i can't help but be wrong in the dark.

[nightmarist]

WHO: Residents of the Meadows & OPEN to visitors
WHERE: The Meadows outside De Chima
WHEN: Throughout August
WHAT: Day-to-day encounters with the raven boys.
WARNINGS: Look to the subject headers.
NOTES: This is a mingle/catch-all log. Start your own threads! Tag around!

[The Meadows, being a place largely created from magic, has a subtle strangeness to it. From the outside, it could be taken for any old Appalachian farm: scattered barns and stables, a roomy wooden farmhouse, a 19th century stone chapel that some hoodlum graffitied. There's evidence that the farm is occupied by unsupervised teenagers, too, in the donut tracks that mar the grass and the remains of regular bonfires. As long as the monsters are out of sight, everything seems ordinary.

Once inside the farmhouse, however, the odd discrepancies become more apparent. The layout of the rooms doesn't quite match how the house appeared from the outside. There are windows where windows shouldn't be, stairways like vertical mazes to secluded rooms, and views from rooms that look into other worlds entirely. Half of the appliances work without any source of electricity, fresh coffee's always waiting in the pot without anyone having to brew it, and the refrigerator never seems to run out of leftover pizza. Things are simply wrong about the place, for all the cozy warmth of its design.]

Comments

TDM THREAD CON'T

[pigmypouter]

[Blue's insides settle back to where they belong when Adam stops, and for the moment disaster is averted. God, she's been told before breakups are hard, but she's sure Orla never had to handle this specific scenario.]

Well. That sounds...

[Convenient? Absolutely horrible? Honestly, she's not sure. All she knows is this is a detour none of them were supposed to make. She knows, because there have been no predictions even suggesting something like this. No cards, no dreams, no suggestions idly passed to Blue over the kitchen table.

Blue's never felt so off kilter before. It's the absolute worst.]

Let me run to the bathroom, and then I'll be ready. [No, she won't be. But Blue smiles anyway, doing a very good job at looking only partially out of her depth.] Okay?

[hondoyota]

Take your time.

[He gives her a gentler smile, meant to be reassuring, even though his nerves show through it.] I just got off work for the day. I've got all evening.

[Adam settles in his chair to wait, worrying over whether he should have told her that he's also dating Gansey and Noah. Someone else will mention it and then she'll be mad at him for not saying.

He reaches for his phone to text them, then hesitates. What is he supposed to say? Better to just bring her home. Then he won't be in the position of explaining things over text.]

for blue, sometime after her arrival

[nightmarist]

[Ronan makes himself scarce while the rest of the household reacquaints themselves with Blue Sargent. Knowing that Blue will kill Gansey someday and knowing that Gansey loves her regardless, Ronan retreats to St. Agnes so that their reunion can be as joyful as a reunion with one's murderer can possibly be.

This is the only kindness Ronan intends to do for her. And it's mostly for Gansey's sake.

Eventually Ronan has to return to the farmhouse, as it's been too many hours since he's had food and now he's run out of whiskey, too. He assumes (foolishly) that it should be safe, the hour so late it's nearly dawn, everyone else asleep in their beds or at least in a bed.

Stumbling drunk into the kitchen, Ronan pulls a pizza box and a beer from the fridge and sits himself down at the breakfast table. As he chews on a cold slice, he shuts his eyes and digs a fist against his temple, trying not to think too loudly. He doesn't want Noah to overhear everything he's considering.]

I wrote you a novel

[pigmypouter]

[It's surreal. It's all so deeply surreal, it's hard not to just convince herself this is all just some dream, something Cabeswater induced in all of them and they're really just back home waiting to wake up.

Her room—her old room that she never had but somehow did—just hammers home the constant sense of unease she's had since she woke up in Florida. She's never seen it before, but it's everything she would ever have wanted in the most frustrating way. Like when you're planning on doing something but then someone tells you to do it. She stubbornly wants to hate it, wants to throw everything out, but her damnnable sensibility admits it's a waste. It's exactly what she likes, who she is.

she won't be touching her old things tonight, though. She needs time to process. To breathe.

