nature offers a violence

[singmod]

NOVEMBER 2023 EVENT

PROMPT ONE — WHITEOUT: Methuselah makes an unexpected early return to Milton to warn Interlopers of an impending monster storm, and boy does it surely come.

PROMPT TWO — A CHOICE: Following the storm, sightings of a mysterious stag prompts a hunt down in the Basin and out in the Outskirts.

PROMPT THREE — REST MY WEARY BONES: While the storm causes a great deal of mess, it also uncovers some far more pleasant surprises. Hot springs.

WHITEOUT

WHEN: Early to mid-month.
WHERE: Milton.
CONTENT WARNINGS: extreme weather; storms; blizzards; themes of survival; possible character cold-related injuries; possible themes of peril.


In the times that he is no longer occupying the Community Hall in the center of town to help tend to the newcomers, Methuselah is out in the wilds. Despite his growing age, he is a hardened survivor, and has been more than accustomed to life living as a nomad, out in the thickest, deepest parts of nature. Sometimes he can be encountered, sheltered in a cave or out in the woods, huddled by a warm campfire, or busying himself with his latest game catch. He seems to be always on the move, never staying for too long, and never coming into town — unless it’s to begin preparations for the latest batch of new arrivals.

To see him returning to Milton outside of these times is a curious sight, and the grim expression he carries is enough to make anyone wary. Even his voice is grave. The warmth and kindness usually found in his expression is gone, replaced with a deathly seriousness. He doesn’t speak in jest.

"I am long used to this world and its weather, even with the changing times to more bitter nights." he will say. "I have seen the years rise and fall, too many to count. Please, I beg that you hear me with this— a storm is coming. Greater than some of you may have ever known. It is in the air, and we must prepare to see it through. We do not have much time. Three days, perhaps. But no more."

He will tell anyone and everyone; encouraging the word to be spread around. He will instruct on what needs to be done, what needs to be gathered. The storm will be long and hard, and will last for some time. With that, Methuselah will begin to prepare the Community Hall as a place of refuge with a stock of food, fuel and water to get through the storm. Interlopers will be free to join Methuselah and bunker down together, or can choose to bunker down on their own in their own homes, or with others.

You have only three days.

And sure enough, the storm comes. Maybe you can notice the signs too: the sudden updraft, the slow gathering of clouds, the drop in temperature, the changes of pressure in the air.

Halfway through the third day, the storm rolls in: a ferocious snow-storm unlike anything you’ve seen before. Even with the fading amount of daylight as mid-winter approaches, the sky turns as dark as night as will stay like night for the duration. Strong howling winds batter the town, and even the sturdiest of buildings creak and groan under the weight. Trees will be felled, some buildings might not fare the storm.

Relentless snow that falls so hard it’s a complete whiteout, and will be impossible to navigate if one were to step outside. Even then, it isn’t advisable. The temperature is bitter, with a frigid windchill. Going out in this kind of storm would be a death sentence. Staying out in it for longer than a half-hour will certainly kill you.

It would be best to wait it out, to huddle around warm fires in the darkness. It may certainly be a test of patience, depending on your choice of place to stay. The storm will last a full week, a stark reminder of what you are, the words you have heard in your arrival: thrown to Mother Nature’s mercy, the Interloper in her design.

But will you persist?

A CHOICE

WHEN: Mid-month, onwards to end of month.
WHERE: Milton Basin, Milton Outskirts.
CONTENT WARNINGS: survival themes; themes of hunting; possible animal death.


After the storm passes, there’s a certain kind of hush that falls upon Milton and its surrounding areas as Interlopers are left to pick through the wake. While the temperature certainly doesn’t get that much warmer, there’s days and nights of clear, calm weather — short afternoons of weak sunshine and nights of chilly peace, the moon hung high in the starry skies. Winter is drawing ever-closer, but it’s still for a little while.

In the early evenings, before the sun sets, there’s strange sightings of a particular white stag that can be found roaming the area — particularly down in the Milton Basin. It seems quite elusive, but there’s plenty of Interlopers that have been able to capture a glimpse over the coming days. Even Methuselah himself has seen this beast before, remarking there has long been tall tales of a ghostly stag that roams the Northern Territories and is said to bring good fortune to those who manage to hunt it down.

