Snow Day(s)

[worthallthis]

characters: Bucky, Misty, Sora, explore buddies, open
location: The Village, and Downtown during this explore, and around Bonfire Square
date/time: January 14, January 15, January 18-19
content: A snowball fight, some CR building on the explore, and yarnbomb boggling
warnings: Frozen ammunition and the usual mild disassociation


I. Snowball fight! - Closed to Sora and Misty, January 14

The blizzard is over, the endless night calm, and there is now freedom to get out of the cabin without being buffeted around by the wind and flurries. It's still cold as hell, but that's bearable enough in the face of being able to be outside without having to force themselves through a patrol. Well, they're going to do that, too, but. Not yet.

First visiting. Checking on the other people in the village. Kicking the snow a little as they tromp on their way through it. Kind of pretty.


II. Going Shopping - Closed to Aziraphale, Angel, Crowley, Steve, and/or Lucius, January 15

The trek through the woods on the way to the new center of Beacon activity is longer than they want it to be. Not as long as traveling through unknown territory, but still a ways, through dark forest and lots of snow. The Soldier circles the group, gun in hand, lantern tied on their back, watching for threats and kicking snow out of their way when they're around the front.

The trek past the hotel and the storefronts is less long and dark, and more slightly creepy. Dead stores, empty streets, the snow... it doesn't make pleasant echoes in the head. The Soldier hovers closer to the other explorers, then. Particularly when people stop for breaks in the travel.


III. Rain of Yarn? - Open, January 18-19

Emerging for their normal patrol the "morning" of the 18th leaves the Soldier baffled. There's yarn. Knitting. Scarves and hats and mittens. Sweaters. Straight-up globs of purely decorative yarn products, even. Everywhere. So weird.

Would have been useful during the actual blizzard last week. But you know. Nice thought. The Soldier prowls around the village and the Invincible collecting it, trying to figure out what to do with it all. Find them scowling at a hat as if trying to convince themselves to put it on, or offering you a particularly nice colored set of mittens they got from some cabin's roof, or trying to decide what one does with a knitted... doily? Is that even what this weird round thing is? So weird.

Comments

[arsarcanum]

Galloping is what this word is. Sora left the library cautiously, still unsure if the snow was falling or falling in the darkness, but as soon as he realized that it wasn't coming down in sheets, he whoops and goes crunching into the snow, passing by the dark smudge of a person out on patrol or something - oh wait, he knows this dark smudge.

"Hey! Look, it's stopped!" He grins, fully encompassed in his many layers, then trots along to... throw himself bodily into a snowbank. And holler like some kind of monkey. Wahoo, snow!!

III

[meridio]

The yarn bomb doesn't baffle Somnus any more than the flying vegetables and plates from a couple weeks prior. If anything, seeing the Soldier's fiddling with a yarn hat draws his attention faster than the colorful chaos around them. Is Soldat . . . going to wear it?

"Hail, Soldat."

[worthallthis]

They look up at the voice, nod at Somnus. "Hello."

Then, because they really don't think they can manage to put it on, they offer the hat to Somnus instead. "Do you need one of these? It's pretty cold. Even with the storm over."

[worthallthis]

That looks cold. But funny. The Soldier smiles, and comes over to crouch in front of the Sora-shaped hole in the snow. "Yes. It stopped. You probably shouldn't try to bury yourself in it, though."

[arsarcanum]

"I'm not burying myself," comes the muffled reply. It's a very clean hole. Five foot seven and a half inches of idiot silhouette. There's a spitting noise; talking has dislodged some snow and landed it in his mouth, apparently. "Bleh. I'm enjoying myself. This how you have fun with snow when it's not out to drown everyone."

[meridio]

He eyes the hat—not to consider, but to stare at it before he declines.

"I'm accustomed to the cold."

If it starts to get too chilly, all he has to do is be active or head inside. If he really needs a hat, he'll find one later. There's an abundance of them around here.

"What significance do these yarns have?"

[worthallthis]

Sigh. Maybe Aziraphale will want it. They tuck the hat into the pocket of their coat, with the warming stones. "Don't know. Maybe the spirits thought we were cold. There's a lot I can't figure out what we're supposed to to with, though." The round things hanging from the Invincible's eves, for example.

2

[diastima]

[ Lucius is afraid of darkness. He hasn't verbally told anyone this, but he's keeping very close to others on their venture to the run-down shopping center. At some point he just trails behind Soldier, as if standing in his shadow - or where his shadow would be, if there was enough light to cast one.

Fear feels strange to him, as well - he ought to be completely terrified at this point, his heart would have been racing if he was human - but the core in his chest has his emotions in an icy grip. Fear thrums in the centre of his chest, but coated with a thick layer of logicality; as if that emotion wasn't really his. He feels discomfited, but it's not severe enough to actually paralyse him.

He moseys along, and everything seems fine for now... until his foot steps on a stray twig and it snaps rather loudly. Lucius yelps, jumping a little and colliding into Soldier's back. ]

[worthallthis]

[The twig snap has the Soldier's gun spinning around, so actually Lucius is bumping into their side. Thankfully, that means they saw him coming, so they don't actually lash out, they just hastily step back and out of Lucius's path.]

Careful.

[No bumping into the guy with the gun and eight knives. They advise:]

Walk on the snow, less to startle yourself with.

ii.

[fawcetted]

"This is way more depressing than I thought it would be," Steve remarks, during one of said breaks. He lets out a foggy breath and quickly rubs his hands together to gain a little warmth.

