Realistic or Modern numb fingers & quiet breaths >>> [ IC ]

[Parallax]

Atlas Winter

x

x

x

mood = pensive, stressed
location = nearing banquet hall
outfit = x
mentions = KaramelKarma

Saturday evenings were the assigned slot of time for the four house leaders to collect together and discuss their peculiar circumstances. Six o'clock, to be precise. It really felt like a kick in the nads every time they grouped up, primarily because of Medina. Such a striking woman, with a loathsome tyrant trapped inside, willing her words to the air. It wasn't always this tense between them, but steadily snowballed after one minor disagreement. Now he dreaded the meetings, muscles coiled tightly with provocation. He could tell she wanted to be the sole decision-maker of the town. He'd be damned if he let that happen.

Things were running more smooth than not recently. The farming was showing its first signs of success within the greenhouses, and people were fulfilling their needed duties. A bulletin was always pinned up at townhall, which had made its place as the new mandatory gathering center for meetings and announcements. It sat at the heart of town, nestled upon the lip of a drop-off cliff, which sloped down to a massive lake. It looked white against the reflection of the sun and clouds most days, which captured the well known name for the town. Pearl Basin.

Everyone had different jobs. From cleaning toilets, to cooking for the community lunch and dinner they held in the banquet hall every day at 12 and 5. Rations were handed out for breakfast and snacks. Even the leaders pulled their weight in grunt work now and again. It was almost lunch time now, which Atlas noted as he peeked toward the wall clock in his upstairs room. The manor he shared with everyone else was massive, with plenty of bedrooms to spare. There was always a guard on duty by the front door, as things managed to be rather precarious at night.

Atlas did his best to maintain peace, but signs of uprisals were sprouting. People were breaking into the kitchens at night, stealing food that belonged to everyone. There were even a couple victims of violence. He was going to discuss a curfew tonight, which had its possibilities for strife. People didn't like to feel controlled. But sometimes they needed it.

It was frigid outside, autumn closing in around the quiet borough. He wore a heavy trench coat and winter boots, despite it not being quite that serious. Others were inside getting ready, or already headed to the banquet hall. He didn't feel the need to be escorted, as he'd never come into any sort of danger personally. He walked on his own, hands buried in the depths of his pockets. A cigarette hung lazily from his lips, its tip glowing with each drag. The winter was going to be deadly. He could tell.

coded by solarsaphia.

 

[PeriwinkleSky]

Alexander Hartwell.

Looking back on it, it’s funny that what led Alexander to Pearl Basin was a desperate attempt to escape the unrelenting pressures of his life. Nowadays, he would take the constant bustle of college courses, internships, and family drama over almost everything he faced while trapped here. Honestly, some days when he’d wake up he would try to convince himself these past months had been some weird, twisted dream he’d managed to imagine up, but that was never the case.

Though, it could be worse. Being one of the few people trapped in this town with professional medical experience, Alexander held the position of a medic in the large home he inhabited, and the setup wasn’t bad at all! He genuinely loved being able to help people. There was something monotonous about his life before, being just another link in the chain that encompassed the medical field, but in Pearl Basin, he got to see the impact of his work; see the people he was helping. It felt good. Not to mention, being trapped in an inescapable town seemed to be a good bonding experience. Well... Sort of. He got to meet Yeona and Atlas, he wouldn't have made it half as long as he had without them... It was nice to have people he could rely on, or at the very least people who were willing to talk to him about things other than medicine.

… What time was it?

“Shit,” Alexander hissed under his breath as he took notice of the time, having lost track of it while lost in his thoughts. It was nearly time for the banquet hall's lunch. He had gotten wrapped up taking inventory of everything they had left in terms of medical supplies which had then spiraled into contemplation. With winter coming, he was worried about an increase in sickness. People were already working hard as it was, and an onset of freezing weather would only complicate things and leave people feeling worse, both physically and emotionally. Not to mention, they didn't have an unlimited supply of medicine. Alexander was already rationing it as much as possible and he was just thankful that there hadn't been any serious need to use a large amount. At least, not yet.

He could talk to Atlas about it later. After all, Alexander was nearly late enough to lunch as it is, no use barricading himself in his room to panic about the future. That was a rabbit hole he wasn't willing to go down this early in the day. Alexander shrugged on a coat and made his way out of his room and down through the house, a bit more rushed than he usually was in an attempt to get to the banquet hall at a reasonable time. Being late was never a good look, besides he'd prefer to get a meal before everything was gone. Though that had never happened to him before, he wasn't willing to risk it.

RUSHED

MANOR 1

N/A

N/A

nine lives

 

[Pipsqueak]

mood:

Happy???

location:

Outside- House 1

tags:

N/A

Corina Eddington

5 things you can see- A sink, the mirror, the ugly teal colored, tiled floor, the bathtub and the scratch marks on the wall that were probably from some animal that used to get up to no good in here.