And time she has, because there's no way Blue is sleeping tonight. It's been an emotional roller coaster of a day, a lot of unexpected pain and yelling and all sorts of things she doesn't want to dwell on. She lay in her bed for hours, staring up at the stars and wonders how on earth she's going to fix this. If she even can fix it. In her hardest moments, she's always had the women of 300 Fox Way to lean back on, with their decades of collective wisdom and foresight. She can't have that now. It's time to fly solo, and she's sick for it. It occurs to her, then, that she's never even considered a time where she would be apart from them, from her home.

She loses count how many times she picks her phone up to whisper a call to Gansey. Each time, she stops herself, reminds herself that this is what the problem is in the first place. She can't—they can't. They never even were at home, not really, and now that brief shimmer of maybe is out of reach. It's four in the morning when she admits to herself sleep just isn't happening, and she makes her way downstairs as quietly as possible, phone long forgotten in her little attic room. Blue pads soft into the kitchen, wondering at first what she even intends to do. She remembers one of her new powers then—yogurt. Infinitely silly, but admittedly useful. It takes some digging to find the spoons, but once she has it I hand she concentrates, thinking vanilla Greek, vanilla Greek, vanilla Greek.

And pop! There it is.

She doesn't even notice Ronan until the spoon's halfway up to her mouth. And then she remembers:

Oh no, I'm not even wearing pants.]

ur not that friendly neighborhood john murphy | ota

[rekt]

foooooood;

[ it's eating time. whether it's breakfast, lunch, dinner, or midnight snack, murphy makes it a habit to cook several more servings than he's going to eat, because he knows he's the only person who understands how to work a stove in this house. and sometimes leftover pizza and take out gets old.

if it's breakfast, he's here with ronan's sweatpants hanging on his skinny hips, and someone else's bathrobe tied around his waist, with a mug of fresh coffee in one hand. lunch, and he's managed to get dressed by then. dinner, the same, assuming he's here and not out with kavinsky somewhere. and midnight snack, he's shuffling something around on a skillet while standing just in his boxers and a light blanket tugged over his head.

if you want some, better get to making up plates and handing him ingredients. ]

watching MoM equivalent of spongebob in pjs;

[ spongebob, or whatever he is in this world, isn't exactly entertainment for great and impressive minds (like gansey), but it's plenty enough for murphy, where he's sprawled sideways on the couch, half lounged out and half falling off the edge, one leg on the cushions, and one on the floor, eyes staring dully at the screen while he shoves animal crackers into his mouth.

he doesn't work, he isn't registered so he doesn't get a stipend, murphy's sole contribution to the welfare of this household is the fact he cooks. and keeps the couch warm. and can give you a relatively safe ride somewhere, if you're brave enough to go in kavinsky's old mitsu.

should you step in front of the screen, he doesn't even have the motivation to get up and move you, wave a hand, or even form words. instead, its just a vague whining sound from the back of his throat, as he stretches his neck to try to see around you butt. ]

wildcard;

[ idefk come at me. ]

spongebob & blue sargent;

[pillz]

[kavinsky does 'lazy' better now than he ever used to. no drugs kind of helps.

also, elaborate fucking deceit helps. the reality is, he's pretty tense here at the meadows, suspicious that those within it might enact some weird revenge from times past. it's not that he knows any of them well enough to guess at their motivations and concerns; it's that he doesn't really know them much at all, and he'd fucked them up pretty hard once upon a time. still, it's exactly that kind of anxiety that produces a tactical disguise of zero fuck giving.

he's using john murphy as a pillow, head laid back pillowed on his chest, keeping his tattooed fingers warm by stuffing them into the pockets of the other boy's sleep shirt, where it's soft and murphy's hips can keep them warm. it might be cute, kind of domestic, if it weren't for the fact that it's kavinsky and, worse, he's wearing a bewildering sweater vest with his (pale) pink shirt and slacks.]

