065-071 » assign to oblivion / part iii

[villagemod]

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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Comments

[tinstar]

He might need to be told a few more times for it to sink in.

"It's strange to know that you're tellin' the truth. To. Be able to trust it. But if.." He huffed a breath as he finished clearing his mouth. "If you don't leave me after this, I don't really gotta worry about you leavin' me up in the blue, do I."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm’s expression creased with emotion.

“No,” he confirmed. “Never.”

Maybe sometimes he would still feel like the third fiddle outlier that didn’t really belong in this arrangement, but he’d chosen to stay. He wasn’t going to leave over something less important.

“Just…” he managed a bit of an almost smile. “Save me a bit of the space beside you.”

[tinstar]

That expression made Raylan reach over with his foot and tuck it against Malcolm's.

"At least 40%," he promised with a pull of his smile. The rest of the sandwich was tucked away into his mouth neatly and it's wrapper balled up into his fist and dropped onto the table. "Thank you for brinin' me dinner. My stomach and my liver agree that maybe I overlooked that particular bit of self care today."

It was nerves and he knew it.

[abrightboy]

“I love you,” Malcolm said earnestly, pressing his leg against Raylan’s ankle. “Lots of things are fragile, but… not that. We take care of each other.” He smiled faintly. “You started it. That day in the lighthouse… I was going to let myself fall,” he confessed.

[tinstar]

Raylan smiled, the first of it's kind today that felt like it had any business doing there. I love you were some powerful words and after all they'd been through today and so far, the fact that Malcolm was still willing to say that to him wasn't lost. It was everything.

"No way in hell that's gonna happen on my watch," he assured with a lift of his eyebrows. "Even if you had wanted it to. I didn't start it, that's just the way it is." Smiling softly, he tapped hips foot against Malcolm's. "That'd be the way it was, even if I didn't love you. Which I do."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm smiled back and took another bite of pie before poking at it with his fork and studying Raylan for a moment.

“Are you sure you won’t come home tonight? Doc’s night doesn’t mean no Raylan. We know there’s room for three of us,” he pointed out.

[tinstar]

Humming in response with a faint downpull of his lips, Raylan shook his head. "Not till Neal's okay with it. I can't be in a place where I'm gonna make things worse by existin'."

He'd already lived in a house where he didn't know if he was going to get a slap or half a beating for walking around a corner and into a room. As a grown man, he wasn't willing to do it again.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm nods, though he’s clearly not happy. He leans forward earnestly.

“But you know I want you there, right? You understand I want you there?”

[tinstar]

"I do," he assured softly, head leaning forwards in his own earnest answer. "I do. I don't know what I did to earn such a blessing or if I did anything at all-" He waved that off, it wasn't important and he'd fallen off the path. "I know you want me there. And I want to be there. I just can't go around Neal like that. Not on that kinda ultimatum, it was.. more than just about me talkin' to you. It's not as simple as just that."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm frowned faintly, picking at his pie to finally take a bite.

“How so?”

[tinstar]

He loves you. Even though Raylan hadn't talked to Neal since that fight, he knew that he still couldn't say anything. Wasn't right for him to go blowing those things up.

"Without his direct sayin' so, goin' home is just flaunting the fact that you haven't kicked me out yourself. Yeah, he was mad on your behalf and whether that's right or wrong it between you two but. It's about respect. A man's pride." A man's heart.

"If we're really a family here, no one can run around undoing things that we say. It's not fair to him." Never mind that it wasn't fair to Raylan either, but he was a big boy. He could handle the unfairness of it all, and shoulder his share and then some.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm considered that and nodded, but he still didn’t like having everyone all spread out and it showed on his face.

“I’ll find him tomorrow. Talk about it. I don’t want… everyone all… split up.” Especially not because of him. He looked at Raylan. “I don’t want you exiled from your own house.”

[tinstar]

"He's most likely to listen to you. All us bein' soft on you and everything," he admitted with a pull of one side of a smile. A smile that fell back behind a little hum.

