nic

Who: Nic and Dan
Where: The Spooky House, Master Suite
When: Night

After cooking dinner, Nic wasn't entirely sure what to do with his time, especially since night brought on the darkness. He'd wandered into the study, written a journal entry, stole a book and a letter opener, then returned to the bedroom he shared with Dan. He felt safest in private rooms, despite the fact that he'd been forced to deal with more people recently than he would have preferred. When everyone was gathered together as they were, there seemed to be safety in numbers. Now their numbers had been divided, their setting had changed, and Nic was more aware than ever that there were things that went bump in the night. The house seemed to make noises, unexplainable even when he'd looked for the source, and he remained aware of them even while he forced his nose into a book, attempting to read.

I think my grandfather had a computer like this. It's not even running on DOS. I don't know what this is. Whatever it is, it's old. I'm honestly surprised it runs, but it also wouldn't surprise me if I took it apart to find some high powered modem inside, so that they can record our journal entries real time. Did the others get a computer too? It seems to be the only thing that doesn't quite fit in this house.

Who: Sarah and Nic
Where: Kitchen
When: Afternoon

After wandering the house on her own for awhile, Sarah came to the conclusion that the scientists were in fact, insane. Certifiably so. Not only that, but they were heartless bastards who probably wanked off over watching everyone's misery. With her room chosen, and her things put away - and by things she meant her one outfit she'd gotten out of the burning house with - her stomach reminded her she'd gone most of the day without eating. Tugging a tiny bit at the crimson ribbon tied around her neck, she headed downstairs to the kitchen. She kept her eyes open for Dan, and was slightly disappointed not to have been able to talk to him privately yet that day. Maybe he'd been avoiding her. Or maybe she was becoming what she'd been fighting against since the fire - paranoid.

Sighing, Sarah walked into the kitchen, pausing when she spotted someone already in there. Nic. Already uncomfortable, she thought about turning and escaping quickly, but she stayed put, reminding herself that she wasn't going to run off like a baby every time they were in the same vicinity together. He was Dan's boyfriend now and she was just going to have to accept it - as part of that whole 'Getting Over Dan Plan'. "Hi," she greeted pleasantly enough. There. That wasn't so hard, was it?

Who: Nic and open to Ben, Dan, Gavin, Janie, Joy, Ren, Sally, Sarah, Zhen
Where: The Spooky House, Living Room and Parlor
When: Morning

There was nothing quite as creepy as waking up somewhere else. Nic knew where he'd gone to bed and the floor had been hard beneath him, even with the sleeping bag. Dan had been close by, always within reach. Now he was on a couch, that much he knew without opening his eyes. He could feel the cushions beneath him, one side walled and padded. His arm hung off the side, fingertips brushing the floor. His hand was numb, fingertips tingling, and as he pulled it back up onto the couch, blood rushed back into it. "Where are we?" he asked, opening his eyes. He didn't feel drugged, but that didn't mean a thing. He'd become such a light sleeper that moving him would have been impossible otherwise. "Shit," he said softly as he sat up. Any moment bats might fly through the room, or a wolf might howl out the window. This looked like a haunted house if he'd ever seen one, certainly not the campsite in which he expected to wake up.

Who: Nic and Dan
Where: The Campsite
When: Middle of the night

Nic had never been all that deep a sleeper and moving into the house didn't help him one bit. With all the things that went bump in the night, he'd become easy to wake, ready to run and fight at the drop of a hat. Now they weren't even in the house and though the noises of the night didn't bother him all that much, the howling of wolves did. Nic was suddenly awake, his eyes wide as he sat up in the tent. Izzy didn't look all that happy either, growling softly, her ears perked up and the hair down her back fluffed. "Dan," Nic whispered, shaking him softly. "Wake up, Baby. Wake up." He wasn't all that sure what they were going to do about it, but staying in the tent didn't seem like all that bright an idea at the moment.

Dan, on the other hand, was usually out the moment his head touched the pillow - and the absence of a pillow here in their tent didn't make a whole lot of difference to that. But Nic shaking him awake him. "Hmm, umm?" he asked, sleepily, blinking awake in the darkness. "Wha.." He got that far before the next howl hit and Izzy growled louder. That got his attention and he fumbled for the torch, clicking it on and bringing light to the dark tent.

