we don't own our heavens now, we only own our hell ( OPEN )

[extramuralise]

Who: John Irving (extramuralise) + OPEN!
What: Arrival, TDM thread continuations, & more!
When: Throughout May.
Where: Milton & surrounding areas.

Content Warnings: canon & character-typical warnings for The Terror likely, such as potential mentions of body horror / trauma, disease, starvation, death/violence, cannibalism(?), religious evangelism, period-typical prejudice... & so on, as well as spoilers.



✒︎ i. |  LITTLE'S CABIN

It's not exactly a space built for two grown men to live inside, but luckily, living on and off boats for most of one's life teaches a man a thing or two about sharing close quarters— and anyway, Little and Irving are two men unlikely to get in one another's way. Irving doesn't take the invitation for granted, and spends his days — when he's not exploring the greater Milton area — tidying up the cottage as it can, making sure his presence is barely felt in the already small, humble building.

(Easily done, since it's not like he turned up here with much more than the clothes on his back, anyway.)

No one but perhaps the small handful of people he already knows are likely to turn up at Little's door to visit Irving, obviously, but anyone visiting Little at home might encounter him in or about the cabin, either tidying up or beginning to go over the community store accounts in a ledger he's found. If there's a kettle, he'll put it on for company, and if not... well, no sense in a wasted trip regardless, come inside and warm up a bit.

✑ ii. |  MILTON

Irving's been given a quick tour or two of the overall town, but during his early days especially, he's taken to wandering around town to get a better sense of the area. He's keen to begin going through the accounts and inventory records of the community's supplies, but beyond that, he's fascinated at the haunting sight of the nearly empty ghost town.

Naturally he visits the church, in awe of both the building and its resilient construction, exploring it with pious gravity. The graveyard, however, is left untouched; looked upon but unexplored. He'll likely visit it whenever he's in town, wistfully hoping services will be held there again, before continuing onward to the community hall.

✒︎ iii. |  BASIN

The basin is somewhat more treacherous of a trek, but Irving is grateful to have made it once he's there, the sight of game heartening to his peace of mind— and the overall vista itself, simply breathtaking. A good place to, apart from hunting and fishing, also disappear when one wants to be left alone with his thoughts, perhaps; to reflect silently in that lonely cold.

🌊 w i l d c a r d｡

[ Choose your own adventure! Hit me up with anything else, or PM / plurk me @ reggiemantle to discuss in further detail! Happy to also write/respond to personalized starters. ]

Comments

[extramuralise]

That earns a long, drawn out pause in response, as Irving is briefly rendered speechless by the harsh gravity of that statement— never mind the implications of it, as well, assuming the boy is right. And assuming he's telling the truth.

"Everyone was..." He slowly trails off, unable to put voice to what Levi's just told him. "As in, you found all their bodies?"

[solitarysoul]

"...Yes." Having seen so much death in his life it wasn't as big a deal for Levi as it might be for other people. But he understood that other people were more likely to be shocked or freak out about it.

[extramuralise]

"I..." Irving doesn't know quite what to say to that, and clears his throat uncomfortably. "I-I see— well then, h-how very awful that must have been for you."

And therefore, perhaps Kate as well? Among how many others had also borne witness to such a gruesome town-wide tableau of corpses, and how then had they all been interred or disposed of?

Irving isn't sure he wants to know the answer to that question, but even if he did, he certainly wouldn't be asking it of a child.

"Good job you didn't all become ill from the exposure alone, then, if they'd not even yet been buried."

[solitarysoul]

He shrugs. It's old now.

"I don't think it was an illness that took them...but they've all been buried now." Probably. The wolves may have dragged off a few. "So you don't need to worry about it."