logsinthenight | INTRO LOG: DECEMBER

INTRO LOG: DECEMBER

characters: everyone.
location: the harbor, as well as the rest of town.
date/time: december 1-3.
content: beacon's newest batch of residents arrives on the ferry. robin posts a bulletin.
warnings: n/a.

welcome to beacon.

It's dim, and the room won't stop swaying, gently rocking you back and forth. A loud sound startles you fully awake, a deep, moaning call: a foghorn. As your eyes adjust, you note faint red light streaking through the room from a tiny, round window.

You've found yourself in a private room, lying on a bed. The last things you remember are the events that led up to your death. Beside you is a folded tablet and a lantern glowing with a healthy flame.

You're on a ship. And that ship is docking.

Making your way to the deck, and eventually the pier, you find only moonlight to greet you, and a dark forest beyond. There are other people here, each with their own unique lantern, and many of them look just as lost as you are. On the ferry you've just disembarked from, the speaker system begins to play a song.

In the distance, across the waters of the lake, you can see the tall silhouette of a lighthouse, its red light slowly turning.

•••
The ferry has barely docked when everyone's tablets will ping: A new weekly bulletin has been posted!

...Aaaaaanyway, luckily for all the newcomers, the tablet and the town have some resources available for getting acquainted with their new situation! In fact, as soon as they're prompted to enter a network username, an app containing all sorts of useful welcome information will launch. Newcomers can always check out the weekly bulletins and the records in town hall as well, and everyone's welcome to get in touch with the NPCs through their inboxes.

ooc.

Hey there, wonderful players, and welcome to In the Night! You've happened to come at a chaotic time, as we've just wrapped up a rather large event. Half the town was stuck in a dreamland version of past Beacon, where they explored for clues about the town's history. The other half stayed awake and defended the town from a brutal onslaught of green-eyed, hallucination-inducing forest spirits. The town's pretty haggard after all that, so hey, there's a conversation starter! It'll be good to have some fresh faces around to help with the recovery process.

You can check out the various Enter Mr. Sandman event posts in the OOC and log comms if you're curious, and plenty of the details will likely come up ICly, as well! The aftermath is just beginning, and we're so glad to have you along for the ride. :)

DELIVERIES

The following packages can be found in the cargo hold:

The monthly store restock
For Eliot: A carton of cigarettes
For Prompto: 17 pairs of reading glasses
For Eleven: A pair of walkie-talkies, and enough batteries to last for 3 months of casual use
For Aziraphale: 12 drums, 11 lead pipes, 10 pairs of shoes, 9 wilting corsages, 8 bottles of milk, 7 taxidermy swans, 6 goose eggs, 5 stale onion rings, 4 bins full of duck armies, 3 dead chickens, 2 turtles, and a whole tree, though it's long dead... and strung with lights and garlands and holiday ornaments!
For Kol: A book
For Crowley: Peppermint extract, cream of tartar, a candy thermometer, a tin of cocoa, graham crackers, a generic bottle of red wine, a t-shirt with a crown logo on it, a book of love poems, and the goods
For Eleven: An assortment of wrapping paper, gift tags, ribbons, bows, and gift bags.
A lot of medical supplies. The supplies are plentiful enough that everyone may handwave finding common first aid supplies that will help to triage injuries sustained during the Enter Mr. Sandman event. The supplies won't immediately cure wounds, but they will help to prevent infection and ensure proper healing. There's even an assortment of painkillers, ranging from over the counter pills to IV morphine (though, hm, it seems each character will only be able to find one dose of the hospital-grade stuff, no matter how hard they search)

If you submitted an item request last month and we've missed it here, let us know!

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"No," Aziraphale responds, his eyes wide as the moon and throat seemingly bereft of air.

"No, he can't-- he knows it's a suicide mission, I've already-- I've told him, I-- oh, you," he says, his voice suddenly pinched very thin and his eyes glossy as they fill up with water. "You tried-- your best, dear, but I need to--"

He looks around as if cornered and in need of escape. Gently as he can, he places a hand on Bucky's hand and tries to move it off his shoulder. "How long ago did they leave? I could still catch him, convince him to turn back."

They're sorry, Aziraphale. They are so fucking sorry. The Soldier shakes their head, releasing Aziraphale immediately, but both hands just kind of hover uncertainly as if they don't quite know what to do with them for a moment. Then they take a slow breath, fall into a proper parade rest for debriefing, focus on the floor. There's comfort in the familiar, or at least the ability to actually speak in semi-complete sentences.

