you were never an island.

[nightmarist]

WHO: Residents of the Meadows & OPEN to visitors
WHERE: The Meadows outside De Chima
WHEN: Throughout January
WHAT: Day-to-day encounters at the magical farm commune.
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

For Blue--New Year's

[disentombs]

[Soon after he leaves Adam's room, he makes his way back downstairs the old-fashioned way--walking. He enters the common area where their little party setup is, a lot less exuberant than he was when he gave Blue the promise that he would be right back and disappeared through a portal right around midnight. There's a heavy weight to his presence, though when he sees Blue, it's easier to smile.

Gansey comes right up to her, envelopes her in his arms, and says nothing, merely wanting to hold her.]

hey bitcxh you want something bittersweet

[pigmypouter]

[Gansey will find Blue bundled in front of the fireplace, sipping on a red cup of something (natch, as most cups in this house are filled with something and not water or soda) and staring into the flames. It's weird. This whole year has been pretty weird, honestly. True loves and boyfriends and boys whose dreams are realer than most and kisses and superpowers. Sometimes she thinks that all of this started on that night, when she saw Gansey in the cemetery. Everyone here, she thinks, is terribly interesting. Things only got terribly interesting for her after the boys came stumbling into her life. Maybe if they hadn't, she'd be at 300 Fox Way right now with a mug full of hot chocolate and an only partially tipsy mother stacking New Year's hats on top her head.

It hurts her heart to think of it. It's a pleasant sort of melancholy, but the kind that still strikes her a little sideways if she really thinks about it. So it's probably for the best that Gansey returns then and bundles her tiny form up into his arms. Blue just smiles and leans back into him, and begins singing (mmmmmmoderately well) her own rendition of Auld Lang Syne. It feels right, feels appropriate in this small little universe they've created for themselves here. Just them, the fire, and something that warms her inside so fiercely that sometimes she can't breathe for the heat of it.

When she finishes the chorus, Blue sighs and takes a drink.]

Persephone always sings the original words to it, you know? [A beat.] And with a Scottish accent.

[She turns in his grip to get a look at his face. There's something off about how he's holding himself, how stiff he is.

And, oh, his face doesn't look any better.]

What's wrong?

This is the fucking rudest!!!!!

[disentombs]

[Blue's singing is like a vicegrip on his heart, but it's not entirely unpleasant. The song always makes him think of saying goodbye to the year before. He's not sure where it all went so wrong, but this past year was good to him, despite being displaced so magnificently. Everyone he needed was here. And he learned how nice it was to be loved, truly loved, by multiple people he can't live without.

He misses last year already. The new one wasn't starting out so well.

When Blue turns to him, he can feel a lump in his throat, making it difficult to talk. He fights it down as best he can.]

Adam broke up with me.

For Gansey, a few days after NYE

[hondoyota]

[Once the dust has settled a little, Adam seeks out Gansey in his room. He knocks before opening the door and then hesitates in the doorway. He does not expect to be welcomed, or even tolerated, so he waits to be given permission to enter.] Hey.

[disentombs]

[Gansey is sitting on his bedroom floor, books scattered, sticky notes throughout them and--a new item--a large map of the Eastern seaboard, Atlantic Ocean, and Great Britain, now littered with push pins and string connecting them.

His eyes have darker circles under them than usual--his sleep has been worse lately. He looks up and his heart simultaneously sinks and is elated to see Adam. It's been a few days and he hadn't wanted to upset Adam by seeking him out--that's what got Gansey in trouble in the first place. He stops what he's writing and straightens up.]

Hey.

[hondoyota]

Can I come in?

[Adam sees the new project, something with maps and string, and sees how tired Gansey looks. That's not much of a surprise. Adam kept them all up all night on New Year's, and he can't imagine Gansey's slept well since.

He doesn't want to intrude. He's not sure he's allowed in Gansey's space anymore.]

For Ronan

[rekt]

[ around bedtime, a few hours after they've chatted over text, murphy shows up in ronan's bedroom door, dressed in a sleep shirt and some of ronan's jogger sweat pants, long enough at the bottom that the cuffs slip down over his heels, like half-slippers. padding over, he shoves at ronan's hip, urging him make room as he clamors onto the edge of the mattress. ]

Scoot over, farm lord.

[ tugging up the comforter, he slides in next to ronan, curled up to his side, seeming to seek warmth. ] Too cold in my corner of the barn.