You know, sweetheart, [he guesses out loud,] I'm pretty sure the fact you like this show goes to reveal, deep down inside, all you ever needed was a hug.

FOOD DELIVERY

[redhott]

[ Occasionally at the end of his shifts at the marshmallow factory Kyle collects the "unsavory" s'mores that didn't make the cut on the conveyor belt. Some are misshapen or slightly burnt around the edges, but all of them are delicious. Kyle knows this well.

So, later afternoon, he decides to make a stop at the Meadows to drop off a bag for all the boys in their kitchen. ]

Hey! I brought some more marshmallows—Oh. [ New face. LOL well, not new. In spite of his harsh appearance (horns and all), he's all smiles and good cheer. ] Hi, man.

they call me homewrecker | ota

[pigmypouter]

the lorax
[After all the dust is settled and the screaming stops, Blue starts taking time to explore her new tree powers. Every day after school and work, she comes home and heads straight out into the field. Her designated experiment spot is a mish-mash of unfitting trees: cherries and oaks and beeches and fruit trees, all in various states of growth.

This is a very personal kind of time for her, but she doesn't kick anyone out of her odd little grove if they want to see what's up. Maybe you'll get some fruit?]

it's fashion
[Blue hasn't gotten her first crystal shop paycheck yet, so until she can afford a sewing machine she takes to altering all her newly bought old clothes by hand. She takes up in the sunniest room she can find and spreads her accumulation of junk around, for easier picking.

If you swing by, you're liable to step on a sewing needle or get roped into being a living dress form. Or, if you ask nicely, you'll get something made for yourself.]

dealer's choice
[Insert prompt here.]

Treez

[hondoyota]

[Adam can't help but notice the new grove. It's just across the field from the windowseat where he likes to read, so he watches the trees growing and swaying in the breeze, and then he gets curious enough that he wanders out to investigate.

He can see Blue among the trees. He's glad that she's started making the Meadows her own in this way.

Strolling through the grove, Adam leans back against a pine and gives her a wry smile.]

Maybe I'm the one who'll be amplifying your powers.

It's nice that you brought all your relatives.

[He means the trees.]

fashion.

[admemoriam]

[Awhile into Blue's crafting, Noah finds his way into the room and flops onto the floor next to her. He's warm and rosy from being outside, covered in summertime freckles and a couple of bug bites. Stretching out, he plucks at a piece of fabric near her legs.]

... Could I come to school with you sometime, maybe?

dealer's choice

[nightmarist]

[Ronan's absolutely certain he's not allowed in Blue's room, and fairly sure that magic will keep him out, but he doesn't know where else to leave his gift. So he makes his way to her door, figuring he'll leave the present on the ladder for her.

He knocks once, just in case she's in. More to alert her than to ask for entrance, because he doesn't wait for an answer before he leaves his offering. The dream is a pair of gladiolus blossoms, their unnatural glow more apparent in the darkness of the hall than they'll be in the sunshine of her room. Once they're securely laid across a rung of the ladder, Ronan takes a step back to depart.]

FASHION

[redhott]

[ This place is so big. Kyle's been turned around the second time trying to find the right room. But this one is new for different reasons. There's a girl! But she's busy. ]

Oh! Hi, sorry, I think I got turned around.

Adam and Tinkerbell

[hondoyota]

[Adam's favorite windowseat is still the one in the main room, even though the design of it has much improved since their renovations. He's taken over the space. The books are his, there's a trio of abandoned coffee mugs accumulating on a shelf, and a little stash of fancy chocolate from a tiny bakery/cafe near his work that has won Adam's heart.

He's finally starting to get more comfortable with the more fashion-forward choices that Ronan dreamed into his closet, and in his pinstripe slacks and cable-knit sweater with his expensive haircut, finally well-fed and well-rested, he looks like he was born to comfort and luxury. He's become what he most admired and most resented, with more money than he knows what to do with.

