October 2023 Test Drive Meme

[singmod]

OCTOBER 2023 TDM

PROMPT ONE — ARRIVAL: METHUSELAH'S FEAST: A new group of arrivals find themselves lost in the frozen wilds and vulnerable to the dangers of nature. With luck, they make it to the town of Milton, and to a friendly face offering food, warmth and shelter — not to mention the fact they are not the first to come here.

PROMPT TWO — GUILTY PARTY: Interlopers are kidnapped and held captive by a being and forced to confess their wrong doings, or face fatal consequences.

PROMPT THREE — OFF THE BEATEN TRACK: Interlopers get more than they bargained for when a mysterious albeit friendly dog comes across them and persuades them to follow them into the wilds.

ARRIVAL: METHUSELAH'S FEAST

WHEN: Mid-October.
WHERE: Milton, Milton Outskirts.
CONTENT WARNINGS: potential animal attacks, potential injuries, potential cold injuries/hyperthermia risk.

'You are the Interloper. You are not part of nature’s design.'

It’s the last thing you hear. A dark, deep voice. Impossibly ancient. You feel afraid. Maybe you’re dreaming, maybe you’re wide awake. You saw the lights, and then your world went dark. But you hear it in the blackness, you won’t forget those words.

You awaken. You are not where you were before. It’s different for everyone, there doesn’t seem to be much of a pattern in where you find yourself. You may open your eyes to find yourself in a cold, dim and dank cabin. The air is stale, dust hangs in the rays of weak sunlight that shine through the tiny windows. Someone lived here once, but they aren’t to be found. You look around, it seems like no one has been here in several weeks, maybe longer. The fire is stone cold, the dishes in the sink are mouldy — it's possible the place has been ransacked, as if they've gone through the drawers and cupboards looking for something. It is quiet. The wood creaks around you. Or perhaps you may awaken to find yourself shivering in the yawning maw of a cave, the freezing stone below you. Or maybe you’re unfortunate enough to sit up to find yourself lying in the snow, in the middle of the wilderness. Snow lies thick around you. It’s freezing out. You haven’t felt a cold like this before in your entire life. Cruel and biting. You have no idea where you are, and what’s worse — you are completely alone.

You may feel different, too. Any powers or magics you may have feel... absent. Disconnected. Things that may not have affected you previously now do. Something in you has changed.

You know you can’t stay where you are. You’ll need to move, try to work out where you are and how you came to be here. So you walk, head out into the unknown, in hope of finding a trail or a road. You’ll find one soon enough. It’s here you may find someone else in the same boat as yourself, equally freezing and confused. You’ll both need to keep going. It won’t be easy. You hear howls of wolves around you, and the terrain is difficult: slips and falls are likely. You’re completely vulnerable out here in the open.

Or it’s possible you may come across someone else here. Someone who looks far better prepared to deal with the freezing cold and frozen landscape, out hunting or gathering. They’ll likely offer help and get you into town. However, for the unlucky ones who don’t come across anyone, you’ll carry on until you see it: the lazy trail of smoke rising in the air. Fire. Not just one, but several. Civilization...?

Follow it, and soon enough the way you’ve taken will certainly become a path or road. Unfolding before you in the mountainous forests, you’ll see the most welcome of sights: a small mining town tucked up in the valley. Battered, rusted road signs will direct to “MILTON, POP. 947”. You’re almost there, you keep going, and it looks like other people have had the same idea as you. In fact, you’ll hear the muffled sounds of life. People! In the town!

As you head into the outskirts and then further into town, you’ll find it’s a little easier to walk but the cold has gripped you hard. You’ll find the buildings, both shops and homes, some are dark and lifeless, some of them are boarded up, some of them are occupied. People are going about their business, or stood watching from their tiny porches of their small, timber homes. For a town this big, there doesn’t seem to be many people. Several dozen at most, but no more.

Towards the center of town, you’ll find the building from which the biggest of the smoke trail rises: a school-house of sorts, or some kind of community hall. Perhaps both. You’ll find more and more people all drawn to this place, each and every one of them in the same position as yourself (and your companion, if you’ve found one). Some are in worse states than others: some are bloodied, nursing bite wounds or cuts; others might have some other kind of injury sustained in the journey here from falls. Others may look as if they could faint from the cold at any second.

