villagelogs | 065-071 » assign to oblivion / part iii

065-071 » assign to oblivion / part iii

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: Mathias Township proper
WHEN: Days 065-071
WHAT: The residents of Mathias reunite under unnerving conditions.
WARNINGS: (PM this account to have a warning added!)
NOTES: Plotting post over here!

RECOMMENDED ♫ Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross "Outside"

DAY 065-071
ASSIGN TO OBLIVION
“No matter how much time passes, no matter what takes
place in the interim, there are some things we can never
assign to oblivion, memories we can never rub away.”
— Haruki Murakami

Only two days have passed since the town was fractured, leaving residents cut off from those they'd come to know and even care for. A mere two days of wandering the new streets, uncovering more secrets that continue to make little sense of this strange place. Two days with sunrises, sunsets, and nights that seem like any other.

And yet.

When residents wake on this third day, they will find that much has changed. All around them, wherever they may be, there are signs that time has passed without them. Dust covers everything, indoors and out, even areas that were spotlessly clean seemingly hours ago. The residents themselves are covered as well, dust clinging to their hair, skin, and clothing—

Clothing that they may not have been wearing when they went to sleep. Each resident, regardless of the state they were in previously, is now clad in a pair of white pajamas, with long pants and button-up shirts. Those who thoroughly explored Baneberry Hall will easily recognize these articles as identical to those well-stocked in the decaying great house. On top of this, the clothes they wore from home have disappeared, along with anything else they may have brought with them when they arrived or items from home that have been found within the borders of Mathias.

There is no sign that anyone has entered their place of shelter, nor is there any sign of what may have been done with these items or how they came to be wearing these clothes. The dust all around them is undisturbed, almost as if they had been sleeping there for quite some time, though it seems impossible for such a thing to have occurred naturally.

THE NEW ARRIVALS
The newest arrivals to Mathias will wake up on the lawn of Town Hall, at the center of the little town square. They, too, are bereft of any items from home and clothed in the identical white pajamas. There are shops all around them, with houses just beyond, and at first glance, everything seems almost picturesque. Except for the silence that is at times so complete as to be maddening... Welcome to Mathias.

SUMMERTIME
— When summer arrives, so too does an outdoor stand in front of the General Store. Sporting a handpainted sign proclaiming Whateley Farm, the stand is overflowing with a variety of produce: berries, plums, carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, green beans, leeks, onions, peppers, potatoes, zucchini, tomatoes, and garlic bulbs. These do not replace the produce offerings normally found inside the market, but they do behave strangely. The stand replenishes sporadically, sometimes every other day or every five days. There is no discernible pattern to when it replenishes, nor is there any sign of how it came to be there at all.

— With the now-complete reverse change of season, much of the autumn debris has cleared from around town. Only a few stray leaves and fallen branches remain, their crisp colors at odds with the warm summer days. The forest has also cleared of much of the fall detritus, making it easier to both follow the paths and potentially spy things that might be out of the ordinary.

CONDITIONS UPDATE
— THE WEATHER Summer has arrived in Mathias, bringing with it warm days that average 70°F and comfortably cool nights. The skies are clear throughout the week save for Day 68 when a light rain falls from a grey sky throughout the day.

— THE FOG has maintained its new boundaries.
— 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 from the western section of town entirely.
— 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.

— DISAPPEARANCES AND DEATHS continue! Max Guevara and Liz Brundy have disappeared, and now that everyone is back together, residents will notice that Yennefer, Number Five, and Tony Stark have also vanished.

— ALCOHOL supplies have run dry, save for any dregs that have been squirreled away by individual residents. Moonshine can still be acquired by those in desperate need.

OOC NOTES
— 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. IC events are also helpful to know about in advance so they can be included in the log write-ups.

— MOD STATUS My non-RP life is busy and chaotic and I continue to ask for your forgiveness and understanding as game things continue to be slower, as I cannot promise timely mod responses beyond weekends and even that is not wholly guaranteed.

— ITEMS FROM HOME All items from home that characters would normally possess have vanished for this log and will return in the next. This includes clothing and possessions they had when they arrived in Mathias, items that were found in the rain, and items that were found in Baneberry Hall and removed from the property. Items from home that were left behind by other characters no longer in the game have also vanished. (All other items and clothing still remain, it is only items from characters' homes that have disappeared.)

— BANEBERRY ITEMS The items from home that were not removed from Baneberry Hall in the last log have vanished from the property. These items will not reappear in the next log. (Please be sure to comment in the appropriate spot on those logs about the state of your character's item for inventory purposes, ie whether they were removed from the property or left behind.)

