singillatim | Part One: The Cabin

Who: Arthur Lester and others
What: Adjusting to life and vision
When: Late August/Early Sept
Where: Largely Milton generally

Content Warnings: Catch-all warning for Malevolent content (Lovecraftian horror et al) and spoilers through S5

Getting by on getting by (Early on)

It took Arthur a few days for it to really sink in.

It was one thing to know that John wasn't there, that he had his vision back, his arm and leg and was expected to just. Learn how to survive all over again, in a new town in a new world in an environment he had only ever associated with death and hardship, not least of all his own.

It was another entirely to make peace with the fact: to finish smashing the mirrors in his claimed cabin and screaming for Kayne until his voice went hoarse. Either the god wasn't listening or couldn't hear him, and Arthur wasn't sure which was worse.

This too shall pass. And if it didn't, then he'd fucking well learn to live with it. Just like everything else.

The house next to his had been half demolished by something in the past, which left him with plenty of lumber to wade through the ruins and collect, ripping it loose with his gloved hands if he has to, and board over the bottom storey windows of his own cabin. And an empty house across the street provided blankets aplenty to throw over his shoulders, and haul awkwardly back to cut to shreds and insulate the windows inside.

(It also gave him a quite stellar view of the community centre, so. Something to stare at and make notes on, memorise the silhouettes when he needed a break.

Anything but thinking.)

Make Yourself Seen (September)

After that, he hasn't got much excuse to avoid people.

He'd met a few people already, but this time he's rugged up securely in scavenged clothes, hiding his malnourished frame. Not much to be done about the rough sand scars across his right temple, but at least he could hide his ruined ear beneath a knit hat and pray no-one asked much further.

So he starts actively hanging around. Exploring Milton properly. There's plenty of people to meet, it seems like, even if all he does is loiter around the message board. He does eventually pin something there, nondescript and no-nonsense about it, before he walks away.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Venat has seen no real reason to post anything to the board as of yet. She is here, and yet, she knows her people to be long gone, and she can only hope that her champions will return to her star. Instead, she has been reading the other messages, and when the rough-looking man puts his message up, she almost doesn't recognize Arthur from the woods (and the pit).

She too has found some better, warmer clothes but there is no hiding that stark white hair and the glowing blue eyes. She reads the message on the board, curious at the manner in which it is posted, before gently offering a greeting.

"Glad I am to meet you on more level ground, Arthur. Do you fare well?"

"Oh- Venat, hello."

He's a little surprised she recognised him, actually, but she's truly distinct, and he offers her a wan smile. "Y-yes, I'm... better, now that I'm not, er. W-well, in the bottom of any more damn holes."

He turns to face her, hands in his pockets, trying to ignore his own message despite his urge to fuss with it some more. "How about you? Coping well, so far?"

Don't let the ethereal vibe fool you, Arthur. She has done a lot of watching over the centuries.

"I yet draw breath," she says, her tone warm, "and each new day dawns after the last. There is still much to learn of this place; mysteries upon mysteries seem woven through every inch of this world and darkness obscures much. Far less mysterious is the work that stands before us. That, at least, I am thankful for."

That gets a short huff.

"Yes, well. Survival is at least the one thing most of us ought to agree on here. If nothing else we have that much as a common goal, hopefully it ought to keep everyone mostly civil."

Though he's got plenty of experience to the contrary, as well.

"No threat can make all civil," she notes with some wryness. "For in crisis do different eyes see different solutions before them. Thus far, however, all seem in alignment on the most basic of needs. The greater conflicts yet lay ahead."

She tips her head to one side.

"All is well for thee regarding such concerns?"

On the plus side, her unique turns of phrase are certainly making Arthur pay attention so he doesn't miss something and accidentally offend her.

"I-I suppose so, in as far as, er... well, we don't seem to be having to worry about from our own universes troubling us here," he admits wryly. "Though I guess in some ways that may be more worrying than not..."

"To be an explorer in a strange land, divorced from all familiar, is both a blessing and a curse," she agrees. "Then of course, there is the devil one knows versus the threat yet hidden."

Her shoulders settle somewhat.

"I have endeavored most fervently to address what stands before me. Thus I ask: you have found lodging and supplies as needed?"

Part One: The Cabin

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