Comfortably settled in with his laptop, Adam's working on researching setting up a scholarship fund with his extra money. He's paid well as an R&D technician at Wayne Enterprises, in addition to the government stipend, and with no expenses of food or rent, Adam's calculated how much he wants as operating capital and how much he wants as savings in case of emergency. Everything else can go to his new charity fund for underprivileged children.

He stops when he sees Ronan pass through the room, giving him a warm grin and shutting the laptop.]

Hey, handsome.

[nightmarist]

[Not unlike a cat that's found its favorite human, Ronan climbs up onto the windowseat to join Adam. In contrast to Adam, who looks like he's about to walk a runway, Ronan's only wearing the torn muscle shirt and sweatpants he usually wears around the house.]

I was about to say that.

[Ronan doesn't care much about how expensive someone's haircut is. What makes him the happiest about Adam's current look is how much more Adam there is to see, when all the insecurity's been shed and his potential shines through. The clothes reflect Adam, not his poverty or his desperation. It's exactly what Ronan had asked of his dreams.

His chin comes to rest on Adam's shoulder and he presses a kiss to his throat.]

Blue, post-blowup

[disentombs]

[With things more settled since the huge argument at 3 am involving Ronan, Blue and Gansey, Gansey's decided talking to Blue is a Top Priority. The problem is that she is nowhere to be found. He always seems to miss her, whether it's in her room, around the house, at her work--nowhere. Like she's avoiding him. He needs to explain everything that's been going on, both her future and his relationships, and hopefully clarifying that he wants her as one of his relationships as well. At the very least, he wants to ensure that she still wants to remain friends with him. He hadn't gotten a good read from her the night everything happened, but he needed to at least know where they stood.

Not to mention they hadn't really gotten a chance to catch up.

He's been tempted a couple of times to call her on her phone like back home during a sleepless night, but he needed to know what she was thinking.

And so, it's with a mixture of relief, dread and nerves that he finally sees her surrounded by trees, that he doesn't remember being there before, distracted.]

One of your powers?

[He motions to the trees that definitely weren't there before she was.]

IT'S WHERE THE BEES LIVE GANSEY

[pigmypouter]

[Blue has absolutely, 100% been avoiding Gansey since the morning after the fight. Maybe it's not the most mature or helpful thing to do, she'll admit, but there are only so many things she can handle all at once. It's easier to be around Noah or Adam, or even Ronan because it's not...shes not sure. It's not as complicated? Well, it is complicated with Adam, but she had to bite that bullet right out of the gate. It's different.

Unfortunately, school doesn't start until Monday, so she finds herself avoiding friend (boyfriend? soul mate?) in increasingly elaborate ways. Constantly keeping near Noah, for one. Escaping out into the Grove when she hears him puttering around downstairs. Conveniently taking her breaks when he comes by the crystal shop. It only gets hard at night, when she stares at her phone and wills it to ring against her better judgment.

He never calls, and so the next day hide-and-seek continues.

The Grove has become something of a personal sanctuary for her, where she can spend all of her energy and focus on her trees. She's speaking to one today, a beech that she's intent on making as big as possible. These trees are far simpler than the ones at home, not mysterious conversationalists but basic creatures who only have opinions when things of note happen. Things like, say, new visitors.]

Gansey!

[And, because it's the first thing that pops into her mind that isn't "oh no" :]

There are bees out here!

comin to visit the church doot doot

[wingsit]

[ it's a couple of days after she made her request that Nill ports over to De Chima and grabs a taxi to the address she's been given. she's excited, if nervous to be out travelling quite this ambitiously alone, but that level of feeling seems like nothing by the time she gets a proper look at environment the Meadows sits in. so much green.

by the time the taxicab pulls over to let her out, the driver is casting looks back at her in the mirror: the tight prickle of her enthusiasm is palpable and as she gets out of the vehicle it follows with her, spreading out into a two metre surrounding radius, weak at the edges but almost as strong as her own feeling closer up. thrilled joy, amazement.

she's shot a text off to Ronan, an afterthought sent way too late to save her if he's not in, Hello it's the person who asked after churches I am here if you're around, but even if he isn't??? she's honestly more than happy to just stand out here basking in all this nature.

over she heads to the chapel (it's perfect it's perfect it's perfect), heart aflutter as the wings on her back and the air about her, but it's a long and ambling stroll. for a girl who once upon a time would rarely see the sky, this is a whole lot, and she's stroking grasses and detouring to stare at bushes and smell flowers on her way.

who is this weird girl??? hm. ]

[hondoyota]

[Adam's also heading out to the church in search of Ronan, and he's startled to see a stranger in their fields. A girl, no less, and with wings. Adam can't tell from a distance whether they're real.