Who: Nic and Dan
When: Evening
Where: The outside shelter

It was getting towards the end of the day and Dan was frustrated. Frustrated because he'd had to watch people working on building the communal shelter today and he'd been about as much help as a little girl afraid to break a nail. He'd tried to help out at first - until he'd knocked his broken fingers against something and the pain had almost crippled him. And it wasn't like they had painkillers just knocking around the place anymore. He didn't feel right going to Dave to ask for some, so he'd bitten his lip and carried on, but it meant he'd bowed out of building not long after that. He'd spent most of the afternoon as waterboy for the various people helping out which, whilst useful, had left him feeling like a spare limb. He'd been there when Adam had stood back as declared that the shelter was as done as it was going to get today though and he crossed to stand with Nic, handing him a pan of water.

Nic had worked with Adam to build the newest shelter and found himself severely out of shape. He'd thought he'd been doing pretty good at working out, but now he was thinking otherwise, considering just how badly his body wanted to rest now. When they quit for the day, he was just about ready to roll into bed, not entirely sure he wanted to walk down to the lake to dunk himself in. But he also didn't want to crawl into bed all sweaty. He'd worry about it in a bit. For now, he took the offered water from Dan and took a sip. "Thanks," he said, giving Dan a small smile. "How are your fingers?" Nic was sure they couldn't be healing right, with all that they'd been through, but it wasn't like Dan could have avoided it easily. Even still, he'd been helpful all day, which was more than some people would do.

Who: Adam and Nic
Where: Around the chapel
When: Mid-morning

Orders had been given out and Nic found himself once more strapped with building shelters. At what point, he wondered, would Lina realize they had little left to build with? He supposed they could always take apart the house itself, though that wasn't high on his list of 'to-dos'. Nic spent a large portion of his time wondering what would happen regarding the smoldering house. Would a new one appear? If so, would it only be one story high? He could see them earning a new floor every other day, if they were good, and losing amenities if they were bad. Though he'd only taken one psychology class in college, he was easily reminded of Pavlov. He, for one, would not wake up in the stocks any time soon.

Who: Dan and Nic
Where: Down by the Lake
When: Close to Sunset

After getting the tents built, getting the shelters put up, building the fire, and escaping a burning building, Nic eventually wanted to be clean. He wanted it bad enough that he was willing to swim in the lake, just to get the smell of smoke off of him and out of his hair. He and Dan had headed down to the lakeside close to sunset, Dan's flashlight with them just in case it got dark while they were gone. With Dan standing guard, Nic didn't mind stripping down, unwilling to get his one item of clothing wet. The water lapped gently against his hips as he shivered, adjusting to the temperature. It wasn't cold, but it definitely wasn't all that warm. Dan and Izzy sat on the side, Izzy by instruction and Dan by his own free will. Nic knew Dan wanted to be clean as much as he did, probably more, but his boyfriend had sat his butt down on the shore and hadn't moved a step closer. Nic took another step into the water and it rose over his waist. One more and he'd dip himself under completely.

Dan definitely wasn't moving closer - in fact he was about as close as he was going to get to the scarily large and probably impossibly deep lake. Bottomless, he imagined. And full of things wanting to pull him under, or bite his ankles, or catch on his feet so he couldn't get back to shore. And, yes, he was jealous - he felt hideous. Dirty and sweaty and horrible. And he looked a mess - he knew he looked a mess. And stank. But that wasn't enough to get him near the lake o' death there. And so he sat on the shore and suffered - like Nic would have to suffer sleeping with a dirty, smelly boyfriend. Maybe he should offer to sleep out of the tent. Maybe he could wash off enough in the chapel sink. Or something.