The door opens, and you’re greeted by the gnarled, wizened face of an elderly man, dressed in thick furs. He has a kind face. He smiles warmly, and with pity, ushering you in with haste.

“Ah, more of you have come.” he nods, just as he suspected you might. “I am Methuselah. I welcome you Newcomer, although I’m sorry for how you’ve come to find yourself here. You are not the only one, the lights are changing things. Come. Mother Nature has not been kind to you, but there are plenty here to help.”

The room is dim, lit only by natural daylight through the windows. A roaring fire sits at one end of the huge hall. It crackles, bright and cheerful... and warm. Even as big as this place is, the room is pleasantly warm. You’ll also find basic cots set up down one side of the hall, and while it seems there's a few people already living here, there's enough space for those in need of them. There's places to rest for a moment and get your bearings, or just trying to recover from the cold. Down the other side are tables and chairs, and long tables laden with food, drinks and bottled water similar to one might find at a soup kitchen. Once again, Methuselah offers a feast, aided by some of the other Interlopers.

There are canisters with hot herbal teas and coffee, along with soup and stew and trays of charred deer and rabbit meats, plus some grilled fish, instant mashed potatoes, and tinned vegetables. It’s very basic, but it’s hot and filling. A feast. The old man has been busy. And Methuselah will continue to busy himself, still; there is plenty to do. He will fetch blankets, tend to wounds, serve food and drinks. He does not have much time to talk. More and more people seem to be coming in from the cold. He will not stop to sit and rest until everyone is seen to, taking up a place by the fire to gaze silently into its flames. He is troubled, thoughtful. The arrival of so many is not something that sits well with him. The others from town will eventually trail in too, to eat and warm themselves, and search amongst the new faces.

He will encourage newcomers to get warm and eat, and when they are ready to — they can explore the town and find one of the many empty homes to call their own. He will not speak much, but perhaps you might be able to get some answers from those fellow arrivals who’ve been in this place for some time now.

GUILTY PARTY

WHEN: Over the next month.
WHERE: Paradise Farm Outbuildings.
CONTENT WARNINGS: forced imprisonment; forced honesty; supernatural beings; confessional themes; threat of death; possible character death; possible death by throat injury.

You don’t remember how you came to be here. The air is cold and damp, the rot of wood is strong, and… blood. Why does it smell of so much blood? You can’t seem to see all that much in the gloom, but you think you’re in some kind of outbuilding of sorts. You find yourself chained to a chair, the metal is heavy and cold against you and no matter whatever you seem to do, you can’t seem to free yourself from them. No struggling can ease their hold, and there’s no lock to unpick or break. They weigh you down in your seat, you can't even seem to tip yourself over.

But you’re not the only one here. Across from you in the dark is someone else. One of your fellow Interlopers is trapped here with you, too. They too don’t remember anything either, they’re equally as confused and uncertain as you. Perhaps frightened. Not only this, they’re also sat chained up just as tightly. You have a little time to talk before you realise the two of you aren’t alone.

There's a glooming green light, the feeling of a presence. A huge figure steps into view, cloaked in black. It’s hard to tell whether it’s a man or a woman, and it’s difficult to make out much detail of them. Their face is obscured by a stone mask in the shape of a monstrous, horned and fanged Jackal. Green light glows from behind it, foreboding in the dark. It will not answer you if you try to speak with it.

“WICKEDNESS LIES WITHIN YOU.” The voice is a fierce chorus of whispers, but yet so loud. It sends a shiver down your spine. “I HAVE SEEN IT.”

... You can’t help but know it to be true. Something inside you knows what they speak of is true. Any misdeed or wrongdoing done by your hand, any cruel word you spoke, any life you took or heart you broke. You feel exposed, seen. The figure knows what you have done.

“CONFESS.” the figure demands. “UNBURDEN YOUR HEART AND BE FREE. BE SILENT AND CARRY IT TO THE GRAVE.”