Leaning against the wall of a particularly unremarkable, dilapidated storefront, he then folds his arms across his chest as though that might warm him a little better. Still, if not for his sailor's uniform and coat, he'd be reminiscent of his former life as a typical teenager, loitering around the town centre, just looking to stir up a little trouble with his friends.

Those days are long, long gone now, and Steve has come out of it a whole lot less ... well, less of an asshole. Also dead. Yeah, we can't forget that either.

He looks towards Bucky's direction, admittedly a little nervous around the guy, what with the gun and no-nonsense-all-business gait of his walk. Seems like a good person to have in a risky excursion like this one, though.

[worthallthis]

"Not as cheerful as the village," the Soldier agrees, voice low but audible. They've come a long way from their first exploration, where they were silent and uninterested in conversation. Maybe the grim surroundings are bothering them a little bit, too-- there's something under the surface of their brain, as if there's a memory of abandoned snowy streets like this just waiting to jump out and bite them.

So they say, "Could use torches. More people."

[meridio]

To soak up the moisture or catch the snow, perhaps. Gaudy decoration. Only the spirits know the answer.

"Will they remain until we find use for them elsewhere?"

[worthallthis]

"Don't know. They might." Which means if the Beacon residents don't clean it up, they'll have yarn decorations for the next month or two. That sounds vaguely irritating. "We might have to take it all down ourselves. We did with the onions. And broken dishes." From the day of everyone's new arrival, and all. Somnus probably remembers that clearly enough.

[diastima]

[ Being a shut-in for most of his short life has given him the self-preservation skills of a stick, except maybe the part where he has an instinctive fear of darkness. Regardless, he nods quickly, wrapping his arms around himself. ]

Sorry.

[ Lucius looks down, out of embarrassment. It's hard for him to see where's free from debris, with the patchwork of dark and light on the snow. His eyes are long used to the pervasion of light. ]

[worthallthis]

[The Soldier is at least capable of sympathy. The poor kid shouldn't be out here, he's not comfortable or happy about it. They've got no idea what convinced Aziraphale to drag him along.]

Here. Walk where I walk. Safer, less noise, and you'll know I'm right there.

[They may be intimidating, but they are also protective, and they're pretty sure Lucius can recognize that.]

[meridio]

Well enough to know that taking down yarn decorations will be like picking up after children. At least onions are edible; broken dishes, however, are both inconvenient and risky to clean up. Ultimately, all of this is just one large inconvenience.

Enough of that.

"Have you been to downtown?"

[fawcetted]

"Tons more people. This place reminds me of stocking day when I'd be hanging around way, way after hours."

Except even then, Starcourt was always a lot less ......... dead.

"I wouldn't usually miss it, but suddenly? I'm feeling a little nostalgic."

[worthallthis]

"Stocking day." The Soldier isn't really aware of Steve's mall-working past. His weird outfit could well be anything-- for all they know, that is in fact what navy uniforms look like these days. Even if Steve doesn't seem at all like he's ever been in the military.

But they do find themselves curious. "Nostalgic. Why?"

[worthallthis]

"Yes. I added it to my patrols second daily patrol, and I accompanied Aziraphale and the others to explore the shopping area." They don't linger there on their patrols, not since there are so few people there now to watch over, but they do pass through on the loop around the unexplored forest. "Have you?"

[diastima]

[ Lucius had asked to come with them, wanting to make himself useful... but it seems much more difficult than he had anticipated it to be. Walking is hard on rough terrain without light, and he's too used to the smooth stone roads of the Moon Ship. ]

Okay. Thank you.

[ Given permission to follow, he tries to focus on copying how the Soldier moves. If he changes his stride, then maybe he'll make less noise? ]

[worthallthis]

[They try to be as deliberate in their steps as possible, to help him. And with Lucius following them, they can't circle the group properly, so they position themselves on the forest-side of them instead, towards the rear. It's the most efficient position to protect from potential threats.

But there's still a strange, quiet boy following in their footsteps. Which is weird. And makes them more likely to keep glancing back over their shoulder at him. They should say something. Make him feel more comfortable.

They have no idea what to say.

Finally, after a long few moments, they ask,]

Doing okay?

[(Wow. You sound so smart. Good job, Soldier. Shut up, Sergeant.)]

[meridio]

He turns his head, looking nowhere in particular. All around them is nature steeped in darkness, and he doesn't know where to begin. Little by little, he's been roaming. "I recently visited the school. Is downtown priority?"

[diastima]

[ If anything, the Soldier's silence is comforting. Lucius isn't a human; hasn't been raised with the courtesies of one, kept in a small room tethered to a myriad of cables that had connected him to the entire world. In his later years he managed to conjure an avatar, but that was but a pale imitation of a human existence. True silence away from the hum of a thousand thousand sensors had been rare, and just being allowed to come along is enough.

He looks up, brightening a little from his expression of thoughtful focus. ]

Yeah. I'm okay.

[ The Soldier moves carefully. Following him is a lot easier than trying to mosey out a route himself. ]

You're nice to me.

[worthallthis]

"It has new housing," the Soldier says with a shrug. "If more people keep coming, then yes, I think so. The Invincible and village are both full." Too bad the downtown area is so damn far away. It makes a nice loop for their second patrol, but it's a long one.

[worthallthis]

Why wouldn't I be.

[Lucius seemed like a good kid, if quiet and a little strange. And being kind seems to be better, on the whole, than being cruel. There's enough cruelty in the world without adding to it, and besides, after a lifetime of being a wind-up assassin, it's a nice change.]