pedalbike | Fourth TDM: Winter's breath

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Fourth TDM: Winter's breath

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As a quick note: This will be the last TDM and Application Round of the year! Have fun everyone!

Arrival

Not all characters (known as Wickie, singular or Wickies, plural) arrive at the same time, surprisingly enough! That’s life for you. Some Wickies find their way to the island at a pivotal (or very mundane) point in their life, or even after or during their death.

Wickies who were standing or walking often find themselves entering the town South Sister, located on Lighthouse Isle, through an open doorway. Those that were laying down, or sleeping, tend to be found lying prone in beds, bathtubs, showers, couches, and similar places within the cottages on Cottage Row. There’s no rhyme or reason to it all! To Wickies familiar with the era, they will realize that everything looks as if it’s come from the ‘90s.

The house which a Wickie finds themselves within could already be occupied. This includes walking into a fellow Wicke, waking up in the same location, or accidentally scaring a room full of people with their sudden appearance.

Oops.

Start of Winter

Thankfully things have more or less dried out, for the seasons are already changing. Or at least, the weather is, and with it...comes snow.

The grass on the island is covered, various trees lose the last of their leaves, the sand becomes crunchy, and even a portion of the ocean water becomes frozen solid. (Take THAT, water!). And with it, Wickies wake up at their feet (or suddenly in their hands if they don’t sleep) warm clothing and various ways to keep warm- or at least keep the cold from messing with their joints!

And with it, there are snow shovels and boots that are set out neatly by the door. It seems more snowk is expected, and foot protection is more important than ever. While it is possible for some (those who are not infected by the Silence at least) to use the teleporter to get from town to their homes, there are pathways that need to be cleared for everyone.

It might be a good time to offer a helping hand! Especially with some Wickies who are snowed into their homes.

Or it could be a good time to use the shovels to gather snow for snow ball fights, snow forts, and similar winter activities. The nice thing about the winter shovels is that they’ll have them for a few months.

Too bad the ground is nearly frozen solid, and these particular shovels are not good for digging into the ground.

Frosty Protections

While there may be the snow and the quiet that’s coming in, there are other things that are coming into the island too. There are tables that linger day or night, which have tangyuan. Some in the shape of various animals, and some of them that are simply balls of colored dough. They are edible, and thankfully they don’t have a negative consequence to eating them (unlike the mooncakes from before) but there are written instructions, which also proclaim outloud to a Wickie if they linger for awhile:

“For the use of protective talismans! Stick it on your chair, your door, your window!”

Interestingly enough, they do seem to work. Wickies who are Silence infected are repelled by them, feeling uneasy and nauseous around them and touching the tangyuan even with covered hands will cause a burning sensation.

Infected Wickies who eat the treats...they’re in for a rough time. Really rough.

There are also little tables with various drinks, some being fruit juice, sparkling fruit juice, champagne and of similar ilk- but not ever with water. That’s just bad luck after everything.

The inscription for this table, which is again read out loud, “Toast to others health”

Picking up the cups, they will be unable to drop it, and the fluid will refill in the Wickie’s cup until they find someone to toast to- whether it’s in humor or in earnestness.

For the next twelve hours after the toast is made, even if the drink is not drunk after, the Wickie toasted will find they will have better luck in that subject, whether it is in health, love, or friendship, or just in general.

The same applies if Wickies toast together to a group of people as well.

Of hooves and horns

The strangest thing of all isn't the sweet rice balls, nor is it the smell of evergreens heavy in the air. Instead, it's the masks set to everyone, and the ruckus music that thrums through the air, deep into the night.

The masks are of a haggard old woman, well worn and aged, and that of a man with horns and facial hair similar to a goat.

There are different effects when it comes to the masks, both happening at night with the music starts.

Wickies wearing the devilish mask find themselves wearing a ragged fur suit, prancing in the streets, ready to whip other Wickies whose behavior has been suspect or bad as of late. Finding the wicked and punishing them is an impulse, neigh impossible to ignore. And, too, there is a sense of wicked glee when they do punish someone with their reeds and whips. Krampus masked Wickies thankfully can be pacified with rum or brandy. They'll need the help of another to pull of the mask. But once it's off, the costume vanishes, and the chagrin of what happened ( or the satisfaction) follows.

Wickies wearing the woman’s mask will find that they’re not trying to scare people, but instead, they find themselves loping in and out of the crowds, searching, scanning, for certain people, all the while wearing ragged clothing, and often a scarf on their now ratty, graying hair.

It’s with a sickening horror that Wickies will realize there is something in the mask that is watching through the mask itself, and is nodding to itself far away and writing their names on a list.

And it’s not Santa Claus.

The Wickie’s wearing the old woman’s mask can be distracted by scattering seeds or threads in front of them- one inducing a true distraction to count and pick up the seeds, and a rage that comes over that of wasted thread.

Seeds make it easier to pull off the mask, and thankfully popcorn counts as a seed! But thread...well, it is a distraction too, but one that can lead to violent consequences. It might mean some rounds of bait and switching until the mask is taken off.

