( open ) i'm with the regulars

[obscurissime]

Who: Scratch and OPEN.
What: Settling in.
When: Early May.
Where: Around Milton (Basin Overlook, the actual basin, community hall...), primarily in evenings.

Content Warnings: None intended, but really that could change and will be updated if it does.



For a guy who's used to the idea of travelling between realities, the whole Ending Up In Some Winter Wilderness isn't too jarring for Scratch. What's jarring is that all he remembers before getting here was a too-bright light and the feeling of what he can only describe as pain or discomfort. And, yes, his self-appointed nemesis was there too, which has Scratch almost entirely convinced that said nemesis is behind this. He's also determined that he's stuck here. At least, for now. Despite his best efforts he can't slip his way back into the Dark Place he comes from, which is very upsetting, so he'll bide his time by playing along with everyone else here.

In his first few days, Scratch takes the time to get familiar with Milton, mostly venturing out in the evenings. The sun isn't exactly his friend, and he hasn't gotten used to the idea that he won't cause him harm just yet. The home he chose for himself had a heavy plaid (gross) jacket inside to be insulated against the weather, which he wears with great reluctance. Too bad this hick town doesn't seem like the sort where anyone was wearing obnoxiously overpriced designer parkas, but he's going to keep his eyes out. Just in case. Until then, the plaid will do, keeping out the bite of the cold as he gets a lay of the land. One of his early stops is the community hall. He recalls it from his initial arrival, when it'd been filled with warmth and a disturbingly welcoming feast, considering the circumstances. He takes the time to survey the message board before leaving a note of his own. He'll take the time to make small talk with anyone who might also be around.

If anything, the homey apparel makes it easier to get into character.

Should someone be interested in answering his query, he can indeed be found spending much of his time at his chosen home on Basin Overlook. Like everything else, it's far below his standards, but he's drawn to the multiple wood burners. He doesn't bother tidying up outside. The ground is too frozen to tend the dead garden, and keeping things alive is sort of the opposite of his schtick. Inside, though, he's content enough to clean the place up. The cottage may be beneath him, but that doesn't mean he has to live in squalor. Others living on the street, or even those passing by, may notice the soft light of fires burning in the windows and are welcome to come by and knock. Or maybe you're fortunate enough to catch him chopping wood for them, which is actually very enjoyable to him. He seems to know his way around an axe.

Beyond the town itself, Scratch spends a day or two down and around the basin itself. There's a purpose to his visits, his keen eyes open as he looks for anything familia. He'd even take a sense of déjà vu, knowing that his writer counterpart leans heavily on motifs and recurring themes these days. He finds nothing of the sort. What he does find, however, is a pleasant surprise. As he walks through the snow along the edge of the basin one evening as the sun is just setting, his foot crunches on something. A quick look has him pulling up a photograph, in a now-broken frame, of an averagely pretty blonde woman with an averagely nice smile.

"Well, I'll be," he says to himself. Judging by the look on his face, someone nearby might assume he's just found something very delightful indeed.

While he spends the majority of his first few days in these places, he does his best to take in the whole of Milton. Those going about their own business will likely see him making his way around and are welcome to bump into him.

Comments

[meadqueen]

If Scratch thinks his own outfit is lame, he's going to love the look of the woman who shows up at his door: heavy wool clothing (incorporating an entire fox pelt) that wouldn't look out of place in a Thor movie, supplemented by a heavy pair of modern winter boots, bright orange mittens, and a white 'Canada' souvenir toque patterned with red maple leaves. True to the request on the board, a yellow plastic tape measure hangs from her belt next to an ornately decorated war hammer.

“Was it your message at the hall?”

[obscurissime]

Oh. Jesus. Scratch says a silent prayer that he's not here long enough to ever, ever end up looking like that. It's a lot of effort for him to school his face into a pleasant expression.

"Uh. Yeah, yeah it was. Hi."

[meadqueen]

Randvi nods, oblivious. Opening the door to this cold would make anyone flinch, let alone a newcomer.

“My name is Randvi. I assisted Louis with the repairs at his store, so I may be able to help you.”

[friendsfordinner]

You know what's at the basin? Fish. Hickey's traps turned up absolutely nothing today, so he's made his way to the basin to set up a few more. After all, it's a bit out of the way for most people. But he's found that he can easily clamber up and down the treacherous incline, especially after the gift the Aurora gave him.

He's wearing a sensible outfit: a pair of deerskin boots, a set of blue jeans, a modern water-resistant jacket. Hickey looks almost modern, if it wasn't for his evil little Victorian beard (so in actuality, he looks very hipster). He's got a few homemade snares of dubious quality slung over one shoulder and a handmade fishing pole over the other.

