snowblindrpg | [log] SLUMBER PARTY MK. 1 [closed]

[On the one hand, Clayton is very anxious. This is hardly new for him--it's easy to get that way in a place like Norfinbury simply by being here, and with everyone on a shaky path to recovery from yesterday's illnesses and Tim's sudden disappearance, things seems to be conspiring against him having a chance to relax. Part of him wants to make up for lost time from last night and just pass out on the couch. That part of him is a particularly vocal part, which is why he's sitting on the couch and looks half-asleep.]

[On the other hand, this is a particularly notable meeting. It strikes him as a gathering of old friends; Clem, his first long-term traveling partner, Steph, one of his closest acquaintances since the very first day, and Enoch and Dio, his trusted companions, all lumped into this dark, creaky little house halfway buried under the ice. He's among good company. He should be happy!]

[...Maybe after he rests his eyes for a few minutes...]

[...]

[yeah he's just sleeping sitting up on the couch now]

Edited (wait I actually have an icon for this) 2015-09-30 20:28 (UTC)

Steph was in the same boat. She didn't fight sleep, and ended up curled up on the other end of the couch fast asleep.

What they didn't know is that Steph tosses and turns with nightmares every night, and she's a sleep cuddler. Within an hour of passing out Steph wedges herself between Clayton and the couch and clings to him like he's a teddy bear.

[Enoch wasn't much better, himself. The illness had worn him down, and now that he wasn't curled up in a ball to protect himself from light and fighting a headache that felt like his brain was trying to escape his skull with a sledgehammer, now that they were safe and together again, he just wanted to rest.

He sat sideways beside the couch, allowing other people to have the furniture, his arms loosely wrapped around his backpack - Steph wasn't the only sleep cuddler here, and Enoch had quickly adopted holding onto something else first, since it obviously made Clayton feel awkward if he latched onto him in his sleep.

This time, however, the need for the comfort of a human presence was just too strong, and he unconsciously gravitated towards it as he slipped into sleep, listing sideways until he fell against Clayton's leg, his head and shoulder supported on his knee. If his new pillow was uncomfortable in any way, he didn't show it.]

[Clayton can be a deep sleeper if given enough time, but this is a lot of people latched onto him at once, it'd be pretty hard for him not to notice. It's Steph that does it; as Clayton starts to slightly favor one side in his slumber, he shifts and immediately notices something stuck between his lower back and the cushions. He groans in confusion and blinks himself awake.]

[The extent of the damages quickly becomes clear. Oh dear. This is...well. It's pretty cute, he'll admit, but he can't exactly coo and fuss about how cute it is without waking up one or both parties, and they deserve the rest. Getting into a slightly more comfortable position is also not an option here. He makes a few halfhearted attempts at it, shifting one leg, slowly twisting in a bid to lie back, but there appears to be no delicate solution. Clayton quietly whines his flustered indecision. Come on, guys, throw him a bone here...]

[ Steph responds with an unconscious whine, almost a whimper. She's deep asleep but discomforted by nightmares, making her shift to try and find a better position.

Luckily, this means she doesn't wake up. ]

[Enoch also stirs in his sleep, but he wakes some, just enough to realize he's using someone as a pillow.]

Sorry...

[It's barely a murmur, and it's debatable he was even truly conscious at all, since he doesn't move away, shifting with the movement of Clayton's leg automatically as he falls right back asleep. Clayton would know by now that unless he's extremely exhausted, Enoch is a light sleeper.]

[So naturally it's Enoch he turns to in this great and trying time of need. Clayton assumes the fact he said anything at all means he's more or less awake now.]

Enoch? [He picks his voice up to a more directed whisper, but pauses to make sure he hasn't woken up Steph in the process.] You want the couch?

[ Having found a slightly more comfortable position Steph settles down, apparently the only one getting even a semblance of rest. ]

Edited 2015-10-06 01:04 (UTC)

[Hearing his name brings him partway out of sleep again, with a little noise of protest.]

Hm?

[He groggily pushes himself away from Clayton's leg and shifts to pillow his head on the edge of the couch beside it instead, thinking that whatever he'd said had been a complaint in his only marginally-waking state, his arms tightening reflexively around his backpack.]

[Well, that's one of them taken care of. Clayton still feels kind of like an ass for squishing Steph against the couch, though, so he feels some need to try and make her a little more comfortable. There's that drop cloth with his backpack at his feet, opposite of Enoch. If he could just...lean down slowly and...]

[Goddammit, there goes Enoch. Clayton's already pitched forward, so he takes advantage of the closer proximity to better direct his voice.]

Enoch. [He huffs a small sigh. Look, if y'all are gonna turn him into a living pillow, he's gonna make himself the best damn pillow in the history of pillows.] This way bud. C'mon.

[Enoch raises his head, blinking blearily, his eyes hardly open.]

Where are we going?

[Of course, he's missed the context entirely again, his mind reluctant to wake up without immediate danger now that it's been given time to rest. Cute, kind of sad, or just aggravating, it's hard to say.]

[ Steph's head jars a little as Clayton moves, and she wakens a little. ]

Humm?

[Clayton is apparently having no luck tonight.]

Aw, not you, too... [Too late, the damage is already done. Clayton snags the drop cloth, slowly leans back and tries to gently wedge it under Steph's head as a more substantial pillow than the couch cushions.]