— ACTIVITY CHECK Beginning with June's AC (posted at the start of July), all tags that consist of only dialogue will count as 0.5 points, not just those that occur in an inbox thread — this applies to both AC and AP totals. This adjustment is an extension of what has been in place since the start of the game: that all dialogue-only inbox tags counted for a half-point. Since such tags have occurred regularly in log threads as well, the half-point status is simply being extended to all tags regardless of location in order to be fairer in point distribution. (Examples will be provided in the AC post to assist with proper counting.)

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He pulled out a chair for Malcolm and then one for himself that he sat in, stomach growling as the food got in front of his eyeballs. He was hungry, hungrier than he thought. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten, it had to be within the past two days. He was sure he had, even if it was shit food.

But the mention of Neal had him stilling, eyes locked on Malcolm before he dropped them down to the table as he swallowed.

"What kinda pie?" Is he okay? Would he be okay with me eating his pie? Somehow I doubt it.

“Blueberry,” Malcolm said, watching Raylan’s face as he placed the containers on the table. “He tweaked the recipe so I can eat it.” A beat. “He told me to bring it. I think that’s progress.”

"He said that to be nice to you," Raylan surmised. "Do you like it?"

Better to ask that then how it went. How Neal took it. He made pie for fucks sake. Celebration pie for him, comfort pie for Malcolm. Multi-purpose pie.

“Yeah. It’s good.” He picked up a fork and popped his container open, watching Raylan to make sure he picked up any of the food. He pushed the thermos of coffee towards him.

“I think he thinks I should have been harder on you but. He wasn’t here. And you’ve been plenty hard on yourself.”

And Malcolm’s face still ached from crying and his heart still ached, too. And there were parts of his trust that would take time to rebuild, if they even could be. But he wasn’t ready to let go of this.

A sandwich first, as weird as it felt to eat solid food, much less be eating right now. Like he was doing something wrong in the situation, as ridiculous as that might sound. He unwrapped it methodically, folding the paper bits to the side as he took a bite and stared it.

"He's probably right," he admitted easily. Maybe if Neal had been here, he would feel like the man had the rest of the story, but he didn't and it wasn't a story Raylan was keen to roll out to the guy who had been family one day and trying to kick his ass the next.

"I assume he was.. displeased about your decision on it."

Malcolm looked over at Raylan.

“He’s disappointed. I think he feels I wasn’t standing up for myself.” He paused. “Do you think I let you off too easy?”

"I think Neal thinks I'm shit on his shoe is what I think." Raylan looked up at Malcolm, eyes redder than normal, how tired he was borne in his face and shoulders. "I think I mighta hurt him more then you somehow and I-" Broke your heart. He felt his throat close up around the words, shook his head and took a bite of his sandwich.

"S'just a lot." All the way around, from Malcolm to Neal to Tim and god bless Henry for somehow avoiding it all. If they could keep that at least, maybe he wouldn't feel like total shit. That was a lie. Feeling like shit was going to be his new to-do top level listing.

Malcolm nods, picking at his pie.

“Maybe I’m the problem,” he muses quietly.

Raylan looked up sharply, eyebrows furrowing softly. "What? No. You're most assuredly not," he continued with a more confident tone. "He wouldn't be so pissed off at me if he didn't love you as much as he does. Loving you-" ~Is easy cuz you're beautiful~ "Is the opposite of a problem."

He managed just the edges of a smile for a second. “I just. Don’t want to be the reason you hate each other, either.”

He shook his head a little, fidgeting with the sandwich in his hand. "I don't hate Neal, Malcolm," he started, eyes lifting back up. "He didn't say anythin' to me that wasn't true and I've gotten into more brutal fights over less. He was trying to defend your honor. Defend what we can both agree on what you deserve."

Raylan could take his licks, but these, he'd earned. It was worth it. He wasn't sorry that he'd done what he'd done, only sorry that the fracture hurt of it spread so far.

"I know I got no right to ask but.. I don't want all of it redirected towards Tim. You got a right to be mad at him too but." Raylan would take it. Tim's portion of whatever he was allowed to.

Malcolm took a deep breath, stabbing a blueberry and eating it before looking at Raylan.

“I was mad at Tim for a minute. It felt like it was all a game to him, hiding it from me while nudge nudging me about us. He knew about us and he didn’t say anything either. He didn’t urge you to say anything. I thought cowboys and soldiers were supposed to have a sense of honour. I felt duped. But…” He rolled his shoulder in a shrug. “Whatever.” He made an expansive gesture with his fork before stabbing some pie. “My heart is too achy and soul is too wrung out for me to have the energy to be pissed off at Tim. I can’t guess what was actually going through his head when he was offering me advice. Maybe he felt guilty. He doesn’t let me know what he thinks and I don’t know what you told him about us.”

"'M sure he meant well," Raylan muttered softly before taking another guilty bite of his sandwich. He couldn't say anything for Tim's intent, not anymore, not really. He didn't know. He was outside.