Perhaps you’re a little low on luck. Perhaps you’re feeling lucky. You’re going to find that stag.

Hunting down the stag, however, will take a great deal of patience and time. You might find yourself waiting several hours to wait for it to appear. Building a snow shelter, or hunkering down in some old shack might be needed in order to keep warm. But if you’re patient enough, and able to withstand the cold for long enough — the beast will soon make an appearance.

In the dying light of the day, it is there. It’s unlike any deer you’ve seen before: tall and majestic, with thick, soft fur of brilliant white. It almost looks ghost-like in some angles, it’s an incredibly beautiful creature. But it seems to have also noticed you, just as you have noticed it. It doesn’t dart away, however. Instead it stands before you, waiting for you to act.

You have a choice: slay the creature, or let it go.

It will not move until you make your decision, holding your gaze until you raise your weapon or until you lower it and give up your hunt. But there is a consequence to either action: if you choose to kill the stag, you will be rewarded with a sizeable bounty of venison. Eating said meat will help you feel fuller for longer, and the meat will keep for far longer than any other deer slain.

However, if you choose to spare the stag, the creature will lower its head, as if bowing to you. Then, it will disappear with a swirling of powdered snow. When you return home for the evening and go to sleep, the next morning you will find a gift at the foot of your bed: a pair of deerskin boots, or a deerskin blanket. These boots are supple, tough and waterproof — allowing for a great balance of mobility and warmth. The blanket is incredibly toasty, and will provide a great deal of comfort in the long nights ahead.

REST MY WEARY BONES

WHEN: Mid-month, onwards indefinitely.
WHERE: Milton Outskirts.
CONTENT WARNINGS: n/a.



The storm has blown in plenty of snow to make traversing the area much more difficult, but there’s something else of note that comes with its passing. While the storm has brought much devastation, and some places have been buried in snow drifts, plenty of snow in areas has been blown away, uncovering otherwise lost secrets within Milton. Clouds of what looks like steam can be noted not too far from town, towards the mountains of the north.

If Interlopers head to explore the clouds, they will find old trails leading up towards the mountains. It isn’t a particularly difficult journey, for once, and they will soon discover that the storm has blown away the previously blocked access to a cave. It appears that this is the right place.

The air is warm here, pleasantly so. Warm enough that hats and mittens and coats seem a little unnecessary. One might wonder if someone lives within, and that a great fire is stoked to keep the place warm. But there’s no one in sight, no sounds of life: human, animal or otherwise. If they press on, they will discover that the cave floor is well worn with footfall: plenty of people have come here before, and the reason why is soon revealed.

The air grows even warmer, and more humid. The space opening to reveal small pools of slow-flowing water, warm water. The stone houses a natural hot spring, and following the cave out the other side will lead to another space in the rock open to the air, where there are even larger pools of warm water, perfectly sized and deep enough to bathe in. It seems that this place was frequently used by the people of Milton, where their life of hardship could be forgotten for an hour or two.

The water is pleasantly hot, and incredibly inviting. After so long in the freezing cold without modern appliances and utilities, a natural hot spring sounds like an absolute luxury.

FAQs

WHITEOUT

1. Characters are free to play around with this prompt how they want. Maybe they're dumb enough to go into the cold and get injured or sick. Maybe they're stuck in the Community Hall for the week. Fights might break out as tensions run high whilst everyone's stuck together, or maybe you're actually having a nice time.

2. For those stuck in the Community Hall: there are board games and old school textbooks stored in cupboards. There is also a piano.

3. A floorplan of the Community Hall can be found here.

A CHOICE

1. .... Yes, you can pet the ghost stag.

2. Characters will get one choice only with the ghost stag, meaning they can't keep going back to find it to get extra gifts.

3. If characters can't agree on a course of action, whoever acts first will get their gift. The second character will have a chance to try again another time.

4. If both characters agree on sparing the stag, but players want different gifts (ie. one player wants the boots and one wants the blanket), characters will get the gift the player wants their character to receive.