[And then there's Enoch. Bless poor Enoch.] On the couch. This way. [He makes an attempt at guiding Enoch's attention by gently patting the cushion by his head, like he might beckon a dog to hop on the bed.]

[With a personality like his, a dog makes a fairly natural comparison. He yawns quietly again and stares at the hand for a moment before it finally clicks.]

Oh...

[He crawls up onto the couch and curls up there, leaning sideways against the back with his backpack still clutched in his arms.]

Sorry...so exhausted.

[ Steph's body wants her to fall back asleep, but her mind is alert from months of uncomfortable sleep in dangerous situations. She takes a moment to force herself to glance around the room, making sure the area is secure. ]

We safe?

[ Her words are slurred by sleep. ]

It's alright, it's alright... [Said as a response to both of them. Clayton reaches back to pat Steph on the shoulder to reassure her while he works with the slightly more coherent Enoch.] Rough day, I understand. Don't need ya sleepin' on the floor after all that...

Slept on worse.

[That's all Clayton's likely to get out of him, though it's true - a cave somewhere in the deathly-cold desert night isn't much better - at least this is completely sealed in.]

'Kay... Okay. [ She yawns, and being as that she's still half asleep snuggles up with Clayton a little more before nodding off again. ]

[ Steph is happy to see people again, especially after dying the last time she set out to travel on her own. It's just a way station, but there's a smile on her face as she greets her slumber party guests. ]

Heya.

Hello.

[Enoch smiles in return, recognizing that look - he'd worn it himself so often when he and Clayton had first met up. It's a tired smile, the illness had taken a lot out of him, but genuine.]

Are you doing well?

Yeah. [ She sounds almost amazed by the truth of her own answer. She does feel good, better than she has in a while. ]

Better than I've been, at least. You?

Recovering. [He tries to keep smiling for it, though it's more strained. He's still not used to feeling ill.] I can't remember being so sick before...

Were you affected by that illness, as well?

No, I wasn't affected at all. That's how I got here so fast. I was at the north end of town when Sparrow disappeared.

[How odd. Clayton had been unaffected as well. He wasn't going to take random guesses as to why. Clayton was the doctor here, after all, not him.]

I'm glad that seemed to leave no effects, as well. I didn't think the spirits left behind would have tried to do something like that...

No... They didn't seem malicious. At least, Sparrow didn't. She mostly spent her time looking at birds that weren't there.

They weren't causing us to suffer and they weren't suffering, themselves...it's the best we could hope for, so far as bound spirits go, but they must be trapped here for a reason. Something or someone is usually behind binding souls to Earth...

[He's been preoccupied with it ever since seeing the signs of haunting in the school. Now that they've seen actual possessions, spoken to the spirits directly...he may be worn out but he can't let this go.]

Did you-... I mean, would you mind talking about it, if I had questions to ask?

[ She shrugs. She doesn't really mind talking about it. ]

I don't know how much I can answer, but you're welcome to ask.

Do you still remember anything she knew, or did she never share her memories with you?

[He's never encountered a benign possession, so all bets are off here. Sure, he's never had any memory-sharing going on, but every one of his possessions were an attempt to kill him or use him against his allies. His experience means very little in this context.]

No, it was more like watching myself from a distance.

[So, no, not very much different from the possessions he knew after all. Even if she was benign, it's still a frightening experience. He feels bad for her even if she'd said she didn't mind.]

I'm sorry. I...don't suppose she said anything about the town hall or the protests I might not have seen?

No. Any time anyone tried to talk to her about anything serious she got distracted by birds.

I suppose that's to be expected...children are rarely interested in the more complicated things in their parents' lives at that age.

[One of the adults might be worth talking about, then.]

I suppose that would include any places of note?

I don't think she even knew there were other people in town unless they were shoved right in front of her. Tunnel vision, I guess.

Now, that's a bit unusual. She wasn't looking for her parents or anyone she knew?

[Either she was an adventurous little girl who wasn't afraid of being alone (except for the birds, of course), or something wasn't quite right.]

No. She hardly even mentioned them.

That's very strange. Since she saw what wasn't there, perhaps she believed she wasn't as alone as we knew her to be?

[That's all he can think of, and it would make more sense for the spirits to be so comfortable if they didn't realize anything was wrong.]

I don't know. Did you see the video of her with the cops?

The video of her with... [He shakes his head.] I'm afraid I haven't.

[He actually has seen it. The problem is, he doesn't know what "cops" means.]

[ Attached: bird.mov ]

[Enoch looks down at his tablet as he receives the video, watching it play with, initially, a little smile at Sparrow's affection for her pet, but that is erased by growing concern as he notices the argument, and then shock as the girl's mother drops to the ground.

Suddenly, the "distractions" by birds seem all too convenient, and in a gut-wrenching way.]

That poor child...do you think she might have been deliberately avoiding everything to do with the things that happened here?

[ Steph just sighs. Yeah, the kid's distractibility is a little weird. ]

I don't know. I didn't really get that big an impression from her.

If only there was some way to speak to them again, without having them possess others...

[So he's learned very little, except that something happened to Sparrow's mother.]

Thank you for humoring my curiosity, at least.

Yeah, of course.

[ She would do the same, in his position. ]

[log] SLUMBER PARTY MK. 1 [closed]

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CwC lemme know if this isn't ok

SNOWHELL CUDDLEPILE now in the right place

yes perfect

8D;

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