And that’s when the Wickie who had been wearing the mask realizing the list is of ‘bad’ Wickies, But…

how bad could they be?

Confession network

Yet again, the phone goes off. Doesn’t look like it’s anybody in town, but it’s that weird, cheesy app called The Heart Game. And it’s persistent, too: it doesn’t want to be ignored, making a series of beeps and chirps, much like a pet that wants attention.

The message that pops up is as follows:

We’re back! It’s the time for everyone's favorite game- Confession! So beloved users, our question is:

What do you love about winter? Is it the nip on your nose? The hot drinks? Playing in the snow? Tell us!

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[Kate gives Nancy her required space, letting her sit up in the snow as she sits back on her knees. She feels so... touchy right now, and her wrist turns to hold Nancy's hands affectionately. A combination of it being someone she knows, someone who knows what she's been through as well, intimately.

Sure, she can tell others, but without it having been lived, it's... A bit much.]

Sort of the same setup as the Entity's realm. People got taken here from all over, different times n' universes and all that. Magic real for some people, other than that... Anythin' you want you can just sort of will into existence here, barrin' people, that is. It's strange.

[ please have clingy Nancy, who squeezes Kate's hand a little too hard. shared trauma - that's what Nancy does, apparently. it's like a glue that fuses people together, a thick cord of scar tissue blackened between them. she looks at Kate and it's hard not to picture her face twisted into a scream as she struggles on the hook. but it looks so relaxed right now, and with the snow filtering down around them everything seems so perfectly quiet ...

a little too quiet, if you ask Nancy. ]

Anything? [ like a pony sweater? ]

Mostly? Bigger things need more people, from what I've seen. [But a pony sweater is in the realm of possibility, though Kate hadn't willed it into existence. It'd just sort of happened and she'd accepted it. Same with her drindl, honestly.

Not only does Kate seem relaxed though, she seems generally brighter in mannerisms. Nancy's hands squeezing her own make Kate squeeze in return, but her grip is lighter, more comforting.]

I ain't done it myself, honestly. Never really wanted anythin' other than the rest of y'all here, if I couldn't get you home... Though I do got a bottle of alcohol from Glenvale at my house. [And her face scrunches a little at that, as if the term "My house" is foreign and weird to say.

She laughs all the same though.] Guess I missed y'all a little too much.

[ still processing, please wait. it'll take awhile for Nancy to look less wide-eyed, but all in all this seems a lot better than where they'd come from. she looks down at their joined hands, and then at the snow. it's ruddied from the blood on her clothes, and she can't imagine how she'll look to other people who aren't Kate.

... who looks cleaner than she's ever seen her, now that Nancy's really getting a good look at her. ]

I can't drink that stuff anymore. [ apparently, she won't have to. ] But I guess it's better than the ice cream ...

... You have a house? [ Nancy sounds hopeful, because house means shower and shower means water and water means she might not have to exist with blood clots in matting her hair. ]

I do. I share it with a few others, though.

[The bloodied snow reminds her of Ormond, but the thought of killers is so far away from her mind right now, now that someone else is here with her. As long as people come, as long as they're eventually all rescued from the fog, Kate can handle the wait.

She tugs on Nancy's hands, urging her to stand up.

You wanna take a shower an' a hot bath? I don't think it'll get all the blood out, but we can make an attempt. What d'ya say?

[ there is nothing Nancy wants more than a shower and a bath, in that order. she can't believe this is happening. pushing herself to her feet, she pulls Kate with her, before reaching behind her to brush snow off her pants. the bloodied stain is ... a reminder of where they've come from, where they've been. ]

Sounds awesome. What are your roommates like?

[ there's a sharp pang, for the "roommates" they'd left behind. ]

One of 'em is a robot. Er, Android, specifically a nurse droid, he'd said? Either way, he's nice, even if I almost beaned him with a kitchen chair when I saw him. Wasn't expecting someone so nonhuman. [She laughs, rubs the back of her head sheepishly.]

They're all good people, though. Nothin' quite like the cast of characters we had back in the fog, but I think they're swell enough.

A robot, huh? [ okay, it's all a little weird, but Nancy's life hadn't been normal for a very long time. she just trods after Kate, kicking snow with her boots and trying to beat back the sense of unease. she's pretty sure when she sinks under the water she's going to cry out of straight up relief. ]

What have you been doing while you've been here?

Playing showpony and playing music at parties. Went on a date with an entirely different android named Connor, which there are two of, and by god, they hate each other so much. [Which is funny in a way that she feels comfortable sharing with Nancy.]

Helped to dig up a body, an' then the entire island flooded and a mermaid tried to eat me. An' lemme tell you, kicking the face in of somethin' trying to kill me has never felt better.

[It's. A lot, she knows, but it's nothing nearly as strange and farfetched as what they went through in the fog.]

You know, a regular day in the life of a musician.

[ it is a lot. Nancy blinks a little at the 'dig up a body' part - what the hell is she in for in this place? but Kate's good spirits keep soothing over the anxieties that crop up - as they always have. ]

How was the date?