REST MY WEARY BONES

1. The hot springs will now be a permanent fixture in the Milton Area, enjoy!

PLOTTING POST

Comments

— whiteout | ota

[castitas]

☮ WHITEOUT
cw: link to nightmares prompt does have a whole lot of seperate cws

[ Kate already essentially lives within the Community Hall, so she's not had to do much in terms of moving in. She has helped out in trying to organise the Hall a little better, and will be helping out on the kitchen side of things. She's done a Meals On Wheels program back home — helping out with mealtimes and getting people fed is something that she can do when folk start coming to hunker down for the storm. She's kept busy with that for the storm's duration, but she can also be found keeping herself busy in other ways in between meals.

Most will have likely recognised her on trips into the Community Hall at the right times by her playing the violin, and during the storm she keeps the practice up — offering a little entertainment and something to keep minds occupied for a short while. She plays a great deal of Mozart, for the most part. But she will also slip into hymns, or the odd traditional song — and might even take the odd request if anyone wants to ask for one. Violin is not the only thing she'll be seen trying to do: she'll also be attempting to learn a very particular song with a plastic cup as she sits on the floor by the fire one afternoon since it's definitely a good way to kill some time.

She can also be found either sat at one of the tables or on her cot, quietly doing some Bible Study with her bible from home. Alternatively, she might be found doodling little creatures and illustrations. She might not hear people at first who approach her whilst she's doing the former activity, on the account of the earbuds in her ears as she listens to her walkman she traded rosehip syrup for last month, the tapes filled with mostly 80's and 90's songs. It's pretty retro, but the music is pretty good.

On a couple of the nights, she will be plagued by nightmares that have been occuring since last month. She may wake with a strangled sound, sitting up in her cot and trying to calm and soothe herself, but it might be enough to awaken any others sleeping around her — or certainly draw attention to her for those also unable to sleep through the stormy night.

Or when she can't soothe herself, she's quietly make her way into the kitchen area for some privacy and be found sitting on the floor of the kitchen in front of the still-warm wood stove in there, with her back resting against the cupboards. She'll startle at the sight of the person who's found her and start whispering desperately: I'm sorry, I'm— There's tears in her eyes. She didn't mean to wake anyone. ]

[solitarysoul]

[He's talked to her a couple times, so Levi's not as nervous as he could be talking to Kate. He's still not confident, though, but has decided to approach her. He's seen her reading that book a few times and is done with all the books he's managed to find. Maybe he can ask her what it is, or if he can borrow it when shes done. Or something like that.]

What, um, what are you reading?

[castitas]

Oh. Hey, Levi.

[ Kate looks up from the page. She'd been tapping her pencil lightly against the page in thought, but stops and sits up to greet him. ]

Studying, actually. [ She corrects him gently with a tiny, polite smile. ] It's my bible. It was something else that came here with me from home.

[solitarysoul]

[Her bible? Didn't look like any he was familiar with--not that he was familiar with any, but all the ones he'd seen back home had been bound in skin.]

Oh, are you an occultist? I had a friend who did that.

[castitas]

[ At that question, Kate looks visibly horrified, and she just... freezes up with wide eyes for a long moment. Did he just ask if she's... an occultist? Like... witchcraft? ]

No— [ She's incredibly taken-aback, not quite sure what to say. She's trying not to be mad about it, she's just utterly bewildered and a little spooked. ] What? I'm— why... why would you think that? It's... it's the Holy Bible. That's... that's not witchcraft.

Nightmares

[guidemyway]

[Sleep hadn't come easy for Ruby since she had arrived here. It didn't feel right, didn't feel as safe to sleep without any of her teammates. When she did her own dreams were plagued by memories she wished she could push aside, the images of ash blowing in the wind and the high pitched scream of a friend were usually the things to jolt her awake.

It's why she didn't sleep in the community center if she could help it. People didn't need to see that she was struggling. But the storm had changed her mind at least for now, she could do more to help if she was in there. ...And it had helped her sleep better to be around other people.

However she was awake when she heard the strangled sound, she glances up from the glass sword she had brought along with her before quickly shoving it out of sight with her belongings.

She slipped out of bed and slowly padded along toward where she heard the sound and when she finds the girl who had made it she whispers gently.]

Hey- It's okay.

You're going to be okay.

[castitas]

[ She sits up with her knees to her chest, blinking back at the flashes of light that still linger when she closes her eyes. She feels so gross. She barely even registers that she's shaking, trying to muffle herself as she tries to calm herself down.