And there's someone new here. Good. He likes new people, they're easier to work with. He lets out a loud "Oi, new guy!" to get Scratch's attention before walking over with a devil-may-care smile.

"Haven't seen you around much before."

[obscurissime]

His eyebrows go up at the greeting, and he takes immediate notice of the other's demeanour.


"No, you probably wouldn't." Scratch puts on an easy smile. "Just checking everything out."

[friendsfordinner]

"Smart," Hickey says, with a nod. "After all, this place can get a little ridiculous at times. Best to know your surroundings when we get the next batch of creepy fog or murderous wolves or what have you."

You know. Totally normal things.

[webshootings]

Peter does not have a tape measure so he won't be answering the query. But, he does spot the man putting up the note and he can't help but be a little curious.

He steps closer, reading it once he's up before humming.

"Doing some interior design?" he wonders since that's about all he can think of when it comes to the dilapidated houses around Milton.

[obscurissime]

"Hmm?"

Scratch glances over, then cracks a smile.

"Oh. Yeah. There's a smashed window in the place I chose, and I don't know anything about fixing that."

[webshootings]

"Kind of sounds like something duct tape would fix but I haven't seen any of that laying around."

Now that he thinks about it, he wonders if there is any duct tape still stuck somewhere in Milton. Maybe something to do today.

"Could always move to a better location but if you're settled, you're settled. I know these houses are super nice."

Ha ha.

Lets get this party started

[pythianwoman]

Zoey checks the message board semi-regularly. Just to try and keep apprised of things. She doesn’t expect to see a note written in what looks like pretty familiar handwriting, and signed with a familiar set of initials. The chances of it actually being him is… miniscule. The number of times she’s found the same people in multiple worlds she can count on one hand.

But it’s enough to make her wonder. Enough to make her curious.

And she has a tape measure plus enough carpentry skills to get by. So she goes, her warm longcoat billowing behind her. She needs to see for herself. Needs to know, one way or the other. “I come bearing a tape measure,” she says by way of greeting in a voice laced with what sounds like a rather proper English accent. England by way of a few other places, anyway.

[obscurissime]

For reasons that would be obvious to anyone that would ever know him, Scratch is content to settle into the identity of Alan Wake while he's here. It's what he was made for, after all, and the idea of introducing himself as Scratch or his more eldritch-but-true name seems a poor idea.

A couple days in and he even feels like Alan, though that's not intentional. It's the mundane wardrobe he's got to work with, it's the lack of product to keep his hair tidy and slicked back. He doesn't want to be sad Alan, but here he is.

The announcement of a tape measure pulls him out of his thoughts on the situation, and he opens the door with pleasant, though not overly enthusiastic, smile.

"Really? That's great. Come in -" He steps aside. "You know anything about windows?"

Basin Overlook

[flambeaux]

Louis is properly pomaded and wearing his tie, though in the cold of the night his long wool coat from home takes center stage. When he isn't minding the General Store just a few streets away, Louis takes walks and runs errands, hoping to score some easy animal pickings without having to hunt in the forest. While deer are more substantial, rats are convenient. No animal blood is as good as human, though.

The cabin with its unkempt dead yard might be empty, except there is the telltale smoke of a stove keeping the place warm. And there is a man dressed in such plaid that would make a lumberjack proud.

"I should hire you to chop wood," he says admiringly. He doesn't truly admire this stranger beyond his physique, but it's easy flattery to give. Making nice with the neighbors is something he learned at his mother's knee, and he hopes it'll be a point in his favor should more humans discover his secrets.

"Louis de Pointe du Lac. I run the general store most nights, except when I'm hunting down things to sell in it."

[obscurissime]

Chopping wood is as good an outlet as any. Scratch has to stay conditioned somehow (an axe can be messy and quick but, hey, it gets the job done), and he can imagine the logs he's splitting are the blurry faces of people on his personal list.

He finishes splitting Barry the current hunk of wood open, then gives the other man an amused-and-hopefully-humble sort of look.

"Alan Wake. The name's not quite as impressive as yours."

Crossing Paths to Milton

[goingtobeunwell]

Crozier's cabin is nestled in a wooded area between the basin and the entrance to mines, which means he frequents this area like some sort of redheaded sasquatch, stomping about in the thickets and through the trees in his caribou parka and matching boots for firewood and herbs and the various small animals he catches in his makeshift traps. He tends to move outside the paths, but every once in a while he uses the roads to haul his finds to Milton for trade purposes.