[ which is a clear lie, but a murphy lie. the kind that's blatantly obvious, not clear if it's meant to be a joke or just words he can apply to keep from saying something much more gross and mushy. like that he wants to be close to his friend in pain. wants ronan to know he has him here no matter what, regardless of how shitty he thinks he is. murphy's been that, is that still, knows that self-loathing and that baffling feeling when someone actually gives you the time of day, like you're some kind of real person.

he learned with emori that they can both be rotten to the core, despised and kicked aside and left to die, maybe deserving of it too, who can really say, but at the end of the day, they're still each others' family, each others' home, and that's what ronan has been to murphy for all the time he's been here. trying to convince ronan he isn't the scum of this house seems like a futile effort, but can at least convince him he isn't alone, no matter what happens with the others, no matter who crappy of a person he may be. ]

[nightmarist]

[Oh, so that's where his sweatpants went. Ronan is wearing an exact clone of them, because he couldn't find the original.]

Aww... My precious shitbaby needs a cuddle?

[It ought to be sarcastic, but the affection in Ronan's voice is genuine. He shifts to make room for Murphy in the bed, and once he's settled, Ronan drapes both his arm and the blanket across Murphy's body. He means it, too, when he lays a motherly kiss on Murphy's forehead.]

[rekt]

[ even now, nearly a year after first showing up in this world, it still feels odd to get such a pure kind of affection from anyone, let alone a boy wearing his face, looking through his eyes, speaking in his voice. but ronan's a familiar, nurturing presence, and murphy doesn't think too long on what the similarities between them are doing to his own sense of self-worth. too cheesy to go into, when he's rather just curl up into the arms around him and greedily soak up the warmth and care from him. ]

Your precious shitbaby's about to knee you in the dick if you keep that crap up. [ murphy snorts, bony knees shoving a little against ronan's as he shifts around to get comfortable.

there's a soft kiss to his forehead, and murphy squirms, making the vague grunt of a preteen boy embarrassed by a parent's doting but not actually making real protest. he tugs himself close against ronan's chest, nose tucking against his shoulder, burrowed there. ]

OTA!!! for Murphy /o/

[rekt]

[ murphy's one of the permanent residents of the meadows, having his own room somewhere upstairs (it's the space looking one), as well as the regular live-in cook for the farm house boys, so all those left overs that look home-made rather than pizza or take out are murphy's creations rather than ronan's, available to whoever might be hungry.

right now, though, it's some time in the afternoon, and he's seated on the floor in front of the couch, with a large candle lit on the coffee table his arms are rested on, and the TV in front of it playing some news station. the program's currently reporting on imPort activity, something about an ex-felon philanthropist redeeming himself through public art and donations of medical/educational funds and inventions. if you're someone from the same world as Ronan and his several boyfriends, the name Joseph Kavinsky (the ex-felon philanthropist in question) likely means something to you. If you've lived around here long enough or visited frequently, you've likely seen him hang around, given he's murphy's boyfriend. probably most ill-advised couple of the century, but whatever, love is love etc etc.

meanwhile, murphy seems to be up to something with this candle here, and the news program is more background noise, as he's lifting his hand up, palm down, jaw tense and eyes intent as his hand nears the flame. long standing residents might guess correctly in that he's trying to train his adaptation power - an ability that shifts his body to keep him from dying from external forces. for those that don't guess so well, it just looks like he's about to set his hand on fire. his palm moves over the flame, and there's smoke and a distinct burning smell that rises, murphy's face scrunching up as he whispers curses harshly - ]

Son of a bitch, son of a bitch, son of a bitch-- [ hopefully that ability kicks in soon and doesn't wait until he's almost dead, because this is probably a little awkward for anyone just walking in. ]

family meeting

[nightmarist]

[Sometime around noon, the morning after this fucking mess, Ronan stumbles into the kitchen where at least the three relevant parties (and maybe a few bystanders) are convened more or less by accident in the pursuit of lunch. He pours himself a cup of coffee, then pours a reasonable amount of whiskey into that coffee, then leans back against the counter to look at the others.]

Hey, can I say something?

[hondoyota]

[Adam's feeling better after the way things ended, so he's not worried, and not picking up on any warning signals. He leans against the counter, finishing off a sandwich.] Of course. What's up?

[admemoriam]

[Noah, slumped at the table, doesn't say anything, but he does look up from his (cold) (breakfast) pizza, concerned.]

2 weeks after Fallout--For Adam

[disentombs]

[Things have been at an uneasy peace with Adam recently and Gansey has had a decent amount of time to stew and think about where it all went wrong. And that's the thing. That's where he has no actual idea.

Taking a deep breath, he knocks on the door to Adam's bedroom.]

[hondoyota]

[Adam's been avoiding public spaces lately. He stays out of the main Meadows library, even though it's larger and more expansive than his own, and stays in his room whenever he's home. Interacting with the others will only lead to him hurting them worse and doing more damage. He's increasingly convinced that's all he can do. He's a broken thing, not fit to be around anyone.

