Fiddleford Hadron McGucket (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
terribibble) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
singillatim2024-01-02 06:51 pm
terribibble) wrote in singillatim2024-01-02 06:51 pm
January Catchall; so swing down that sledgehammer through the wood
Who: Fiddleford McGucket and anyone unfortunate enough to be near him
What: Settling in and trying to stay busy
When: Throughout January
Where: Around Milton; specifics in prompts
Content Warnings: General Fiddleford content warning for memory loss, lost time, unreality and paranoia. Everything else is in specific prompt headers/will be added as needed.
A. OTA
There are a lot of abandoned cabins scattered throughout Milton, a reminder that the town was once a lot more lively than it is now. Today, though, one of them is showing signs of activity. The door is open. It hangs at an odd angle, like the hinges aren't attached quite right. A bit of the roof is sagging. Whoever lived here hasn't been in residence in a very long time, and that's perfect, because that means it's unlikely they'll come back and get mad to find someone else has set up residence.
That had felt like the thing to do to Fiddleford, once he'd got his feet under him a little. He certainly wasn't going to stay on a cot in the community hall forever. That had felt too crowded, too exposed. Too many variables and too many unknowns. If he has his own space he can be a little more certain that it's safe. It'll be nice to have a door between him and everything else around here, or at least it will once he fixes the door. A project, something to do with his hands, that's what he needs. That'll keep his brain busy, and if his brain's busy it'll be harder to think himself into a corner about where he is and how he got there and how none of it makes any sense.
There's an odd assortment of junk on the porch and every now and again something else gets tossed out the door and added to the pile. It's very possible that a rusted-out pot or bent frying pan or bit of rotten wood might fly a little too far and wind up out in the street, but listen. It's the new year and that means thorough cleaning. A few moments later a man who looks like he has not slept in a week pokes his head out the door and waves a hand. He's wearing a green tweed suit with scuffed elbow patches and he is at least trying to look friendly. He is even sort of managing it!
"Sorry! Wasn't aiming for you, I swear."
B. Closed to March and/or Wynonna; warning for alcohol discussion
One of the first things he did was read the message board more or less top to bottom. That had seemed like one of the fastest ways to get a read on the people around him (or at least the people who would bother posting something up on the town message board). It takes him a bit to find the place indicated on the note given that he is still new enough to not know his way around, but he saw 'booze' and 'still' and that had seemed like something he ought to investigate. That's another project to keep busy with. And more than that, he could just really use a drink. This is the kind of situation it feels appropriate to drink about, right? He feels like if you're going to drink about something then getting kidnapped to a snowed-in mining town by unknown forces is probably the thing it should be.
"Hello? I read some folks were looking for help with a still."
C. Wildcard! If you've got an idea hit me up on the Discord or just tag in, I am game for whatever.
What: Settling in and trying to stay busy
When: Throughout January
Where: Around Milton; specifics in prompts
Content Warnings: General Fiddleford content warning for memory loss, lost time, unreality and paranoia. Everything else is in specific prompt headers/will be added as needed.
A. OTA
There are a lot of abandoned cabins scattered throughout Milton, a reminder that the town was once a lot more lively than it is now. Today, though, one of them is showing signs of activity. The door is open. It hangs at an odd angle, like the hinges aren't attached quite right. A bit of the roof is sagging. Whoever lived here hasn't been in residence in a very long time, and that's perfect, because that means it's unlikely they'll come back and get mad to find someone else has set up residence.
That had felt like the thing to do to Fiddleford, once he'd got his feet under him a little. He certainly wasn't going to stay on a cot in the community hall forever. That had felt too crowded, too exposed. Too many variables and too many unknowns. If he has his own space he can be a little more certain that it's safe. It'll be nice to have a door between him and everything else around here, or at least it will once he fixes the door. A project, something to do with his hands, that's what he needs. That'll keep his brain busy, and if his brain's busy it'll be harder to think himself into a corner about where he is and how he got there and how none of it makes any sense.
There's an odd assortment of junk on the porch and every now and again something else gets tossed out the door and added to the pile. It's very possible that a rusted-out pot or bent frying pan or bit of rotten wood might fly a little too far and wind up out in the street, but listen. It's the new year and that means thorough cleaning. A few moments later a man who looks like he has not slept in a week pokes his head out the door and waves a hand. He's wearing a green tweed suit with scuffed elbow patches and he is at least trying to look friendly. He is even sort of managing it!