The figure holds an item in its hand, something that glints in the light that glows from its mask. Now you realise why there’s so much blood in the air: it’s a sickle, dripping with blood. You are not the first to be brought here. You will not be the last.

Speak, unburden yourself, and if the figure is satisfied — you will, in fact, go free. Refuse, or not take the demand seriously, and the figure will deem you unworthy. They will move within the blink of an eye, striking you with the sickle in the neck — let it be a mercy that they kill you quickly.

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

WHEN: Over the next month.
WHERE: Milton / Milton Outskirts.
CONTENT WARNINGS: supernatural creature; trickster creature; themes of peril; possible character injury; possible dead body discoveries; potential cold injuries/hyperthermia risk; possible character death.

The weather will continue to prove difficult for all who try to navigate this world, but with the current footfall in and around Milton, it’s at least helped to keep paths and roads somewhat clear despite the snow’s best efforts to cover up these walkways. Still, it’s a pain to get around, especially on particularly snowy days. Unfortunately, it’s sometimes necessary to go out on such days — survival doesn’t stop for the weather to pass.

And so journeys must be made, hunting must be done, forageables must be collected. You try to keep to the paths and trails, where the terrain yields before you for an easier journey.

… Until you hear barking through the trees, the sound of paws through the snow. Given the recent wolf activity of the last month, it’s understandable to be on edge. However, it isn’t a wolf that comes into view: it’s a large dog, bigger than any dog you’ve seen before. Coated in thick and shaggy black fur, this animal doesn’t seem to be like the wolves that have been found so far in this world. While the wildlife has certainly been altered, this dog remains very much like anyone would expect a dog to act in terms of behaviour. It’s playful with some, certainly friendly, constantly trying to play chase with you as it loops around in circles with a wagging tail.

However, there’s an insistence with this dog. It wants you to follow it. It will bark incessantly, trying to pull you from the path to go after it into the woods. It wants to show you something, take you somewhere. It will even try to gently pull at a coat-sleeve or trouser-leg to coax your forwards before heading off, keeping just in sight for you to go after it.

You’ll find it increasingly difficult to keep up, even if you pick up the pace as you head further into the woods. There’s less snow here, but the forest floor is filled with holes and tree roots that will trip you up. Falls are likely. But even worse is when before you know it, the ground simply gives way beneath you, sending you tumbling into a small valley or getting you stuck deep into soft, muddy earth. With it, perhaps, twisted ankles or worse. Or perhaps simply battered and bruised and unable to climb out of trench of earth. Maybe you come face to face with the body of some other poor Interloper who'd met their own end in similar manner — trapped and injured in the ditch.

Or worse still, the dog might just have you stumbling over a cliff face and tumbling into the Basin. Whatever fate befalls you, it’s as if the dog simply led you into it. And said dog, however, will be nowhere to be seen. It will have left you stuck, hurt, lost in the woods.

You’re sure you can hear some dark chuckling on the wind. Maybe it’s just the trees.

FAQs

ARRIVAL: METHUSELAH'S FEAST

1. Arrival threads can be treated as game canon.

2. Items characters have brought from home can be found either strewn around them when they awaken, or in the community hall — as if someone left them out for them to collect. Methuselah will not know how they got there, and will be quite bemused by the happenings.

3. Reminder that all characters are now depowered upon arrival. They can choose not to notice it at first, or can immediately sense something is different about them.

4. If asked any personal questions, Methuselah will smile and say "Oh, you don't want to know about an old man like me. But I have lived all over in these parts for all my life." He will be more concerned with trying to help Newcomers, and is genuinely concerned for them and their well-being. Other Interlopers will say much of the same — there's little to know about him.

5. More information about Milton can be found here.

GUILTY PARTY

1. Characters will find that once they have confessed, they will pass out. When they awaken, they will find themselves lying or sitting on the floor — the being, chairs and chains have gone. They are free to leave.

2. Attempts to search the outbuildings at later dates will prove fruitless. There is no sign of the being, nor the chairs or chains that held characters, but there will be blood on the floor that can be found.