They're supposed to have protection wards around their farm so that no one can enter with intent to harm, but they aren't perfect--the wards let the devil in, after all, since he was just coming to look around. Adam approaches carefully, listening and feeling all of the energy and magic patterns in the vicinity in case he picks up any warnings of danger.]

Hey, [Adam calls out as he gets closer. He doesn't want to just sneak up on her, and he does move quietly.]

for adam.

[admemoriam]

Is physics, like, the one with electrons and stuff?

[Noah leans backwards off the couch, looking up and over at Adam. He can't quite remember how he got on this train of thought, but Adam had been saying something about science. Science and telepathy, maybe. Noah was pretty distracted by the sound of Max chasing squirrels outside.]

And they're on the little circles, and they, like, switch places with each other?

Intro to Physics 101 by Adam Parrish

[hondoyota]

Yes. Sort of.

[Adam gets up and comes over, leaning down to give Noah a kiss.]

Physics is the science of how physical things interact with each other. Calculating velocity or friction. If someone tosses you a ball and you catch it, how did you know where your hand should be? Your mind made a complex system of calculations regarding trajectory, velocity, and force, and you caught the ball.

Or, in terms of our bodies, we're actually more space than matter. There's so much space between protons and electrons, between one atom and the next--so how is it that people don't walk right through each other? You as an exception.

for fancy dad.

[admemoriam]

We should talk about it.

[The bed barely moves when Noah materializes. It's been almost forty-eight hours since the fight, and the air in the house has been releasing tension at a snail pace, second by second. Silence hasn't been doing any of them good. So right after Gansey crawls in bed, Noah joins him, clear-eyed and solid and honest.]

About her.

[disentombs]

[He'd been wanting to talk to Noah since the argument, but he hadn't come across him. Gansey wanted to let everyone simmer down a bit, though finding Blue has been an issue. She doesn't seem to be around when he comes looking.

So forgive him for startling in the bed when Noah appears. He settles down quickly, calming his heart.

He's sitting up in bed and reaches over, touching Noah's shoulder, making sure it's solid. It's reassuring.]

Blue.

[His brow furrows ever so slightly.]

I'm sorry about telling Ronan. I couldn't let him hate her like that. [And I didn't want either to leave]

cw: sexual assault

[redhott]

NOAH

[ With no roommates of his own, it's not that fun playing video games all by himself. He's temporarily moved his consoles to the farmhouse to play with the boys when any of them have time. It doesn't take much to wrangle Noah into them, which is great on a boring afternoon like this one. No shifts at the factory, and no one to save. Time to beat the crap out of digital characters! ]

So I've got a few new games. Most of 'em are fighting games—The rest aren't really multiplayer, but I grabbed some weird ones, too. This is [ Kyle has to laugh at how ridiculous it is just from the cover. Doggomari with the knck-off princess rolling up everything in sight. ] We've got something like it back where I'm from, but uhh same basic principle. You—Well, it may be best to just let you try it and see for yourself.

But it's up to you! Whatever you wanna play.


GANSEY

[ A new room in a new bed is never good for a restful night's sleep. All it takes is waking up in a stranger's room and it drives the nightmares to the surface. The sensation of being bound to that bed comes back fresh as the day it happened, suffocating under his own terror and Duncan's black magic.

The best remedy he's found is getting up out of bed and keeping clear of it and his thoughts, of the way his trust was violated on his most important day. So he walks out bare foot in his pajamas through the quiet house feeling cold. But the couch in the living room has plenty of blankets and pillows to feel secure in while he turns his brains into jelly with mindless infomercials.