"Sorry! Wasn't aiming for you, I swear."
B. Closed to March and/or Wynonna; warning for alcohol discussion
One of the first things he did was read the message board more or less top to bottom. That had seemed like one of the fastest ways to get a read on the people around him (or at least the people who would bother posting something up on the town message board). It takes him a bit to find the place indicated on the note given that he is still new enough to not know his way around, but he saw 'booze' and 'still' and that had seemed like something he ought to investigate. That's another project to keep busy with. And more than that, he could just really use a drink. This is the kind of situation it feels appropriate to drink about, right? He feels like if you're going to drink about something then getting kidnapped to a snowed-in mining town by unknown forces is probably the thing it should be.
"Hello? I read some folks were looking for help with a still."
C. Wildcard! If you've got an idea hit me up on the Discord or just tag in, I am game for whatever.
no subject
"Well, sure, but only for as long as it takes me to patch it up again. I wouldn't just leave it, I'm not looking to add a basement."
Which is actually kind of a thought for later, but the amount of time and effort that would take with ground this hard is kinda prohibitive. Probably better to expand outwards or upwards if he expands at all.
"And there's enough abandoned houses I figure it won't be all that hard to source new boards."
no subject
It's definitely a thought that's going through Billy's mind, but he already spent most of his boldness for the day. Right now he just tells himself that this is not his circus, and definitely not his monkeys. If other people want to make less than optimal decisions about their living quarters, it's just what they can do.
He's of half a mind to just nod and move on, especially since the other is clearly busy, but then a question does come to mind.
"Did you find anything interesting?"
After all, it's not like Billy has been breaking down parts of the house he shares with Hickey. Who knows what kind of clues as to the nature of this place could be hiding beneath the structure?
no subject
That's the end of that sentence.
"If you mean under the floorboards -- no hidden lockboxes or mysterious keys yet. Mainly just dust and some sort of animal nest. My guess is possums."
He still sounds perfectly cheerful. This is a normal friendly conversation with one of what he supposes is his new neighbors.
"They did have a big cow skull hung up on the wall that I'm keeping, and I've found a few shoeboxes of letters and postcards and the like, but it felt rude to look through them."
He also hasn't put them out on the porch with the rest of the junk. They're going to just live in the house, probably, in case whoever owned them does eventually come back. That also feels weird and uncomfortable but like, marginally less so than throwing them out.
no subject
(Though it's definitely not his personal taste. Why are you keeping that, Fiddleford! Think about proper home decor!)
There's one thing that draws his attention a little bit more though.
"Are you truly not going to look at those letters?" Sure, he gets concerns about privacy and all. But-- "No one is coming back here. They say that the people who lived here before us are all dead now." And while there's also such a thing as respect for the dead, Billy doesn't think that's more important than them learning as much as they can about this place.
no subject
It's funny, because he's of the exact opposite opinion as Billy. He doesn't need to learn more. He knows the things that are important, which is that he's in a place that is remote and unforgiving and he isn't in a position to leave. He knows that means arranging a place to live, and food to eat, and something to keep his brain and his hands busy. It means surviving, and he will have an easier time surviving if he's not spending all his time asking fiddly questions about why the bright lights in the sky make ghosts happen or how his Cubic's Cube showed up in the Community Hall on his arrival without him having put it there.
On another level it's an instinctive protective measure: if he goes asking those questions he'll find answers, and he knows he won't like the answers he finds. That won't be good for him and it won't be good for anyone around him, and he's not really self-aware enough to think that actively but he sure knows it on some deep-down level.
no subject
It doesn't seem to be a judgemental frown - please, Billy is trained as a steward, he knows where to keep those thoughts at all times and the answer is never visibly on his face - as much as the man almost seems a little confused by the answer. Maybe it's since their opinions are so contradictory.. or maybe that their survival instincts are so contradictory. It's really just a matter of avoiding information out of a sense of dread or wanting information exactly because of that sense of dread, really.
".. well, if you won't look at them, would you mind if I took them?"
Granted, Fiddleford just said it'd seem extra wrong.
But considering the stuff Billy already has on his record, he doesn't think 'going through the private belongings of dead people' is really anything big to add to it. Especially when they're all doing it here.
"If I find anything important, of course I would not mind sharing that with you. I merely think that the more informed we are about our current situation, the better of a position we have to tackle what may yet come our way. The people who lived here would have known more about this place than we do."