"It was yesterday. I tried to go after them. I saw them knocked into the lake. Couldn't get to them in time. They. Haven't returned to the shore. Or the church yet. Resurrection takes at least two days, possibly more." Then, not part of a debriefing, they say again, "I'm so sorry."

"No--" he says again, this time more forcefully, as his knees buckle and he crumbles to the ground, presumably not quite there as Bucky is there to catch his fall. "Can't be-- just, just-- a feint, you know, he likes to-- likes to play jokes--"

He looks at Bucky with a helpless plea, eyes welling with tears. "What-- what do you mean resurrection takes two days? What resurrection? What can I do? You haven't recovered their bodies--"

Edited (closed my tags) 2019-12-02 03:45 (UTC)

The Soldier does catch him, but rather than holding him up, lowers him gently to the ground and kneels in front of him, the flesh hand on his shoulder in an attempt at comfort. They know it's not enough. "I took two days to come back. You don't need to recover anything. It just happens." Said because when they died, there really wasn't anything to recover except the metal arm. Grenades don't leave a lot left.

They also don't say if it happens. Others have been clear that people who die don't always do that. But even if they wanted to consider the idea that Crowley might not return, they're definitely not saying that to Aziraphale.

"So you what, you just-- you just wake up in your bed?" he asks.

And then, as if a lightbulb goes off in his head, he looks the Soldier in his eyes as he asks, quietly, gently, "have you died?" Then his eyes wander, all over Bucky's face, as if something in his visage might give him an answer before his words do.

"Yes." They don't look particularly perturbed about it, actually, and even meet Aziraphale's gaze for a moment before shifting their gaze to the angel's shoulder instead. "I've died many times before. Coming to in a church rather than in a lab or cryofreeze is an improvement."

Dying is a much more familiar and less traumatic experience than seeing friends and comrades die, when they couldn't save them.

"Aziraphale. Are you all right." Eyes flicking back to the angel's face, briefly. "Everyone who ate at the feast slept for two weeks. While a faction of the spirits attacked the town."

"Y-- yes, I'm fine, dear, I'm sorry, did you just say you died? I'm so-- I'm so sorry dear, I wasn't-- yes, obviously, wasn't around to help, you've just said, I was asleep, is that-- is that why--"

This is a lot of information to be given at once knowing that Crowley is dead.

"Is that why they've gone to the Lighthouse-- oh--"

That last bit sounds pained, as if he'd considered standing up again but his legs can't seem to work that way.

"Crowley thought it was Robin's fault," the Soldier says heavily, and focuses on the floor again, though their hand is still on Aziraphale's shoulder, tightening a little at the join of shoulder and neck. Comfort. They know how that works, a little bit, surely. "I tried to convince him. I'm sorry, Aziraphale. I. Failed to keep him safe."

Not that anyone could really keep Crowley from doing something stupid for that long. The Soldier just has unrealistic expectations.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, dear, Crowley's head is harder than a diamond and he's only as bright when it's convenient to him."

He laughs at his own joke, but it quickly morphs into a cry. He covers his face with his hands, trying not to will himself back to a calm state. As soon as he thinks he is, he asks: "Where should I go? Will he wake up in his bed, do you know?"

Shit. The Soldier is not good at this. The Sergeant isn't really any better, and pointedly refuses to come out and help. (I'm gonna remember that, though. That's a damn good way of referring to Crowley. Only bright when it's convenient.) They hesitantly kind of... squeeze his shoulder, kneading a little like a cat might, as if that might help. Touch isn't their strong point, okay. "The church. It's where I woke up. It won't be until tomorrow, at least. Probably longer."

He jerks up immediately. "The church?"

Having found some strength, he shoots up to his feet. "He's-- he's a demon, my dear, the last time he was in a church his feet were burned for three years."

He won't say it was on his behalf that Crowley was even in a church.

We-- I have to go. I can't let him come alive again only to burn up.

The Soldier manages not to fall on their ass, just barely, at Aziraphale suddenly surging to his feet and bumping off their hand. They blink once, digesting the idea of a church hurting Crowley somehow, then pick themselves up.

"Okay. I'll come." Feels like someone should keep an eye on Aziraphale. He's being as erratic as Crowley usually is, albeit for pretty good reason. "Though you have time."

"Yes, well, he's always been rather unpredictable, that one," he counters. "Let's hope it's a short time rather than a long one."

He tries to offer a smile, but it doesn't quite work out.

It's alright, he's too busy running.

