now. You look like you could use some time...

[40seconds]

[ She's right about one thing: he's reeling from everything she's disclosed to him, and knowing that it's only the tip of the iceberg doesn't help to restore his calm.

Luckily, he's always been fairly good at compartmentalizing, and although this time, it takes a more monumental effort, he pulls himself together enough to crack a dry smile. Hearing her call him AC helps. ]

That's always how it is, though, isn't it? Something happens, followed by a few more things, and then more on top of that. Things are always happening.

[ To the team, to each of them individually- it's starting to feel like it's just their lot in life. He has to work to push down the doubt and uncertainty that he feels, to keep from looking too lost, because frankly, they don't have time for this. ]

I said I wanted to hear it, and I still do. And unfortunately for us, we don't have that kind of time to sit and think. [ He can't afford to waste time getting bogged down, not when they've got the mystery of this place to work out. ]

[chuju]

We never seem to have the time we need...

[ Before just a few weeks ago, she'd have given anything to have just a little more time with him. To be able to give him one more hug, tell him just how much he meant to her. Did he understand just how he'd changed her entire life? Did he know that the person she is now is because of him?

That's why she'd pushed that button without even stopping to think. The possibility of having Coulson back in any way was just too much. Even if he hated her for it, at least he'd be there to hate her. It seems unbelievable at times that he didn't despise her for what she'd done. But then, that's Phil Coulson for you.

She sighs quietly. ] There's... a lot to you stepping down, more than I can really get into. You actually, uh, you wanted me to do it, but I wasn't ready to lead. So I chose Mack instead and everyone supported that choice, including you.

[40seconds]

You could say that again.

[ But he thinks she's talking about something more than just their current situation, even if he can't be completely sure what that something might be, or how deep it runs. It's just a hunch, but his hunches can usually be believed. ]

That's fair, I suppose. I guess I don't have a problem admitting that you have it in you to be a great leader, but that has to be something you want.

[ He pauses for a second just to collect his thoughts, and then he adds: ]

But also, part of being a great leader is knowing that you're not ready for the responsibility just yet, and passing it to someone that you think is.

[ Not to mention being able to recognize that quality in others. So basically, he's still incredibly proud of her. ]