Getting up to answer the door, Adam tucks his chin warily when he sees Gansey. He's terrified that he's going to hurt Gansey more, and recent events have left him feeling like maybe he shouldn't even be friends with Gansey. All he does is damage him. That was what he'd meant to stop, when he broke up with Gansey. He'd needed to take time and space to analyze how to stop hurting Gansey. And instead he'd hurt everyone within a five-mile radius.]

Hey.

[disentombs]

Hey.

I'd like to talk.

the next morning

[nightmarist]

[Though it was an enormous relief to see Gansey and Adam reunited, there's still the problem of Noah. Not that Noah himself is the problem. As far as Ronan's concerned, Noah is perpetually suffering the most of all of them. It feels so much like the others treat him as if he's dead and gone already, an afterthought even though his heart's still beating.

Ronan refuses to allow it. The moment Adam leaves for work, Ronan's out of bed and dragging Gansey with him. Since Adam hadn't invited Noah to spend the night with them, they have to make up for it by surprising Noah first thing in the morning.]

Do you think he can still read minds if he's asleep?

[It's a question more to himself than to Gansey, just as they're reaching the door to Noah's bedroom.]

[disentombs]

I hope not for his sake. He needs a break, [motioning between himself and Ronan] at some point.

[Luckily Ronan didn't have to do too much dragging. He too had been concerned about Noah last evening.]

[nightmarist]

[Ronan makes a soft sound of agreement before pushing the door open. He leads the way to Noah's bed with near-silent footfalls, and they find a lump of blankets with Noah cocooned inside. Hard to say if he's peaceful or not, with only a messy tuft of hair visible. Ronan climbs into bed immediately and wraps his arms around the Noah-shaped burrito, nuzzling into his hair.]

For Adam

[disentombs]

It's been a while since Gansey's used the Porter, considering his power of teleportation. It seems, however, that his power is also limited to planet Earth. Adam has promised him a private tour of the moon base, considering when it was last open to the public for the swear-in, Gansey wasn't in much of a mood to enjoy it.

"This is still marvelous. You were always going to do magnificent things, but settling the moon before 20 years old. Absolutely astounding," Gansey practically glows.

[hondoyota]

“You’re a flirt,” Adam accuses. He’s delighted. Leading the way from the Porter, Adam takes him to the Embassy dome. All doors open for Adam, and he leads Gansey into an impressive glass and chrome office with a stunning view of the earth. It’s a medium sized office by Earth standards, but space is tight on the moon. Adam would have accepted less, but his position needs to be able to impress.

[disentombs]

"If speaking the truth constitutes flirting, then guilty," he grins as he follows Adam through the amazing facility. He slips an arm around Adam's shoulders as he marvels at how Adam has clearance like he owns the place. Gansey is beaming as he looks around, but as they enter Adam's office, his mouth drops in pure wonder as his arm leaves Adam's shoulder so he can walk up to the window to stare at Earth.

"Incredible," he breathes out.

For Ronan

[tenofswords]

The last time the Gray Man was here, he got into a fight with Ronan Lynch. He's here now to trade fists again, but in a more controlled environment. Hopefully Ronan will keep his end of the deal.

Mr. Gray's car pulls up to the Meadows, with Mr. Gray inside, of course. He takes a glance at Blue's 'office'. He likes what she's done there, but after what recently happened to him, he's going to be a little wary around plants for a while. Speaking of, he's lost even more leaves since yesterday, with only a couple dotting his face and about three sticking out of his hair. The pockmarks have all healed up and left his skin clear.

Approaching the house, Mr. Gray knocks on the door and calls out, "Is Ronan home?"

[nightmarist]

"He is," a voice hisses as the door creaks open, and there stands Ronan. His back is straight, a good indication that he is - for once - not poised to attack. The difference in their skill levels is plain enough that he knows he'll get nowhere by breaking their agreement. If he lunges, the Gray Man will seep into the shadows and vanish like the Boogeyman.

Though Ronan isn't prepared to attack, he's prepared to fight. He's dressed for the gym, in sweatpants and a slightly shredded tank, with knuckles wrapped in protective gauze. "Outside? In?" Too late, he realizes he should have dreamt a space for this.

[tenofswords]

Well, so far Ronan seems intent upon keeping his word. He doesn't look like he's hiding any weapons on him, not in that outfit, but if he tries anything, the Gray Man will insist on searching him next time. He's sure neither of them wants that.

Mr. Gray is similarly dressed, wearing gray athletic pants and a gray sports top. "Outside for now." He'd rather not do this in the farmhouse, and he doesn't know what Ronan and the boys keep in the barns. "Unless one of these buildings has carpet." Because he's already predicting that Ronan's going to end up on the floor a lot, again.