Of course, it sure isn't much of a novel idea around here. One of the boys is up, too. ]

Hey...

[ Quietly he walks around the large couch to see just what Gansey's up to. ]

[disentombs]

[While his search is less fevered here, nonetheless, he is reading through any book that could even possibly hint at Owain Glendower, picking through and attempting to find any discrepancies between this world and his own. There's only a recent history of imPorts in this universe, but surely if the forces are there, they can't be the only true magic-users here.

Perhaps the Glendower of this universe had a far more obvious magic about him.

It's very late (early? Always a question with Gansey's poor sleep) and the only person Gansey expects at this time is Ronan. He's surprised to see Kyle wandering into the room.

Gansey is probably the least put-together that Kyle has seen him--wire-framed glasses, plaid pajama pants and a plain white v-neck. His books and notebook are spread out in a semi-circle around him, notebook to his right so he could easily jot down notes.]

Hey. What are you doing awake at this hour?

[He has no idea what time it is, but he knows it's late/early.]

In Which Blue Discovers Voyeurism

[hondoyota]

[Adam was tired from a long day at work, and he was glad to be home, curled up on the couch with a beer and his laptop, but the sight of Noah suggested an even more welcome prospect for the evening.]

Hey.

[Setting aside his laptop, Adam offered his boyfriend a wide grin, an available lap, and open arms, all invitation for kisses.]

[admemoriam]

[Noah pulls out his earbuds, still playing tinny pop punk, and discards his MP3 player on the table as he slides into Adam's lap.]

Okay, fine.

[It's with a teasing grin, though. He slides his arms around Adam's shoulders, hooking at the elbows, and leans in to fulfill his request. It's a deep, indulgent kiss from the get-go, as if he's trying to suck the work day's tension right from Adam's body.]

The Sparkling

[hondoyota]

[In accordance with Adam's plans, when Ronan returns home after an evening's mischief and adventure with Kyle, he will find that his entire room has been redecorated. His bedsheets are now galaxy bedsheets, and glow in the dark glitter stars have been painted all across the walls and ceiling. Glittery throw pillows and blankets cover every available surface, an array of glittery alcohol awaits on a table, and the lube in the bedside table has been replaced with glittery lube.

On the wall near Ronan's bed, "I love you" has been written in small font with glitter pen, in Adam's handwriting.]

[admemoriam]

[Additionally: there is shimmer powder in all of his bath products, and for the love of all that is holy, do not turn on the ceiling fan.]

Prankwar 2017

[hondoyota]

[One sleepy Sunday afternoon, while Gansey has been lured away to kiss Ronan, someone creeps in and replaces a variety of the dust jackets on Gansey's books with the dust jackets from a stack of 1980s computer manuals that were being thrown away. Many of the other book dust jackets have been swapped with each other and then carefully returned to their former locations of general disarray.

While he's at it, Adam tucks a variety of small folded notes into the books. Thirty in all, scattered throughout Gansey's collection of books so that he'll be finding them for years.

Each one says I love you in Adam's careful, small, sharp-edged handwriting.]

For Ronan

[wordaday]

[Sookie hasn't made it out to the meadows since early last month, mostly due to her own impromptu vacation and then the cleanup efforts in De Chima proper. It's fine, they're all young men and can take care of themselves, but it still worries her, the four of them in a big house all alone. This time she's brought a few things, most verging away from carbs and more into things she knows teenage boys won't touch unless prompted to.

That telltale headache returns as soon as she crosses over onto the property, but it's different this time. More instantly noticeable. The heads inside the house seem louder too, as she walks to the door and steps inside. Strange.]

Hello?

[nightmarist]

[Sookie's right on time. Ronan's in the kitchen already, just about to grab cold pizza out of the fridge, when he hears her call. He barks back:]

In here, mom.

[Knowing her well enough by now to guess she's brought food, Ronan veers on his path to grab a cold beer instead.]