3. One character can confess, or both. Player choice! As long as someone's doing some confessing.

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

1. Gyests, sometimes called Ghests or Bargyests are evil creatures from Northumberland, UK folklore. They seek to lure travelers away from a known and safe road to their miry and marshy demise, or perhaps lead them to walk in the darkness of a Cheviot night over the edge of a precipice. Often taking the shape of horses, donkeys or large dogs, Gyests could also shape-shift to appear as men, or even stacks of hay. But always their intention was to trick humans, for their own amusement, and lure them to their doom.

2. Attempts to lure or trap the Gyest will not work.

TALES FROM THE NORTHERN TERRITORIES NEWSLETTER

Comments

Max Mayfield | Stranger Things | OTA | Voice Testing

[madginger]

ARRIVAL: METHUSELAH'S FEAST
cw: vague mention of (not) death and bone breaking
Max doesn't realize she's still alive, not at first. The last thing she remembers is her whole body being contorted, then darkness. Before she wakes up in blinding white, alone. Everything seems to ache, but as far as she can tell, her body is whole. She might have been asleep while healing for a while, now, seeing as her bones seem to dislike the cold more than she recalls before the incident with Vecna.

"Hello?" she shouts out. When there's no response, she huddles her arms around, shivers, and thinks out loud, "Yeah. Makes sense Hell would be lonely and very cold."

She really thinks it might be Hell, at first, until she finds the lights. Max is pretty sure, in Hell, she would see lights but never be able to get to them. They do get closer, and finally, she is in a place that is at least warmer, with a lot of warm food.

"So not Hell," she mutters under her breath as she settles at a table.

Anyone might have heard that and could ask, but she has questions of her own.

"Why would anyone just give us free food? Is there a catch? Is something wrong with it?"

Or, perhaps, something is expected of them in return? If she eats this, does she have to do something unsavory? Max thinks all of this over while she stars at a piece of charred meat with wide eyes, hesitant, but hungry all the same.


GUILTY PARTY
cw: vague mention of death, cussing
The hooded figure shouts. Combined with the green light, the accusations of wickedness make an all too familiar scene, to the point Max feels her stomach turn with stress and memories. She gnaws the inside of her mouth until finally -

Her own scream, calling out Billy's name echos in her mind. She knows exactly what to say. And she deserves the judgement, doesn't she? She knows she does. Max hasn't even noticed the other person in the room, hasn't given them a proper look, but let them hear this. Let them think whatever they want. She deserves it.

"I -" her voice catches in her throat, and Max has to swallow as her eyes start to burn. Even after admitting this before, and even after how long it's been since Billy's death, it still feels like part of her is being ripped apart. Such a lost opportunity for two broken people.

"I never really gave him a chance," she finally admits. "He wasn't my brother. And we hated each other. Looking back, though, I don't think I gave him the chance to be better. I saw him as a bully. An asshole. And he was." But he apologized at the end, didn't he?

She closes her eyes.

"Maybe that's the worst part. Not that I stood there and did nothing to save him. Not that I felt relief for a little bit. But that I never even gave him a chance to be anything more than that."

Maybe also she's blaming herself for more credit than she really had in the matter, but it's still the truth. She still feels it in her heart.


Wildcard; totally willing to do some follow a dog and get super lost in the snow adventures!

[OOC: Will do [, (, past, present, prose, whichever is most comfortable - I will follow. Feel free to contact me on plurk metaljean, on this journal, or discord midknightcat to discuss ideas.]

arrival!

[fidior]

Edward has been a victim of this place for a few months, now. And when newcomers begin to arrive, he sets out into the snow to seek out any who may need assistance finding their way to the town. Several hours pass this way, with the lieutenant helping people in and then heading back out. He doesn't let himself rest, not for long.

But eventually his bones are so weary that he's a bit dizzy, and the cold has drained his energy. He needs to recharge, however reluctant he may be to stop searching. He'll only rest for a few moments, he reminds himself, and so he heads back to the warmth of the Community Hall, finds a cup of hot coffee and begins to seek out a place to sit for a few moments when he spots a young-looking girl on her own.

He's certainly not seen her around here before, clearly the girl is new — and Edward finds himself moving towards her, brow knit with concern. He settles in across from her, gloved hands carefully setting his mug down, and then reaching up to remove his officer's cap and set it down on a seat beside him, mindful of his manners despite everything. He has to cling onto those, to who he once was. To who he still must be.