Was fine. Only really went on it since he asked me so earnestly. He's a good man, even if he doesn't have much world experience. [Kate laughs.]

Not to make it a bit weird for you or anything, but I've found that I ain't really gotta eat or drink or sleep still. Sure, I can, but I ain't need to. Might be the same for you.

Oh, God. [ so much for a return to normalcy. Nancy feels like she wants to eat something, maybe just to do it, but she doesn't feel particularly hungry. what does that mean for them? ]

Is your house far? [ she reaches out to link arms with her, part affection, and part desire to stick close. ]

[ Means that they are fucked by The Entity, tbh. ]

Nah, was just doin' some shoveling to try and clear some paths up for people. Didn't get too far.

[ Linking arms together is dangerous, or would be in a trial. Might cause them to lose precious seconds to escape.

Here, however, Kate's smile remains radiant, and she pulls Nancy against her affectionately when she links them. ]

You're in luck though. Just finished makin' a batch of sugar cookies before I left. You get to be my guinea pig to see if I remember how to bake. Don't worry, I skipped out on the teeth and eyeballs.

[ She teases. ]

[ sugar ... cookies ... excuse her, she's just about to fall over from the shock of everything, and sugar cookies are the cherry on top of everything, the straw about to snap this camel's back in half. it's very likely that Nancy will just start sobbing at the smell of cookies, but they can deal with that later. ]

I feel kind of dizzy, I think. [ so it's a good thing she's got a good hold on Kate, who'll be going down with her. ]

Edited 2020-12-01 23:02 (UTC)

[Nancy wobbles, and looses her footing. It's a good thing Kate has her, then, because her reaction times have never been better, quite frankly. Kate catches her as she stumbles, and lifts her up.]

New on your feet?

[She asks, teasingly. But then more concern enters her voice:]

You alright, hun?

I - [ she's about to say 'I'm fine,' especially since Kate's got her, but then everything goes sideways in her vision and she kind of just slumps into the snow. apparently it's all too much to process, so her brain's decided to help her out by simply momentarily shutting off.

this particular bloodied snow patch will probably be concerning, should anybody else pass by it. ]

[Oh. Down she goes, and Kate is right there, kneeling in the snow to check for injuries. Stab wounds untreated, perhaps? The shock of ending up here could have potentially made it so Nancy hadn't realized she had one... But her investigation reveals nothing.

Just exhaustion, probably.]

Alright, I'm gonna need you to put your arm around my shoulders, okay? I'll get you inside.

[She says softly, already moving to place one arm under her knee, and one under her armpit to lift.]

[ no stab wounds, at least none that the Entity hadn't made right before she'd ended up here. the world around Nancy flickers in and out, and she hears Kate's words and twitches her arm to obey. it goes around her shoulders, and when Kate lifts her Nancy leans her head against her arm, then goes slack, trying with her single thread of consciousness to not be such a dead weight. ]

Sorry...

It's alright. It's all overwhelmin'. Don't you worry about a thing, sweetheart.

[Kate gives a soft laugh and lifts with an even softer grunt. Carrying Nancy is nothing like carrying David or Steve or Adam, she's significantly easier to hoist, and Kate is thankful for that in this moment. The last thing she wants is to drop her, after all.

It's also a blessing that they aren't too far, that Kate can manage to open the door with one hand while bracing Nancy against her body with the other.

Of course, she goes to her room first, they're both coated with blood now, which isn't as big of a deal for them as it might be for someone else, and Kate sets her down on her bed.]

Here you go. Was gonna let you use the shower first, but maybe you want a nap instead?

[The dirtied sheets are an after thought, of course.]

[ Kate's always been a soothing presence (sorry, Jake) and it's just magnified now, in the relative peace of this strange place. Nancy does start to stir, to properly come back into consciousness as the snowflakes melt on her face, turning dried blood into red little water drops. she adjusts her arm around Kate's shoulder, curling into her as they step over the threshold.

she can smell cookies. and then Kate's depositing her on a bed, a real, actual bed that isn't a dirty mattress on a floor or on a gurney in a terrible hospital, and Nancy curls her limbs in like a spider. she can smell Kate on the pillow, and blood, and in its own way it's a comfortingly familiar scent.

but she hasn't been in a room with four walls that she wasn't using as cover in a long time, either. it's a little panic inducing, even though the door is open and Kate is here. there are too many emotions to process. ]

Don't - [ the word is too sharp, too insistent, and Nancy tries to temper her tone ] - leave me.

I'm not going anywhere. I'll keep six, don't you worry about a thing, alright?

[ Kate works a soothing tone into her voice, moving to sit on the edge of the bed so she can gently rake her fingers through blood matted hair.

They didn't need sleep, but sometimes exhaustion was more mental than physical, and it's all very overwhelming, she's sure. ]

If you want to sleep, go for it. I'll stay right beside you until you wake up.

[ And in a way, it's comfortingly familiar, watching over someone else as they sleep. The pull of the fog could happen any time, and like that, people were less likely to be taken by surprise if someone could wake them first. ]

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Fourth TDM: Winter's breath

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