And then there's a voice, whispering to her in the dim. It's okay. You're going to be okay. A girl's voice. Kate looks up with a gasp, tearful. Oh, no. She's gone and woken someone else up, hasn't she? ]

I'm sorry— [ Her own voice a whisper, not daring to raise it for fear of waking anyone else up. ] I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.

[guidemyway]

[Ruby feels her heart break a little seeing this. The little gasp, the tears. She isn't sure what Kate had experienced, but it doesn't sit well with her either way. She lifts a hand and slowly but gently places it on her shoulder. She doesn't want to push herself into the other girls space as much as she wants to comfort her.]

It's okay. It's okay... You don't have to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong.

I'm-

I'm just here. Okay?

[castitas]

I woke you up. [ She keeps her voice low, still very much a whisper. She presses her fingers against her mouth, fighting back the urge to cry. ] I'm sorry, it was just— it just a bad dream and I'm— I'm trying—

[ Trying to be better about them, trying to be more considerate of those around her. Her eyes are already darting around the room, to those still asleep. She's already fretful about those she knows — what if she's woken up Lieutenant Little? He needs to sleep, he's always so busy and downing coffee to keep himself awake and he needs to sleep.

But the hand at her shoulder feels steadying and she fights to take a deep breath to try and calm herself rather than getting herself all worked up over fretting. ]

They keep happening, and I don't know how to stop them.

mild religious cws that will probably intensify

[triedtobelong]

[ If he had paid enough attention to realize what Kate was reading during those study sessions, Jason might be a little more hesitant to approach. He's dealing with his own religious issues by way of studiously ignoring them, for now. It's a little easier here, where he can just avoid the church and there's no expectation he'll show up, there's no confession, there's no Father watching over them.

But he hasn't noticed that yet. What he has noticed is Kate off to the side with her violin. He's never been musical himself, but one string instrument's as good as another--

(he can practically hear Nadia scowling at him for that one, rolling her eyes. he misses her like he'd miss his own limb.)

--and it's hard not to be a little homesick, remembering hours of sitting around listening to his twin sister practicing the cello.

He doesn't want to bother her while she's playing, though, so he slips into the seat across from her while she's sitting bent over her book without looking twice at it, wiggling his fingers in her peripheral vision to try and get her attention. ]

You're the one who's been playing, right? [ As if she hasn't been doing so very visibly. ] You're really good.

[castitas]

[ Given the busy state of the Community Hall right now, Kate often pays no mind to the people around her. People come and go, sitting down for a while to do whatever it is they're doing. There's limited seating, after all. So she doesn't look up when someone sits down at the table in front of her, and concentrates on the passage in front of her.

... Until there's a gentle wiggling of fingers at the edges of her vision that catches her attention and blinks in confusion. ]

Oh— [ She looks upwards, blinking a few more times at the boy opposite her. There's a nod at the question, softly inhaling at the praise, modest in the face of it. He thinks she's really good? ]

Thanks. [ It's quietly said in earnest, and there's a small smile in reply. ] I, uh— I try to practice every day. And... well, it's, I guess it keeps everyone's spirits up, too. Y'know?

[triedtobelong]

Yeah. It's a lot better to listen to then the wind. Or everyone talking at once.

[ Said with a little smile, and a gesture to the bubble of noise that surrounds them. It's not awful most of the time, and he's used to the steady noises of other people in close proximity more often than not -- but it's still a lot, and closer quarters than he's even used to. It's nice to pay attention to something else. ]

How long have you been playing for? [ It's idle, friendly conversation. He doesn't have much to say maybe, but it's nice to talk to another of the few other people here near his own age. ]

[castitas]

Weirdly, I don't mind people talking. It reminds you there's still people. Or again, really. [ There's a little pause. She doesn't think he's seen him around for long. He might have been at the feast Methuselah held last month, she thinks. Maybe it means he's a new Interloper. ] Something... happened here, before we started coming here, to the original townsfolk.

[ It's... uh, not great. Still, there's a tiny smile as she turns to the question. ]

A long time now. The school I go to is a private Arts and Sciences school, so I really had to work at it in order to get accepted.

Kitchen

[ployboy]

[Yeah, he's seen her. He doesn't know her. It's been days at this point, and Tim has only found his willingness to get to know this girl wane-- there's only so far that cute, messy, blonde hair will carry her. It's in the evenings... what he can assume are the evenings, when the whole flock of them begins to turn in, that Tim's consistently caught sight of her. Reading. Curious at first the way anyone gets curious when forced into shared space, he had nearly even walked over to say hi.