When the man speaks, his voice is richly-toned, formal, and Very British.

"I understand all of this must raise much suspicion. When I first arrived here, I was also wary of it, but the food is quite safe. There is nothing required in return for it."

[madginger]

Edward sounds like a strong, determined person, someone Max might admire, willing to seek out new people and assist like that. There isn't much that can convince Max to go back out there, not right now. Not when the Community Hall has a lot of warm stuff.

Max stares at Edward for a while, her eyes look back at the food she's taken, and then she just goes for it.

After a swallow, she looks at him.

"You normally just approach total strangers and talk to them? Or are you some sort of greeter here?"

[fidior]

He doesn't know if his words may offer any assurance, though he hopes they will. After being out in the cold and inevitably suffering for it, one needs to rest and eat. So there's a relief when the girl does start in on her meal, though her words give him pause, and he looks startled.

"Ah— I apologise for such a brazen greeting. I saw you and became alarmed. I know the trek here was a difficult one. ....A dangerous one."

He may also be extremely prone to worry, given he comes from a world freshly rife with frostbite, scurvy, and lead poisoning... In fact, Edward's eyes dip to the girl's hands, as though checking to make sure they don't look bad-off.

"If I may ask, how is your state? Are you... all right?"

[madginger]

Max couldn't help but be suspicious of the food, at first. But everyone else seems to be eating without issue.

"It's okay," Max assures him between bites. "It was just unexpected."

Her fingers might be red, but they look healthy, blood flow returning as the heat settles in.

"I'm okay." Better than okay, because she's starting to think she's actually alive.

"What about you?" A worrier. She might have to worry about him in return. Worrying adults aren't the best with themselves.

[fidior]

The girl doesn't seem too outwardly frightened — not shuddering and wide-eyed, shirking back from things. While there's a relief to the fact she seems to be all right, Edward knows all too well that one never knows what's going on beneath the surface. In any case, he's certainly A Worrier (and prone to falling into being The Nanny of a situation....) He's watching her carefully, brows knit in concern.

"I'm faring better now," he says after a pause. It's... true; compared to how he was when he'd first arrived here... he's doing much better, but much about his own situation is worrisome. Certainly he won't burden a young newcomer with such details, however, and he looks down to the food she's eating, folding his gloved hands politely into his lap.

"I was... brought here a few months ago. I did not expect more newcomers to arrive." It's certainly worrisome... Edward frowns softly for a moment, before venturing further.

"Where are you from?"

[madginger]

In this case, outward behavior matches inside, partially because Max has definitely seen far more frightening, and she's not entirely thrown off by not knowing she is. She needs to figure out where she is versus home at some point, but for now, she just wants to get some food in her system, find her footing.

She feels for him, because sometimes what someone doesn't say speaks volumes. This one of those cases, she suspects. But then he asks where she's from and Max's whole demeanor shifts.

"Indiana," Max says as her eyes narrow. She doesn't think anyone can do much with the state she's from, at least, but being asked where she's from seems to have woken up suspicions.

"Where are you from," she stares harder at Edward, looking for telltale signs of someone who might secretly work in a lab, or be from the military, "total stranger?"

arrival!

[satanicpanics]

Eddie and Max never really formed any real bond back home. The boys talked incessantly about her, swearing up and down that she’d make for a good Hellfire substitute, but she never took them up on the offer. Eddie gets it, to an extent. He had the pieces put together before Vecna was even a thing. Kid loses her brother and moves halfway across town into a trailer park—sans one parent. That doesn’t happen unless someone’s world has seriously just come crashing down. Between that and their mutual Vecna problem, the flash of red hair alone is enough to pull at his heartstrings. This kid doesn’t need another helping of bullshit on her plate.

“Probably. But it’s the hottest meal you’re gonna get, so uh…just try not to think about it.”

He doesn’t announce himself before he begins to settle gingerly across from her, slow and hesitant. He arrived two months ago, torn to ribbons and bleeding out on the snow, but alive. He’s been healing since then, stitched up with dental floss and held together with whatever bandaging could be found. Between the wounds and the cold, he moves like an old man now, but he’s alive.