The Soldier decides they're not going to run after him. They're going to calmly dismantle the barricade over the kitchen door, get two bowls of the last of the stew that they kept warm over the stove for anyone who needed food on the go, and carry them down the path to the church to catch up to Aziraphale. Give the angel a little bit to get some nerves out, or some emotions out, before having to deal with the murder machine's weary uncertainty.

They come to find where Aziraphale settled, or didn't settle, and wordlessly offer one of the bowls. The angel hasn't eaten in two weeks. Surely he's hungry-- and the Soldier has discovered, over the past two weeks, that they find feeding people soothing. Both to themselves and the other person.

Aziraphale was sleeping, so he isn't actually hungry, though it would be very unlike him to pass up any sort of meal.

He gladly takes the bowl, offering a smile in return.

"Thank you," he says, from his seat, patting next to him so that Soldier might sit down next to him.

Hey, sleeping always leaves the Soldier hungry. So does cryofreeze. (Of course, the Soldier's metabolism is kind of insane, so their case might be unique, and Aziraphale's sleeping was magical in nature, so might also be unique.) Regardless, they settle down where indicated, not quite close enough to touch. Enjoy that stew, Aziraphale, it's got beef, potato, carrots, onions, and some gentle spices to them-- the Soldier perfected the spices over the past two weeks, at least to their own taste. It's very homey-tasting.

"What do you remember?" they ask after a moment, and a few bites. "From the feast. And after."

"Just that there was so much to eat. And it was all very scrumptious-- and I... I woke up in a mine," he says. "But it was a dream, you know, so it didn't occur to me until later that we hadn't gone home to go to sleep but rather, you know, fell asleep after dinner. Anyway, Akechi and Molly were the only ones with me, and we'd gotten a bit lost, you see, couldn't find the exit. So we... searched for it."

He talks about it easily, even though it was quite horrible, because-- it's all it was, wasn't it? A dream?

"Did you find it?" the Soldier asks. The spirits put people to sleep, apparently to show them things, and were apparently very put out when not everyone partook to see things. Whatever Aziraphale saw might in fact be very important.

"No, we were-- ambushed, by this creature. Like a giant grasshopper ghost. Took my wing, both of Molly's eyes. Impossible to stop. I hope those creatures aren't real," he says. "We never did figure out a way to stop it. It had taken Akechi's ankles, as well, and we had just found a mine cart-- abandoned, some belongings, strangest thing, no sign of a body or other person the entire time we were there-- but I was trying to get the both of them in before it-- the grasshopper, I mean -- it opened up its great big maw and. Ate us."

The Soldier gives him a look that might be suspicious. "Ate you. And you aren't upset about it." The Soldier would be upset if a dream bug ate them. Possibly. Then again, they blew themselves up, and that didn't upset them, so... maybe not. Maybe if it felt like they went out without fighting. That might be upsetting.

"No, we were ... very calm about it, for some reason. Not sure why, we were panicked when it came to hurt us. Must be some sort of... lulling effect of the dream."

He shrugs. He's done this to people before -- he's done this to Bucky before -- so that was the least strange thing, he thinks.

It would be a little alarming if Aziraphale's calming magic was so powerful it could make one okay with being killed. Or eaten alive, if death didn't actually happen. That almost seems worse. Just dying, after all, isn't so bad if it's over quickly.

The Soldier makes a thoughtful little noise, then pulls out their tablet, goes to the last week's bulletin, and shows Aziraphale the spirits highjacking the feed. "They talked to us. Said that you all asleep. Were being shown something. That was supposed to help us, or help them, or both. So your dream is probably important."

"I don't know how that could be possible. I mean, we didn't get a good look at the cart-- there was... Um, copper, and a single glove I think. And blood. Ah, perhaps it was that the grasshopper was ghostly?

"Or-- or perhaps the spirits were us, once. Humanoid. We didn't see a sign of the minecart's owner, after all..."

The Soldier is still iffy on these even being proper spirits. They only have a vague concept of such a thing, anyway, but that concept doesn't really apply to things that bleed and die like any other creature. Transformation is possible, though, either way. "My contact among the spirits. They say that some of them are dangerous, and might try to eat us. Didn't say anything about being like us. I can ask."

They pause, and frown down at their soup. Which is almost gone. "If they come back. I couldn't find them, during the attacks."

"Then they're not the ones who've attacked? They're different spirits!" He doesn't know whether to be surprised, relieved, intrigued, or what. Why wouldn't the church spirit have let him know when he asked? None of this made any sense.

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