Who: Andre, Ben, Bob, Dan, Nic, Sarah, and Zania
Where: Outside the Chapel
When: 6:30 am and onwards

The first thing Zania took note of was the twelve two-person tents, not nearly enough to fit everyone in the house. Even if everyone took three people per tent, she was pretty sure they would still be short. People could sleep in the chapel though, in the pews, or in her case, under them. She knew for a fact that was where she'd feel safest. But she'd signed on to build shelters, regardless of the fact that they might not be for her. Though the tents were an easy choice, there was surely some tarp in the shed, or at least down at the boat dock. She remembered seeing tarps covering the boats, protecting them. Those could be strung up to at least create shade, even if they didn't need it now, or maybe a very simple tent. "We've got our work cut out for us," she muttered to Sarah, wondering just where they should start. Maybe the tents...

who: jason and people in/around the chapel
when: about 10 minutes after the explosion
where: in the doorway of the chapel

Jason had checked on a couple of things before he'd actually headed for the chapel. He had his stupid list with him, but really, he was more concerned with checking to see if anyone had oh, gotten their ass blown up. So far, it didn't look that way, and he'd of course made sure that the most important people to him were okay. Emma, Katalina...Dave he'd seen outside tending to someone who was hurt.

Who: Dave and anyone/ everyone
Where: The Chapel
When: 4am onwards

Mood: 

Scared

Who: Janie and Gavin and open to people outside!
When: shortly after 4
Where: 3rd floor straight down to the front porch

The alarm woke Gavin up with a violent jerk. He sat up before his eyes were open and looked around wildly. At first he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Then the smell of smoke his his nostrils, sharp and acrid, and he could see that there was a very weird light pattern going on across the floor, in a fan from under the door. As he looked, the paper on the far wall cracked and peeled. Holy shi-- "Janie, up!" he near-shouted, half-tumbling out of the bed. "Fire!"

Janie had started coming awake at the alarm, but came more awake at Gavin's antics. "Wha...?" she started, though didn't get very far. Her senses picked up where her brain wasn't quite engaged yet, and she smelled the unmistakeable scent of smoke. Smoke? What? She fumbled over for her glasses, and wound up knocking them and her cards off of the nightstand onto the floor.

Mood: 

Shocked

Who: Zania, Twitch, Zhen, Nic, Dan, and Ren
Where: The Attic
When: 4amish

When the alarm went off, Twitch had been asleep. He didn't remember falling asleep, which was his actual problem. And for some reason, he had fallen asleep on the bed, which was where Zan was too, and he knew he wouldn't have done that. But alarms! Louie was crying and running around the room, agitated, and Twitch got up, rushing for the door. What the hell was going on? He opened it up, Louie dashing outside and down the hall. "Louie!!" he cried, but then he saw it. His eyes widened. Fire. There was fire coming from two of the doors up the hall.

Mood: 

Touched

Who: Nic and Dan
Where: Their room
When: after Dan leaves Sarah

Once he'd left Sarah, Dan returned to their room, running his hands through his newly shorn hair a few times, thinking his head felt lighter, different - it was weird. And he needed a shower, he was all itchy round his neck where the little bits of hair had fallen. But there as time for all of that and he was hurrying back now - he was aware that he'd been gone a lot longer than he'd lead Nic to believe that he would be. Knocking at the door, he waited for it to be answered - that was the one downside of the bar. You couldn't get into your own room.

Nic hadn't paid too much attention when Dan had left. He'd given some little excuse and Nic assumed he'd be back with in a few minutes. But the minutes had stretched on and Izzy was sitting at his feet, and Nic couldn't help but become antsy. He'd taken Izzy down for some exercise, but when he returned Dan still wasn't there. So when there came a knock on the door, he jumped from the couch, hurrying to let his boyfriend in-- or what better be his boyfriend. Again, he told himself they needed a peephole. "Hey," Nic said, smiling with relief as he opened the door, glad Dan was back and safe. "You cut your hair."

Who: Nic and Sarah
Where: Kitchen
When: Early morning

Sarah was generally a morning person. She liked getting an early start to her day, as she always felt more productive. Life in the house, however, had seemingly dimmed that a bit. She didn't want to get up, or start her day, because there wasn't much of a day to start. A part of her wanted to just stay in bed all day and forget where she was. But it was actually a beautiful day, judging from the sun shining through her windows when she opened her eyes, so she figured it wouldn't hurt to get up, get dressed and get some fresh air while she could do so in peace.

She thought for a second about turning on the camera access, but decided against it immediately and left her room to head outside. She spent close to thirty minutes sitting on the porch alone, enjoying the cool, yet comfortable weather, and working on refocusing her mind. It was just another day to get through. And then once she did, she could start worrying about getting through tomorrow, and so on and so forth. Maybe she could avoid Dan, she didn't know. She didn't necessarily want too, but she didn't know what else to do until she could get past whatever it was she was feeling. Jealousy was not a very becoming trait on anyone, and she certainly didn't want to become the poster girl for it.