Steve had been here too when he arrived—a Steve who hadn’t lived through 1986 just yet and made a strained and bizarre relationship, and then he disappeared. He’s been gone for weeks, and it’s incredibly worrying. If this kid disappears too, he just might lose it.

“Hey, Red,” he continues quietly. “Pretty cold out there, huh?”

great username!

[madginger]

No, they hadn't known each other very well, and that had been a little odd. They didn't live far from each other, went to the same school, had mutual friends - she just wasn't joining DnD, sorry! - and yet, barely spoke. She had, mentally, been in a bad place, and Eddie was a little loud for her liking. He didn't mind getting attention, and Max had been trying to avoid it at all costs.

She could, however, completely agree on his refusal to confirm. Him being an extension of the group felt like the most natural thing. He even ended up helping them, though the groups split up as they did. That's her last memory of him, before things got so out of control for her and Lucas.

"Eddie!" Her eyes scrunch up in confusion as he speaks to her. He's here, too? So she's not dead. Or are they both dead?

"Is this purgatory? Because yeah, it's cold. Like the kind of cold I thought Hell might be."

But he's right about the food. Why think about it right now when she's this hungry? Max abandons her concerns and starts to consume.

thank you! and sorry for keeping you waiting!

[satanicpanics]

Well, Eddie is fairly certain he isn’t dead, at least. Shook hands with death, sure, but the deal fell through. Now he’s just got the daily pain to remind him that he’s alive, and he’s going to make the most of it.

He lifts his spoon to take a bite of how own bowl of mystery-stew, but pauses and raises his eyebrows, shooting her a slightly amused look, because Hell and purgatory were the very last thoughts in his head. If anything, an extension of the weird alternate dimension Hawkins ghost town seemed a bit more likely, before he actually came across other people in this frozen wasteland. He doesn’t really have any sort of real explanation for her. Truth be told, he’s taken the weird shit happens, I’ve seen weirder, no need to question this approach to things.

“It seriously isn't the fires of Hell?,” he asks out with the ghost of a grin. "Shit, I can't rename Hellfire now. But no, to be totally straight with you? I don’t think anyone knows. I’ve heard Canada thrown around a bit, but uh…no one knows anything concrete. Not about this place or how we got here or…any of it. Kind of ssucks, really.”

no worries! hope everything is ok

[madginger]

Then she's not dead? That's a relief. She's isn't sure how - most likely El, she'll have to hug her friend the next time she sees her, if ever - but she's relieved.

Speaking of that pain. "You okay? You were moving kind of stiffly." Stiff as she feels, but she wasn't torn into the same way. Her near death / death experience was cleaner, cleaner breaks.

"It's so cold I felt like I was on fire and it was very lonely out there. But," Max shrugs, "Canada? We can handle Canada." It does suck, she's not arguing that.

yeah! just been a bit swamped!

[satanicpanics]

“I’m alright,” he half lies, not really wanting to pull her into his problems when he's well aware she has enough on her plate. He’s pretty sure he’s not healing particularly well, but you can only do so much in the way of doctoring in a frozen wasteland. He’s lucky to be alive, and lucky to be in the shape he’s in, and that’s what he’s clinging to for now. That does beg the question as to how much Max knows, though. After all, Steve didn’t know a thing about 1986.

Eddie taps his spoon against his bowl lightly, unsure how to breach the topic.

“Hey, uh…,” he begins slowly. “This is gonna sound weird, but believe me—I’ve got a reason for asking. What’s the last thing you remember from home?”

0 worries. Putting in app, Max will be here to play with when you get time

[madginger]

cw: traumatic response
Max's eyes narrow at him with disbelief and she shakes her head, "Whatever." No, she doesn't believe him, but she isn't going to press, either.

She doesn't know how lucky he is to be alive, that that's good enough, for now. Max hadn't realized, until Eddie asks, how lucky she is to be alive. But it does register, finally.

Suddenly, the food tastes like ash and she puts it aside while her mind starts to reel.