4 things you can touch- The broken toilet seat pressing against my back, again, the tiled floor, my feet and my hair.

3 things you can hear- The alarm on my watch. The alarm on my watch?!

Corina glanced down, her vision blurred through her puffed up, teary eyes. Was it time for lunch already?! It felt like the day had just started! A small, shaky breath escaped the young woman's thin lips as she quickly got to her feet and shut the alarm off. Hadn't it only been a few minutes ago when her panic attack had started? No- more like twenty. A quick glance in the mirror showed a sallow woman with a thin framed face and dull eyes. Corina remembered when they had almost seemed to sparkle a bright crystal blue, like the water you see on postcards from far away islands... It had been her favorite trait about her. Now they were just about as worn as her clothes, her hair, even her energy. She didn't believe in auras, but if she did she could agree that hers was almost non existent. Today hadn't been the best of days and it was quite obvious. Had she even eaten? Corina watched her expression turn blank for a moment as she tried to think back on her day, to which nothing seemed to come up. Yeesh, she was quite the mess this evening. Her poor eating habits didn't even seem to faze her however. She knew in the back of her mind that this wasn't a good sign, yet she couldn't seem to stop being so self destructive.

If only her therapist could see her now. A feeble chuckle sounded weakly from her, but she didn't even crack a smile. Wasn't she supposed to be the therapist? What was that about?!