A little later when he caught sight of what had the girl so captivated, he had just turned his attention elsewhere.

And that was that.

And the more days that went by and the more times Tim could steal a glance and see the same scene, the duller his curiosity grew.

Anyway, it's been days at this point. Tim's already said his spiel, he's already gotten under people's skin, he's already screamed a mighty scream when the good doc had manhandled his fucking arm because what is dignity anyway-- so he weasels his way into the kitchen. Announces,]

Hi, my name's Tim. I've been assigned as your Kitchen Aid today.

[--so sue him, he's curious and he's never met her. And he thinks Kitchen Aid is a... robot thingy, but what does Tim know about the kitchen? Nothing. His last well-intended foray into a kitchen, he'd been making Steph chicken soup... and damn, what a--

it's been a while.

He's quite content with saying not much else.

If he's asked for something or shuffled along to a task, he'll do it as best he can with his current limitations. He's not going to say no to learning, and he's not here to sabotage.

Eventually, a good time later, he does have to give credit where credit is due. From a far corner of the cramped space, he calls out.] You're really on top of all of this, aren't you? Got a family restaurant or something?

[castitas]

[ And of course, she's seen him too. There's no forgetting a spectacle like the one he'd done on the stage. It had given her pause, when he'd mentioned anyone with experience in animal care but she hadn't dared to raise her hand, or even speak up. Playing violin is one thing, you don't seem to realise that people are paying attention to you. You just happen to be playing and people just happen to be watching. He might be more comfortable with it, but bringing the spotlight onto her after a whole thing like his speech on the stage is something else entirely and she painfully shies away from such a thing.

(And she'd certainly heard him shout, just one of the many pairs of eyes that had glanced over towards Mr Goodsir trying his very best to— well, owch.)

He's a curious sight to see stepping into the kitchen with a busted up arm still on the mend and offering help — but Kate can't be picky about receiving help when there's mouths to feed, even if she does check at least a half-dozen times if he's sure he's okay to help when he's injured.

There's nothing particularly difficult about the food. Keeping things simple is half of the job in this case, even if it still means keeping on top of several pans at once on the numerous burners. She's still getting the hang of these old fashioned stoves, and sometimes you have to make the best of a bad situation with cooking off huge batches of Kraft mac and cheese and the venison Methuselah kindly butchered for her.

She's in a little bit of a fluster, but she's managing. And people are filling their bellies, which is the main thing. ]

I'm trying, I guess. [ She's modest in the face of praise, a tiny flustered smile to match her before she shakes her head. ] Ah, no. Nothing like that. I help with a Meal on Wheels program at home? We make a lot for that, there's a lot of people use the service.

[ Plenty of people in need in Arcadia Bay, no thanks to the Prescott family. But that's another story entirely, and Kate would rather not think about any particular Prescotts, thank you. ]

[ployboy]

[He's good, he's fine, he only reassured her that it's fine about half a dozen times, and only dropped one sippy cup. It's lost under a hole under the sink. He's sorry about the sippy cup. But it's fine.

A little overwhelming, if he's honest for a second. Alfred's ghost whispers to him that he's been banned from rooms housing stoves for years what is he even thinking-- but, y'know, Alfred isn't in Milton. And Tim can stir a pot.

And so Tim stirs the pot.

--heh.]

Yeah?

[Tim's surprised. It shows. Looking up at Kate and taking in that shy smile, he thinks-- she's cute. But he's got a pot full of yellow gunk to supervise, a job he's taking seriously.]

Cool, cool. I did, uh, it's for at-risk kids. We have houses and kitchens, yeah, but I'm.

[It's not even a one-up. It's an attempt for common ground on rocky shores.]

We had just gotten the green-light to operate in Moscow. Can you believe it? So... the Knights are expanding, it means more resources for communities who need them. I do try to be boots on the ground back home,

[ah, guilt-]

but things get hectic.

[castitas]

[ It's okay, maybe there's hope of rescue for the lost sippy cup. They can always check later.