The last thing she remembers? Her eyes widen and she looks down at the table.

"Everyone was fighting. Vecna showed me.... Even Hopper and Joyce. I don't know where they were. El was there. In my mind. She was trying to help me fight Vecna. But he," the images flash across her mind of El bound in front of the door, "he captured her. And he told me it would all be over soon." The words are too clear in her mind.

She looks up, eyes glassy. "We have to get back. How do we get back? What's going to happen to them? I'm not there. He's going to go after someone else. And Lucas is just alone." And what about everyone else? She had only been able to think about getting through the snow earlier, about not dying. Hadn't been convinced she wasn't already dead. But now.... Max stares at Eddie, horrified.

Guilty Party

[guidemyway]

They were in a tight spot. That was for sure, Ruby had only started to come to shortly before the demand to confess had been given. So she still a little out of it until Max started to let everything out.

She felt her own heart sink a little as she listened, and it hit close to home as well. How many people had died because she hadn't trusted someone with important information? ...Would it have made a difference? She wasn't so sure.

She shifts slightly and looks up at the ceiling, heart pounding in her chest as she considers the fact that if she doesn't say anything it could cost them both their life.

"...I made a bad call. Well- a lot of bad calls. I'm supposed to be a leader- someone people can count on.

I chose not to trust someone. He scared me and I didn't know if putting my faith in him was the right call.

Turned out I was right. When I did tell him, it was way too late. But I can't help but wonder if I had done something sooner if it could have made the difference.

Instead so many people died. And that's- that's all on me."

[madginger]

Max wasn't sure what she expected, but the other person jumping in wasn't it.

She lifts her head, mouth agape, eyes slightly wider as she turns to look at Ruby.

At first, Max opens her mouth, moves it soundlessly, then breathes in and turns to figures.

"There. We both confessed! Now let us go." Because this other person shouldn't have to say more. And Max couldn't find her footing to express the swell of empathy she feels. It makes her uncomfortable. Maybe she can better word something for Ruby once they're no longer tied up.

That part probably comes first.

[guidemyway]

Ruby catches the look Max gives her, and she does her best to give her a calm and reassuring smile, along with an approving little nod when the other girl speaks up. She was a leader, and a protector, but that only took her so far on her own.

The Jackal figure seems content with their answers, and starts to move to move to free them. shifts a little first and makes one more thing clear.

"Let her out first. Once she's safe- Well that's what's most important." Look. She was a kind, simple soul who just wanted to look out for others. There might have been a little self loathing mixed in there too, but that wasn't her main focus.

And while she certainly wasn't in any position to be making any demands or requests. The Jackal didn't seem bothered by it and set to work on letting Max loose first.

[madginger]

The smile might even help, even if Max doesn't smile back.

"That's ridiculous. We both answered, we both get free," Max insists, but she doesn't make it difficult for The Jackel to untie her.

She rubs her wrists then cants her head at Ruby. "Now her."

Max doesn't even know her, and already Ruby has solidified a possible friendship, though.

[guidemyway]

Ruby wasn't trying to be difficult or a pain in the butt to either Max, or their captor in this case. Her priorities just always became putting someone before her. But- She feels an awkward smile come up at how insistent Max was on her behalf.

Before long the both of them are free and of there. Once they're in the clear she'll give Max a little nudge with her elbow.

"Thanks for that. Have to admit- You were pretty darn brave in there."

[madginger]

At least they're both free, in the end, that's the part that matters. Max, thus far, doesn't think Ruby is difficult, just too self-sacrificing to be left one her own.

"I don't know about brave," Max admits. "Someone had to say something."

guilty party

[kidproof]

Joel would've offered up a sin, he's got plenty to be guilty about. How he chose to survive after trying to take the coward's way out, and what he was willing to do to make that survival a possibility. Ultimately, staring down the barrel of end times changed a person, and Joel had changed for the worse. It's no surprise Tommy had his reservations about Joel sticking around the mountain paradise nest egg he'd found for himself and for good reason.

Still, he's not so much as opened his damn mouth when the kid next to him speaks up. The way she says it, through a clenched jaw and straining facial muscles makes it clear to him that it goes a lot deeper than some run-of-the-mill accident.