"Ok listen. I know you're like, going through a crisis or whatever but we don't actually have time for that right now. So," She forced her lips into a wide smile with her index fingers and made a peace sign at herself, "buck up buttercup! Go out there and seize the day or...something." After ensuring her ability to keep a smile on her face she grabbed a small coat hanging from the single chair that sat in her bedroom and shrugged it on. As she stepped outside, the frigid temperatures that came with autumn hit her face, which she welcomed happily. She watched in childlike fascination as her breath clung in the air before quickly being swept away by the breeze. The remaining cloud of panic began washing away just as easily as her breath, and as she made her way to the dining hall she could feel herself relaxing. So far so good.

~~~

♡design by urzula, coded by uxie♡

 

[Cosmo]

The evening chill had come to settle in the small, trapped, town of Pearl Basin as autumn lurked around the corner, but what would come after would be worse. Autumn would bring the cold, sickness and hard times but father winter would bring death. When food got tight, as temperaments grew hot as temperature fell, as people were trapped inside with one another to conserve heat and energy, as the powers that be tried to enact stronger and stricter methods of control and enforcement... Just like the early days of the 'event', before they settled into this new life of fake routine and carefully managed order, akin to cattle, they would tear themselves apart be it fighting against the authorities they once supported or each other as paranoia and suspicions came to visit for the holidays. The town that had torn itself apart and now existed as four separate groups that pretended to get along but had that little voice in their back of their minds, the one that told them it was us and them. It didn't matter that them was people they grew up with used to be their mailman, their barber or their neighbor. Maybe it was easier to do that, have an 'other' that was tangible, that could be eyed with suspicion and hidden malice for the difficulties that came upon them as they marched to the tunes of the meal bell. Oh, the 'leaders' rang those bells so well as they ordered their serfs to-and-fro, all in the name of protecting them, of course. All agreed that there should be a central leadership, to break the divide, but as befitting petty feudal lords, none could agree so long as that central leadership wasn't them, or, someone they could control or agree with. It must be nice, to be the ones who didn't have to dig the graves.

Lukas let out a slow, warm breath that turned to mist in the chilly autumn air as his blue eyes traced the ca-people walk into the manor, drawn by the promise of a warm meal. The watch on his wrist ticked slowly as it grew closer and closer to noon, and most were already well trained to know it was feeding time. Lukas tore his gaze away from them, suddenly no longer hungry and unable to bear to look at the people he was raised up alongside and what this... event.. had done to them. Instead, he sought solace by looking around his workshop... Filled with work that still needed to be done, half completed projects and jobs, parts and pieces strewn all around the cold, dirty concrete floor. The workshop sat far enough away from the manor to keep the noise of work away, but not far enough from to keep their constant complaining and nagging away. While there was a handful of other people that came to work in the workshop, here and there, they were about as useful as nipples on a man. They may add something to what would be otherwise barren, but serve no real use or have worth. He continued his survey of his workshop until he spotted the behemoth in the back, half covered by a tarp, Bessie. The old snow plow. He'd need to do some maintenance on her in the coming days, cycle the engine and clean out the old oil that was probably more akin to sludge at this point. But that wasn't the problem, fuel was the problem.

Quantity was not the enemy, at least not yet, time was. Gasoline started to go foul after three months and two months had already passed. Some engines could burn it, but to burn that gasoline would wear the engines out faster then the knees of a five dollar prostitute. They'd then burn out on parts trying to keep the engines going... The diesel would be fine for a year, but... Without trucks and gas, Lukas doubted they could keep the infrastructure within the town going and so it wouldn't matter that power and water was somehow still making it in. Soon enough, the town would be back to the stone age and if they hadn't torn each other apart before then, they would certainly once the lights went out. Lukas let out another long warm breath and the mist lazily rolled through the air before him before it disappeared into the air, "We are so fucked," Lukas grumbled under his breath as he shoved his calloused hands into the pockets over his canvas jacket and headed towards the manor.

 

[seasonedcat]

~Mia King~
|outfit-x |interactions-N/A|
squishing the life of the flame out a top of the marble counter, Mia let out a sigh. A small bundle of butts had piled up as she did her makeup for the morning. She knew she was not supposed to smoke inside, but she couldn't care much. The small window in her bathroom had been adjured to let out the smoke, letting in the freezing air outside. The smoke swirled in the air, diluted and it got swept out into the wind.

mia glanced at the mirror, glaring at the reflection as she put on the last of her makeup. She had been up all night on guard duty, getting back to her room by 6 to switch off. This would be fine to sleep for the rest of the morning to lunch after getting breakfast(or skipping it in her case), but of course, Mia can't sleep. Maybe a 20-minute rest at most and now she was up, freshening up for the day, ready to face another shity ass day.

snuggled under her three layers of shirts she felt a peaceful safeness, this of course also meant that for now no coat was needed. Of course, she would prefer the fourth layer, but it was not cold enough, and she was already risking overheating with some of her outfits. Lighting a final cigarette she tied her combat boots, shoving her door open roughly as she thumped her way downstairs towards the dining hall.

 

[Parallax]

mood

content

location

the banquet hall

outfit

oversized grey sweatshirt, red joggers

tags

seasonedcat

Neviah

civilian

The front doors to the banquet hall were shitty and rusted, groaning with agony as she pried them open. They thrust open against the force of her weight, body trudging in with little regard for anyone who might be behind it. Would've bruised the hell out of them for sure. People were already mostly served, and the threateningly loud din of utensils and conversation drew her out of a mildly disassociative state. Cautious jade eyes glittering with an angst-ridden fire kept people at bay as she slid into line. The people serving looked rather tense today. A couple were from house three, and one from house four. House four was more relaxed.

Was something going on in house three? Were they going to be finding out soon? Stay away from house three now. They're up to something.

Neviah swallowed hard, realizing she was spiraling with paranoia. But could you blame her after the series of violences ravaging the remaining citizens over the last week? People were going at each other's throats suddenly, and no one knew why. No one knew who. An uprisal was bound to spark, but people were playing dumb and praying with crossed fingers to see if murmurs would simply cease. There was supposed to be a bonfire tonight so that everyone could sort of settle down and decompress, but it was truly impossible to relax entirely. Their situation had no light shed on it, and to see any changes weren't likely until they figured out why they were here. If there even was a "why".

Before she knew it, meatloaf and mac and cheese with a clump of broccoli heavied her plate, and she perked the makings of a grin before retreating to a table to eat. She was starving, and the food wasn't half bad. Way better than school lunch stuff, considering it was actually homemade. Some quality needed to be compensated in order to allow it be made in bulk, but otherwise it was better than nothing. People from house one slowly spilled in, some huddling together with familiarity. Part of her hoped she'd see Mia any minute; they got along rather well, despite both of their hawkish outlooks on life.

nine lives

 

[seasonedcat]

~Mia King~
|outfit-x |interactions- Parallax |mentions-N/A|
Mia threw her smoke to the ground, stomping out the life of the embers. She now stood outside the dining hall, and as much as she would love to smoke inside, she knew that she couldn't. She may be able to get away with it in her room since, after all, no one was there to see, but here in the dining room, they were all there. Even the leaders were there, and honestly dealing with the scolding that she would receive was not worth the extra smoke. She shuffled into the door, her normal annoyed look resting on her face as she entered the annoyingly long line. Honestly, the town could do with losing some of its numbers. That was a joke...kind of.

Mia frowned down at the food that was ungracefully spewed onto her plate. It was edible, but nothing 5 stars worthy. She needed to have a talk with the chefs, with the type of meals they are making, it's not like you could blame those who sneak in to get their own food. Letting out an annoyed sigh she took her meal with her as she glanced over the tables in the hall. Her expression sour as normal softened ever so slightly at the sight of a familiar face. She maneuvered her way over to the other girl, a tic of annoyance passing over her as someone bumped into her, almost making her lose her shitty lunch. Swearing at them she shooed them off as they apologized repeatedly.

carelessly throwing her tray down on the tabletop Mia plopped herself down across from Neviah. She let out an annoyed sigh as she glanced up at the girl, "With the food they are making I might change my mind about stopping people stealing the food and help them out." she joked lightly, picking at her food distastefully with her fork. With a disgusted look, she removed the meatloaf and let it fall onto the tray and off of her plate. "Definitely considering it..."