There's water finally boiled for the drinks canisters, the ones for coffee and tea that they use for the feasts. She's sorting them out with carefully refilling them when she stops to look at him and oh, her face lights up with that.

In terms of common ground, it's an incredibly good way of finding some. ]

Really? That's so cool. [ Yes, she believes charity work is cool. ] Seriously. I don't think I've heard of the Knights, is it short for something? Either way, it's super nice to meet someone getting involved with it all.

[ She shrugs a little, her expression dimming slightly — but certainly not enough to steal her joy completely. ]

... Most of the kids I know all think doing stuff like that's... kinda lame. [ Said kids generally think she's lame in general, among other things. ]

Hectic with... school?

[ Sure, she gets that one a lot. A 3.9 GPA plus extra curriculars and charity work does mean things get hectic pretty often. ]

Nightmares

[moralabsolutism]

[Rorschach had been put out on getting stuck in the Community Hall for part of the blizzard but there was no helping it. If he went outside in this weather, he would have perished. There was no doubt about it. He did his best to stay away from the other Interlopers, uncomfortable at having to share personal space with them. He even slept with his face on, something he'd done before but never enjoyed. Breathing through latex while conscious was one thing but while sleeping it was a lot harder.

It didn't help his schedule was completely opposite to most Interlopers. He stayed awake most night, but without being able to patrol, he had little else to do. He was scribbling down an entry in his journal when heard something out of the ordinary in the Hall. He looked around and saw the general direction the sounds were coming from. It didn't take long to find the bed the sound had come from. He saw that young girl, the one seemed polite yet sad. He reached out for a moment before he pulled his hand back, unable to follow through with the human contact.

So he simply stood there, watching her silently as the black parts of his mask melted into the shadows of the room.]

cw: some panic-attack symptoms

[castitas]

[ In her attempts to calm herself, Kate's only half-aware of footsteps approaching. She sits on her cot, knees pulled to her chest, trying not to even breathe too loudly — even if the breaths themselves are bordering on hyperventilating: short, quick breaths through her nose as she keeps her mouth clamped shut. She's shaking, sweat glistening on her forehead.

She's trying to calm down, but it's not working. The dream feels too close, the lights still flash behind her eyes.

When she looks up, there's another soft sound of realisation. Dim recognition of the mask, and the figure in the gloom it belongs to. But she's frozen, no words come. She shakes her head, mute: she doesn't know what to do. ]

[moralabsolutism]

[Rorschach sat down on the end of her bed, keeping his physical distance as he always did with people. But this wasn't the first person he'd seen here having a nightmare. He had sympathy for anyone having trouble sleeping given the visions that plagued him sometimes when he slept.

He wondered if this was the reason Kate had been up the last time he'd seen her walking around at night. Everyone had skeletons in their closet and he wondered what secrets lay in Kate's past that would keep her from sleeping well.]

Want to talk about it?

[He asked quietly. The advantage of having someone who spoke so little around was that he was great as a sounding board or just being a good listener. Rorschach didn't speak unless he had something to say, so he genuinely listened rather than just waiting his turn to say whatever he wanted to that was on his mind. He'd just sit there and listen if Kate wanted to talk, the same way he'd done for Levi.]

cw: mentions of non-consensual (non-sexual) touching

[castitas]

I don't know where they come from. [ Truthfully, she doesn't. The images are so specific and yet she doesn't know why they are what they are. She's silent for a long time, just trying to calm herself down — trying to even out her breaths, still the flurry in her chest. It takes a long time before she takes up the offer. ]

Everything's so dark and bright, and it hurts. And there's flashes and... and I feel like I'm going to throw up but I don't— I can't do anything, I can't— [ She brings her wrists together, as if bound. Her eyes glaze over. She can't move. ]

There's a man talking to me, but I can't see him. [ His voice is so soft, so calm and soothing. But it's not. It doesn't feel safe, soothed. She feels sick just trying to recall it, shuddering as she pulls her wrists apart. She curls up small, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her head on her knees. She feels so gross, so disgusting with that voice. ]

I don't want him to touch me, but he does it anyway. He makes me... move. Like I'm some kind of doll.

nightmares

[load_aim_shoot]

[Usually Raju sleeps like a rock, and wakes like one. But usually Raju can work, he can train, he can run, he can find anything which needs doing and do it, and another thing, and another until he's exhausted enough to lay down and be still and sleep through dreams. Usually he isn't trapped in one place with no room and no equipment to tire his body, and not enough which needs doing to tire his mind.

