singillatim | (no subject)

Who: Hickey & OPEN!
What: cave visits, exploring around town, making some booze!
When: through the month of December
Where: in town, Misty Falls Cave.

Content Warnings: Hickey's god complex, animal death & mutilation, usual warnings for the Terror boys (possible talk of body horror, gore, cannibalism, etc.)

in town
Hickey makes a point to be a good neighbor. Moving something? He'll help! Chopping wood? He can help with that as well. The more useful and helpful he is, the more he ingratiates himself with everybody, the more likely he'll have people on his side whenever one of the rest of the crew of the Terror decides to actually say something about what happened back home.

When he goes out to hunt, occasionally he'll return with a rabbit or a ptarmigan, something he'll happily cook up for whoever wants any. This time is different. He's brought back an animal, a rabbit that looks off, burns on the flesh but nothing more. He makes sure to drop it away from his house (we're not going to contaminate the food) before carefully, in the middle of what passes for his yard, Hickey starts to carefully vivisect the rabbit. It's certainly a sight, and he looks up at whoever might be passing or walking by.

"Have you noticed some odd tracks out there? Out in the woods, just outside of town."

Misty Falls Cave
You're exploring the cave. It's dark, cold, there's a moment where you think you might be the only person in here. It's trapped, kept away, a small, solitary place cut off from the rest of the world—

And then you hear a loud "What the hell?!"

It's Cornelius Hickey, further down one of the paths. And he's just run into a dead end. And is very annoyed about that.

closed prompt for March
There's a loud pounding on March's door, the sort of pounding of someone who obviously doesn't really care about things like 'social conventions' or 'the fact that people might be asleep. Hickey continues knocking, but as he does so, he calls out,

"Oi! This is March's place, yeah? I brought some sugar for the alcohol."

Turns out that horrible trip in that cave had some results!

wildcard
( Hit me up if there's something you want to thread that's not on this post! )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Batteries. Cleaning products."

Obvious choices for Bigby - but, you know, he kind of had to get used to modern society. If he had still been living as a wolf out in the woods, he would have had no idea what those things even are.

Besides, there's another point to that. One that Bigby himself can't ignore, adding with a shake of his head: "But no way any animal would eat anything like that."

If anyone is the ultimate defender of animal intelligence, it's Bigby Wolf over here, after all.

"Not to mention that I doubt any of us are leaving that shit lying around in the woods in the first place." Not when they hardly have much of that in town in the first place.. "So the chance is bigger that it's got something to do with whatever force dumped us here in the first place." That it's something a little more supernatural, he means.

Hickey gives Bigby a little Look. Some of us are still getting used to the concept of electricity over here! However, Bigby's assertion that no way an animal would eat that nor would it be lying around the woods in the first place gets Hickey to give him a little nod of agreement.

"I didn't see any traces of that to begin with," he points out. "No containers, no drops of liquid. So yeah. I think I'd agree that the cause of this is whatever dumped us here." There's a moment before he muses, "Maybe that voice that was trying to get us to off ourselves managed to get to the animals. Drink a cleaning product, hop on off to the woods to die."

Some people might feel like the conclusion is a little too strange. That animals wouldn't be capable of such a thing. But-- well, considering this is Bigby of all people, he doesn't think that Hickey's conclusion is too strange. (Especially when the other has proven before to Bigby that he's capable of thought, even if he's also just about the most annoying person in this entire town.) If anyone believes in animals having so many feelings and thoughts, it's Bigby. He very much believes the voice could affect them, if it could affect him.

"Rubbish," he grumbles - but considering all of the above, it doesn't sound like a dismissal of Hickey's theory as much as it sounds like his assessment of whatever dumb force deemed them Interlopers in the first place, a force that would do this to innocent animals.

The man huffs, then shakes his head.

"If that's the case, it's gonna mean trouble. There won't be any game left."

Yeah, 'maybe the voice caused the animals to have a mass suicide' is a strange theory. But Hickey's seen stranger. The breath of a god on the wind. The presence of holiness. A land that should be teeming with fish, birds, walrus, and yet possessing absolutely no animals.

Bigby's assertion that there might not be any game left visibly chills Hickey, as he tenses in a way which blatantly says he loathes that theory. He's dealt with that before. He doesn't want to do it again.

"Then we'd better figure out what the fuck is causing this and stop it before it gets worse."

.. huh. Usually Bigby wouldn't have thought much of the way the other tenses - sure, he'd know what it means, but the fact someone has dealt with hunger before doesn't mean all that much to him - but in the light of the things Edward told him.. The other hadn't given Bigby too many details, none about motive, about the specific circumstances.

Is this why? Did the situation get tense because of a lack of food? It's the same thing Bigby has been worrying about it possibly happening here, realising the potential and risks of their limited food supply.

That was definitely a pause as he had to overthink that.. but then he shakes his head.

"I'm gonna look into it."

No delegating here. Bigby does shit himself, because that's the only way he knows said shit is going to get done properly.

But he's not walking off with that just yet. He looks back at Hickey, if not just to add: "Don't go around killing anyone over it in the meantime."

Just. A very normal thing to tell a person, right. Bigby is a very subtle man, thanks.

Hickey rolls his eyes before pointing out,

"Yes, dad."

You're not his real dad!

Of all possible responses to his remark...

There's a brief moment of an 'is this really what I'm getting in return' look on Bigby's end, but, you know. Whatever. He's got the feeling by now that engaging Hickey in absolutely anything just makes him worse, so Bigby is just going to take off. At least he can say he did warn Hickey.. That means he's free to throw the guy into the lake if he ignores that warning, right. The thought will warm Bigby's little heart.

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cw: glib talk about suicide

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