He's overburdened when he happens upon a fellow Interloper, looking...well, new. Trying to find his feet, as it were. He's seen the Aurora, he knew more were coming, though this one seems less perplexed and more resigned than most.

He nods to him, raising his left arm with the ragged stump instead of a hand at the end of it in greeting. "Are you busy?"

[obscurissime]

Scratch has clocked the stranger, of course. It's not hard to see someone coming down the road, and he's been casually watching as the man draws nearer but not making any effort to move closer in greeting.

The stump instead of a hand? That's actually interesting.

"If I say no, are you going to ask me to do something for you?"

Community hall

[salamanca]

Lalo is dropping off food in the community hall, some smoked venison and a few things he's grabbed from Louis's general store — when he spots a new face staring at the noticeboard.

"Well hey, stranger!" he calls, to get the man's attention. He'll wave, if Scratch looks over.

[obscurissime]

What a terrible way to greet someone. Scratch scrunches up his nose, but when he looks over, he replaces the look on his face with something that hopefully looks more curious than judgmental.

"Me?"

[notarat]

Billy doesn't necessarily spend all that much time around the community hall - but he just happens to be there at the same time as Scratch is working on his note, while Billy just came out of the storage with some thread for his projects.

He figures he should check the notice board on his way out, just in case there's anything important or useful on there, which means that he reads Scratch's note at the same time as the actual guy is still putting it up.

.. small talk isn't necessarily Billy's speciality, but he is kind of curious upon reading the note. Curious enough to look over at Scratch and ask: "Are you working on some sort of project?"

[obscurissime]

"Me? No."

Scratch laughs, though he's really probably the only one of the two who finds the absurdity of the question to be hilarious. Imagine. What a joke.

"I'm a writer, I've never really been that handy. Usually I just throw money at things and it happens."

[solitarysoul]

One of the times Levi returns to the hall he finds Scratch standing near the board. The boy in the oversized coat with the rifle on his back offers a shy smile. "Oh. H-hello. Were you, um, putting up a note or looking for one?"

[obscurissime]

"Oh, you know."

Scratch shrugs, and lets his gaze shift to the corners of his eyes so he can look at the other guy without actually looking at him.

"Just checking it out."

cache hunting;

[lanfeared]

After retrieving a map from Young Bill, something that should be helpful in assisting her with retrieving one of these caches, Lanfear sets off on her own in favor of Lakeside. It's a trek she's made before, and with her newfound ability to channel fire, courtesy of the Aurora, she's more than capable of traveling by herself — as well as holding her own against any of these supposed Forest Talkers that might make themselves known.

The sound of footsteps crunching in the snow is initially what alerts her to another presence — someone who doesn't care about disguising themselves, or whether they're overheard first. Perhaps it's someone who simply wants assistance in finding a cache for themselves. Perhaps they're lying in wait for her to discover one so they can accost her and seize it for themselves.

While her instinct is to draw upon the fire she knows she can wield if necessary, Lanfear instead straightens herself, eyes narrowing as she squints toward the treeline, waiting for whoever's there to show themselves. That suspicious expression shifts into a more innocent look, wide-eyed, as if she couldn't possibly know why someone would be approaching her without warning.

"May I help you?" she murmurs, gaze flicking over the dark-haired man who emerges.

sorry for the delay! i just got home from long vacation~

[obscurissime]

Scratch is still working out the best way to approach all this. On the one hand, getting a cache or two is necessary, on the other hand ... Everyone here is taking the Little Bitch route it seems, choosing to play nice and cautious rather than go with the far better option of wiping the talkers out. Hell, Scratch would take out Bill, too, if he had the chance.

Whatever. They'll all reap the consequences of not taking action when shit goes sideways down the line, and Scratch will be glad to watch the chaos ensue.

And so that's the way his thoughts are milling about when he comes upon someone else, a fellow Interloper he assumes, and he raises his eyebrows.

"Probably not."

community hall

[readytosee]

Darling has been lingering around the Community Hall, as well. The little library is interesting, and there's usually coffee going, which means the scientist is content to use it as a sort of waystation to stop by and warm up while he explores the centre of the town.

"Oh Alan!" he says, glancing up from his coffee to see a familiar face. "Good to see you again. I hope you're settling in well."

[obscurissime]

Scratch almost doesn't realize he's the one being addressed. Almost.

"Dr. Darling."

He puts on a slight smile, reaching for Darling's hand to take a look at it.

"How's the healing going?"