There's a welcome, alert feeling when he realises someone nearby is having as much trouble sleeping as he is, or maybe more — relief, he thinks a moment later, frowning at the thought and turning his head to watch whoever it is stand and walk away. The feeling is relief.

No one who's woken from a nightmare that way would be happy to hear it, that Raju was glad, no matter how badly he needs any kind of distraction while the night refuses to pass. But then, no one has to know. And it doesn't matter anyway.

He waits a moment so it won't be so obvious that he's following and then sits up, frowns back at the mattress once he does and, in quick, decisive movements, tugs a blanket off of it and wraps it around his shoulders, pushes his feet into his shoes and ties them quickly. Even if the fire wasn't lower at night with no one awake to feed it, this isn't the kind of place to walk through in bare feet.

Armed from shoulders to toe against the chill, he moves in the direction that he'd seen her go, and stops in the kitchen's doorway. I'm sorry, I'm— she says, and Raju's eyes widen just a little at the tears he can see reflected in her eyes against the meagre light.

He considers. Then he moves to sit on the floor a foot or two away from her, tightening the blanket around his shoulders as he shifts around.]

Sorry for what? What did you do?

[His voice is matter of fact, and not a whisper like hers; he's been sleeping in the same room with too many men for too many years to be that careful, and isn't thinking about anyone else. All of his attention is on this room: a little on the stove she's claimed the warmest spot in front of, but most of it on her expression, on her.]

[castitas]

[ In truth, she expects reprimand. While there's people she knows all huddled in here to shelter from the storm, this man isn't one of them. He doesn't know her, nor does she expect compassion when people are already on edge and sick of being stuck together.

And she's no stranger to the perils of dorm-living. Even if she doesn't make all that much noise, she's used to hearing the other girls in the dormitory banging on each other's doors and yelling about keeping the noise down when it's too late at night, or too early in the morning.

What she doesn't expect is for him to sit on the floor with her. ]

I— I woke you up. [ She's a little wary, but she's still apologetic. ] I don't mean to, I've been trying really hard to not wake others up when it happens but sometimes—

[ She can't help it. ]

[load_aim_shoot]

[Some part of Raju has taught the rest of him, afterward, to wake up still and empty and quiet, but Seetha still makes noise. Or she had, the few times he hadn't been tired enough to sleep through it. Before he'd left.

No sense in thinking about that now.]

Sometimes it's just loud. I know. [There's a little sympathy in his voice, but he's not saying it for sympathy; he's saying it because it's true, only finishing her thought. He shrugs, as much to move the blanket up higher as for the gesture itself.] I was already awake anyway. It's impossible to sleep here.

[Those tears in her eyes, though. He realises he doesn't know what to do about them. When he was young, sitting with Seetha like this, on the floor in the night, in the dark, he hadn't needed to do anything. Their nightmares had been the same. Sometimes she had cried. Sometimes he had tried to. Usually they had only sat there quietly, or lay there, Seetha wrapped around him to help rebuild the flimsy walls between her awareness and memory.

It's different here, with a stranger. But she's so young. It's hard not to want to do something. Raju's mouth opens, slowly for a moment as he hesitates. Then he grasps at the first thing that he can think to try.]

Do you like talking about it? Some people do. Or so I hear.

[castitas]

[ She nods and sniffles quietly as he finishes. Yeah. Basically just like that. And she's real sorry for it. But more than that, he knows. And it gives her pause for a moment. ]

It's hard to get used to. [ She agrees quietly, her head dropping slightly. She's been staying in the Community Hall ever since she first arrived here. Even still, she's not seen this many people sleeping in one place. The others have been quick to find their own homes in the town rather than staying in the Hall. She's been too frightened to leave, too scared to live on her own.

She's quiet for a few moments, her lips pressed together. She doesn't know if she'd like to talk about it. Not with how... gross it makes her feel, how sick and dizzy she feels. But still, she considers for a bit before she finally speaks: ]

Do you ever have dreams that scare you, even if they don't make sense? Even if they're not real?

[ Not... based on real things. Dreams that are scary but... not memories.

(She doesn't realise the truth. How could she?) ]