It keeps the specter or whatever the hell it is at bay for a moment, but it's not long after that it turns Joel's way with that same expectance in its posture.

"We ain't got the time or the energy to recount my sins, pal. So, I guess we'll go with the most recent. I lied to her because I needed her to stay alive. Because of my issues with her death and what it might mean. I know it's gonna bite me in the ass, but I'll take the fallout if it means no unnecessary sacrifices and some kid makin' herself a martyr to save a planet of assholes that truly don't give a shit."

Joel's not bothered, just tired, and he eases back in his chair to get more comfortable despite the binds. The figure hesitates, like he's weighing their confessions on some cosmic scale and when their binds disappear, so does the rest of the haunting. No trace of Cloaky McGuiltTrip or his handiwork.

Joel turns in his chair to his present company, it's clear she's not as resigned to her own guilt as Joel is. He's had years to sympathize with himself and rationalize the truth of what it takes to survive in a nightmare like the life he was in. "You okay, Red?"

[madginger]

Max didn't want to waste time. Why should someone else suffer because of her? Again. There's been enough of that. And she never wanted it to start with. Doesn't matter since Joel still has to speak up.

Her eyes widen a little at his words, and her mouth opens, but she closes it. Best to see if this gets them out of this first, then they can talk, when these creeps are, hopefully, gone.

The situation itself doesn't scare Max anywhere near as much as when the bindings vanish. She stands up like the chair burns, looks around to make sure the cloaked figures are gone, then turns to Joel and nods her head.

"Sure. I'm...as okay as anyone can be when they've been kidnapped without any memory of it, and forced to spill secrets in front of strangers." But she's a lot better than she has been so, it's an improvement, in some ways. There are worse things, the little smile she gives at the end says as much.

She looks Joel over, then makes sure to tell him, "Sometimes you have to lie. If she cares about you, she'll get that."

[kidproof]

This kid's insistence is enough to make Joel look twice at her, hard as that typically was. It's one thing to grab a bunch of capable bodies and put them in an apocalypse wasteland scenario but now "the aurora," or whatever Methy called it was bringing in people of all ages and abilities and with survival being key it made him decide against just leaving her there in the room they both got pulled into.

"Yeah, well, this all went down for me about a month ago. The kidnapping, the bold new levels of paranormal interference. I wish I could tell you it gets better, but I reckon it might not."

Not here of all places, Joel's frown deepens when she defends him and his secret. He was vague for a reason, but it seemed like the full meaning reached the little redhead in front of him all the same. The term misery loves company was starting to become a routine part of his life.

"Thanks, seriously doubt she'll be with you on that but I can appreciate the sentiment."

[madginger]

Max can take care of herself, for the most part, and she would tell Joel that, but in this place, she likes the company, even if she won't say it. It feels so empty and bleak if she stares at the scenery too long.

"Paranormal interference," Max repeats the phrase. "Have experience with that, too." She manages that small smile again. "I think I can handle this level." They're not Vecna. They gave an option instead of just murdering them outright.

Max shrugs a little. "At least someone appreciates it."

She stops. "Look, after sharing that kind of level emotional scarring, I think it's only fair we know each other. Max. You?" Max looks at Joel, one eyebrow raised.

[kidproof]

Sure, she can, but the truth of where they were was nothing new and exciting for Joel. He's had to survive with stakes this high and higher for a while now. Callus makes a sound of impatience from outside when he and the kid cross the threshold of their creepy excursion back into the daylight, or what counted for it in Milton.

"Joel," and for good measure, just because she has her big girl britches on he extends his hand for a shake. "And don't let yourself think that's gonna be it where ethe emotional scarring's concerned."

[madginger]

Max looks around wide-eyed. That bleakness fills her again. Yeah, she's more than fine with Joel's company. Max might even get just a bit closer.

"It's okay, I know, Joel," Max admits. "It usually comes back around."

Joel seems like someone who knows what that life is like, though. The one where it never actually ends. You just get brief moments without. Maybe that's what it takes to survive a place like this. It almost makes her angry, but maybe she'll store that for later.