villagelogs | 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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"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.

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.

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.

Malcolm clung to him more tightly.

“It’s your night tomorrow. Will I see you?” he asked softly.

"Come here. I don't know when Tim's moving out and I don't want to. Come stay here with me. I don't want to miss my night with you."

Malcolm nodded, something Raylan probably felt more than saw.

“If you can’t come home, I’ll come to you.” But he wasn’t giving up on the possibility either. “Don’t give my spot away.” He wanted their night too.

He nodded in return, hand rubbing up and down a bit of Malcolm's back without moving the securing arm around him. "Never. Never ever," he murmured, pressing a kiss to follow it. "I'm sure we'll work it out. All of it, with Neal."

Again Malcolm nodded against his neck, taking that reassurance before lifting his head to look into Raylan’s face, his eyes a little glassy again, though for a different reason.

“I… I should go,” he said reluctantly. “Are you sure you’re okay here?”

"I will be," he half whispered, serious eyes roaming over Malcolm's face to press in the details of his features, just in case, just in case something happened. "I'll.. take a bath and sleep in it till my nightmares wake me up or I get cold, it'll be like stayin' in a Hilton," he joked, smile pulling softly.

"I'll walk you out, c'mon," he urged quietly, hands pulling away so Malcolm could do that and so he could follow, stopping Malcolm at the door so he could steal another kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow, darlin'. No worries."

Malcolm met the kiss but he still looked uncertain at the ‘no worries’. Uncertain whether it was wise to leave Raylan there alone to process… everything that happened.

“You could sleep in the bath in 1308,” he suggested in a last ditch effort to get Raylan to come into arm’s reach.

"Not without someone comin' in to tell me to get out so they can piss. This is a better option, for tonight at least."

It was the gentlest No that Raylan could muster. The echoes of Tim almost leaving him, the emotional stress of the day, Raylan wasn't willing to put on a face and he wasn't willing to explain to 1308 why he looked like shit.

"It'll be okay Malcolm. I promise."

"Okay. Just. Don't. Get eaten by anything. Or drown. Or poison yourself with drain cleaner. Or. Anything else," Malcolm replied, patting Raylan's chest gently. It was more of a fidget than a gesture. He looked at him a moment, then leaned up to claim one more kiss before taking a breath and heading out.

Raylan smiled crookedly at the list and nodded, taking his kiss and catching the door to watch Malcolm make his way out of view before he dared close it. A few minutes had to be taken where he could just lean on the door with both his hands against it, like he was going to hold back the rest of any other chaos that might be coming his way.

He couldn't handle it. Not today.

He hadn't been lying about his plans, but first, he really was hungry and there was still food to be cleared into his stomach. At least Malcolm knew he wouldn't be drinking on an empty stomach.

065-071 » assign to oblivion / part iii

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