"Suppose I should give up on that idea." His brow pinched, lips turning down fractionally as he stared into his lap. "It's not mine if I'm gettin' kicked outta any part of it, not really."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm’s expression fell a little.

“But it is yours,” he insisted softly. “You offered me shelter there when I couldn’t trust anywhere else. You sheltered all of us when we had no hope.”

[tinstar]

"And then I got kicked out because that's less disruptive," he continued for Malcolm, eyes lifting back up. "None of it's mine, not anymore."

Community was the greater good here, and he would serve it.

"It's not like we're not all one bad storm and a few ruined walls away from having to move to a different spot. It'll be fine." He'd be fine.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat.

“But you’ll still come back if Neal says it’s okay? You will come back, right?”

How would it be fine if he didn’t?

[tinstar]

Raylan nodded. "I will. It's still home." No matter who 'owned' it.

"I promise."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm’s tension eased a little and he took a little bite of pie, fidgeting at his fork as he watched Raylan for a moment.

“Are we okay?” he asked softly. “You and me? You’re not… mad at me?”

[tinstar]

"Mad at you?" Raylan slid a hand out over the table, palm up, in offer for Malcolm. "Why do you think I'd be mad at you?"

[abrightboy]

Malcolm slid his hand into Raylan’s, letting out a breath at the warmth.

He shrugged a self-conscious shoulder. “It just… all took me by surprise and I… made a lot of a fuss and sometimes people don’t… like that.” Usually people didn’t like that. About anything. He swallowed. “But I do still love you. I do.”

[tinstar]

Leaning forward, Raylan lifted Malcolm's hand so he could kiss his knuckles. "If you didn't make a fuss, I would think you didn't care about it. The fact that you did is half the proof that you love me back. No, I'm not mad at you. You're the one supposed to be mad at me, though I am not asking for that to be the case."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm’s face softens at the kiss to his hand. He nods. “I’m not mad. I guess this… just isn’t the place to try to make a life. I’ve never had a relationship where someone knew me as well as you do and has lived with my problems and still wanted me. I didn’t think I ever would. I just. I… got too… carried away. And I don’t want you to…” He took a breath. “I shouldn’t have pushed you about… the things I wanted in a place that probably won’t exist. You never promised me anything. I… just… clung to any thread that could be something. And that probably wasn’t fair to you.”

[tinstar]

"Malcolm, what I am doing here is not what I would do at home. In a place where we could build a life. I don't expect us to be here forever. We can't be here for years." Like his insisting so would save them from it.

"Here, I can't offer you what you want." He couldn't take waking up to Malcolm's screams on top of all of his own and everything else every night. Maybe that made him weak. Maybe that made him human. "I can't offer anyone that. But that doesn't mean that I don't hope that things will fall out a certain way. I'm clinging too. And I don't know if I care if it's fair. Not anymore."

He wasn't lying when he said he needed Malcolm. He did. He needed the people that loved him. The people that cared. The people that kept him sane and let him help keep them sane. He needed all of them to survive this place whole.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm abandoned his plate and his chair to drop into Raylan’s lap, wrapping his arms around the Marshal to bury his face in his neck.

“Are you going to be okay tonight?” he finally squeaks out after a few long moments of just breathing him in. “Maybe you should call… him. When I go. So you’re not alone,” he murmurs, muffled, against his skin.

[tinstar]

Raylan shifted and took him easily, wrapping his arms around the smaller man and taking him in with a slow breath. God this felt good. Having Malcolm here, against him, close.

"I've.." Raylan swallowed thickly and turned his lips into Malcolm's hair, throat tightening as his eyes pricked with the tension and pressure of it all. "He's not coming. And I'm not going to ask him to. Not tonight. I'll be okay. Won't drink myself to total oblivion."

I think he almost left sat on the tip of Raylan's tongue but he couldn't bare to bring those words to air, lest they came true. Lest Tim change his mind. Lest Doc get a hold of the situation.

"Thank you," he whispered. "For bein' you. For giving a shit." Right now, it felt like Malcolm was the only one that really did give a shit. Gave a shit enough to show up. Gave a shit enough to support Raylan, even if it was just with company. Just with open worry.