"I didn't tell him anything. Not entirely sure what you think I woulda told him. What, what we talk about at night in bed or .." He couldn't even think of what Malcolm would think he would tell.

"Only that you have nightmares that we mind. Nothin'.. personal. Ain't his business."

"I don't think you would tell him our private conversations," Malcolm allowed. "But I don't know if you told him... how you feel about me or... how I feel about you. I don't know if you gave him an idea of what our relationship is like or what your relationship with Doc is like. Did you give him a context of where he fits in to... all this?" A beat. "Does he know about Doc?"

"He does," Raylan granted with a nod and half a glance up. "But I.. Don't know how he feels about all of it. He acknowledges that I love you. He knows about Henry. We haven't spoken on any of it. He knew before.. everything."

He hated Malcolm for it. The jealousy of it all. The hate Raylan hoped he could dissuade by ensuring the sniper that it wasn't some personal affront. He hadn't meant to collect Tim up and love him but once he knew that so much was hung on him.. He couldn't help it. There was no way to put that into words. No way he could accept that he was just supposed to watch Tim abuse himself because he felt somehow unworthy or something.

How could he even begin to articulate that nuance.

Malcolm nodded, taking another little bite of pie.

"He guessed about us by the second time I spoke to him."

You're fucking.

"Last time I talked to him.... it was a little bit better."

It still wasn't great and Tim didn't seem to understand that isolating himself was a bad survival technique for himself and for the group.

"But he still doesn't want to know us, Raylan."

"I know," he whispered with another bob of his head as he set the sandwich down. "I don't know why and he hasn't said as much to me but.." He thought validating what Tim was feeling and arguing against the misconceptions that had little in base to do with Malcolm himself was the kinder thing to do.

It had gotten and then stayed outta hand.

"I don't have an answer for that Malcolm."

“I don’t want… I don’t want a situation where you’re somehow… caught between us. The safety of our… community is important and if he doesn’t want to be part of it… that’s kinda too bad. He’s in it,” Malcolm said.

I think it's too late for that.

"I don't know if he agrees with that." I also most him too and I don't understand why. "Either he'd already planned on goin' or my bein' honest with you drove him but.. He's gonna be spending time at the lighthouse."

If he stayed there, it felt like a full rejection of Raylan. A punishment.

Malcolm leaned forward.

“What?” he asked, tilting his head like he must have misheard. “We went through all this and he’s leaving?”

The question felt like a slap.

"I dunno what he's doin'. Only that he's gonna be spendin' time up there." And only that he didn't want Tim to. Nothing good had ever happened up there. Tim had never gone there for anything good. And nothing had changed but the sniper was suddenly in the hills.

"Probably needs a few days."

"He needs a few days," Malcolm echoed with his eyebrows high in disbelief. He held up his hands. Raylan didn't need more of a beating; their conversation had been draining on them both. "Listen." Malcolm said, setting his pie aside to get up and step around Raylan's chair, wrapping his arms around his shoulders from behind, pressing his temple to Raylan's cheek. "It's going to be okay. Everything is just... highly charged right now. Everyone will calm down. It'll be okay."

Raylan kept his eyes in his lap, feeling small and useless for everything he didn't know. For everything he was sure he had at least half a handle on a few hours ago. He felt lost and alone for it. He was supposed to be the guy with answers.

He tried to keep it together as Malcolm got up and walked around but something in his face crumpled helplessly as the New Yorker wrapped himself around his shoulders. Raylan needed a hug. After a long second, he reached up with one hand to wrap it around Malcolm's wrist and squeezed.

"I hope that turns out to be the case. Doesn't much feel like it right now." It felt like he'd ruined everything by trusting Neal, by doing the Right Thing, even if it was too late, by.. changing. But talking was half of what got him into this. And now he'd been reminded of why he didn't do that shit.

Neal's reaction is what he would have gotten at home anyway. A lesson in of itself.

Malcolm tsked gently in his ear.

“I’m still here,” he pointed out softly. “When you didn’t want to tell me about this, what were you afraid would happen if you did?”

"You are," Raylan said with a little sad, heartsick huff of a breath. Malcolm was the only one that was still here. Henry was off doing whatever Henry did and Tim was.. Probably still at home right now, but for how long?

"This was about the worst case scenario. Only way it got worse is if you left. I-.. I wanted to try and give you and Tim time to.. talk or.. find a common ground. Maybe not be friends, that's.. askin' too much but.." He wanted them time to be friendly. That way maybe it wouldn't hurt as much. That way maybe they could.. exist nearby each other without the world imploding. Okay, maybe that was a tad dramatic.

"That's all. It wasn't even to hide or.. spare any feelings, I just.." He shook his head, brow furrowing again. It hadn't worked. He had tried and it just blew up in his face.

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