When her stomach reminded her of breakfast, Sarah finally stood and headed back inside toward the kitchen. Nothing fattening today. Fruit and water. Something she could take back up to her room where she planned to hide for a little while longer.

Who: Dan and Nic
Where: Their room
When: Afternoon

Dan had returned to their room once he'd finished talking to Sarah, to find that Nic was still gone - something he couldn't decide whether he was grateful for or not. He sat down at the computer, clicking onto his messages - surprised to find a note from his boyfriend, both which made him smile and feel that little bit better. That done, he crossed to the bed and threw himself down, lying on his back, his legs draped over the edge, arms wide as he stared up at the ceiling.

When Nic returned to the room, his hands were full, and he turned around backwards, kicking his heel against the door. He held a plate full of cupcakes, and Izzy was jumping beside him, though he'd taken her out before returning to the room. He thought Dan would be back by now, though if he didn't answer the door in a minute, Nic would have to set the cupcakes down and attempt to open the door himself.

Who: Nic and Zhen
Where: Zhen's Room, then the Kitchen
When: Noon

Nic waited till noon to come knocking on Zhen's door, hoping that Zhen was getting back on a normal sleep schedule. While that would normally put her as awake, he knew there'd be time to adjust. Hopefully, if she was sleeping, cake baking and sugar would wake her up. He had a lot on his mind, too much actually, and it would be nice to talk to her while they worked. Zhen had always been wonderful in helping him sort his thoughts a bit, and right now they seemed overwhelming. He knocked on the door, Izzy waiting patiently beside him, but didn't quite try the handle, hoping it was locked.

Zhen's door wasn't ever locked. Which she understood was possibly a security risk, but as far as she could tell, people with their doors locked still got things happening to them too, so it didn't make a difference to her. That, and above all, she wanted to make sure that if anyone needed her, they could just come right in to get her. When there was a knock on her door, she went to get it, and smiled when she saw Nic. "Hey, sweetie, I--PUPPY!" she cried, immediately dropping down to her knees to reach out so the canine could sniff her hand.

Private to Dan

You've wandered over to Zhen's, giving me time to think. I know I think too much, but sometimes it might be good for me. I could be wrong.

When I was hanging from the chandelier, I was terrified and humiliated. After the first attack, I didn't think there was anything worse they could do to me and they proved me wrong. But when I was up there, I could see everything, until you entered the room. And then I could see no one else, only you.

Who: Nic and Dan
Where: Their Room
When: Just before midnight
NSFW

Nic had spent a lot of time thinking since talking to Dan that morning, wondering if he'd done the right thing or if he was just setting himself up as a hypocrite. In the real world, the outside world, things from his past wouldn't just show up on his doorstep, not like they did here. And even if nothing showed up, even if he could keep his secrets, was he lying to himself in saying that Dan didn't need to know? Nic sat by the window thinking about it, and though he'd finally come to a decision, he wasn't all that happy about it. Now it was hard to climb back in bed, his mind trying to wrap itself around what he should say, how he should say it, and was this really completely necessary. As much as he wanted to fight it, he was pretty sure the answer was yes.

Dan had fallen asleep earlier on, hardly stirring when Nic had left his side, but as he rolled over and reached for his boyfriend in sleep, the fact that he got an empty and cold space instead, woke his paranoia and catapulted him out of sleep, his eyes flying open with a slight gasp as he looked around the room, relaxing only as he saw the shadow of Nic sitting by the window. He could still hear his heart racing in his chest though and he took a moment to steady his breathing before he attempted to speak, sitting up in bed, the covers falling to his waist. "Honey?" he asked, sliding to the edge of the bed. "You okay?"

I found out this morning that Dan's been with a girl. I don't know why this bothers me as much as it does. I've been with girls. I know he's had previous lovers. But this particular girl... He left his boyfriend after sleeping with her. What does that mean? Was it out of guilt? I could understand that. But then I feel like there's something more. I know Dan. Maybe not completely, but well enough to know that he doesn't just sleep with people. He's not like I was. He told me often enough. He's the sort to want something more.