you trance yourself back from the city, blood not moving to your feet

[facilitated]

Who: Laura Hawley; Ned and Private Miles Ryan (NPC). Also, any witnesses that want to wander along by (provided they play along with the conditions)
What: To cut a long story short, Laura gets shot and Ned revives her. Yay?
When: forward dated to day 56; mid-afternoon?
Where: Town square, around where a lovely fountain used to be!
Warnings: Character death. I'm going to go ahead and repeat that again to be sure: character death (I don't know how to make that red but if I could I would PAY ATTENTION PLEASE). Laura and the NPC are dying in this log. Also guns/violence/maybe bloody stuff/probably language lets be honest. Just generally tread with caution in this one I guess?


Notes: So here it is guys, forward-dated a little to give everyone plenty of time to get in. A few notes! Don't forget, your character can/is encouraged to be around close enough to witness:

a) Laura getting shot and dying
b) Ned touching her and there being some glowy glowy business, and (arguably most important)
c) Private Cray Cray oh my god I will use his name I swear dropping dead 60 seconds later.

The rules are simple! Don't interfere with said deaths - remember, we are not interested in saving Private Ryan this time and he has a big angry gun. React to your hearts content (in the appropriate thread).

If everyone in these could keep both eyes as often as they could spare them on the main thread so that they at least know where it's going, and if one or two people want to be in charge of moving it along in a timely fashion (ie mentioning something that Private Crazypants does or shrieking loudly about Laura's blood being everywhurrr in their tag) this should work marvelously. Let's go!

Comments

THE EVENT

[facilitated]

Ned; Laura; NPC

[facilitated]

It seemed like a simple enough task. She just wants to check out the store again after all, and Ned kind of seemed like he could use a little more socialising. It's like a fun new project - her and Ned, taking on new friends one thinly veiled mission at a time. Thus, the invite had been extended, and that is what puts Laura in town at all today. She just wants to check out the store, and maybe poke some random people into making Ned a little less nervous. That's all, totally innocent.

She hovers idly near the door as she waits, dropping back against the wall and propping a foot up on the wall. She's not wearing a watch but she still looks at her wrist anyway, then just starts idly looking at the scenery around her. The church gets avoided completely - not exactly all that pleasant to think about the last time she had been there - but eyeing up the rest of the town is fun. It might be awful, being stuck here, but at least it's pretty, right?

And finally she catches sight of one Ned, delivered (pretty much) right on time. "Oh, thank God dude! I thought you were standing me up. Come on. Let's see what's left in this joint, huh?"

[nedofpies]

Ned left the house with plenty of time to spare, but had an attack of cold feet and stayed out of sight for a little while, wondering whether or not he should just get back home. He wants to help Laura with her farming project, of course, but it's not that simple. He is starting to learn that venturing outside, in this town, more often than not leads to surprises. Ned hates surprises.

Still, what could go so wrong with making a simple inventory?

Eventually this pragmatism wins out over his hesitation, and he approaches Laura where he sees her waiting. He waves hello, slouching his way over with an apologetic smile.

"Sorry I'm late."

[facilitated]

Laura has come prepared.

When Ned waves, she flashes him the brightest grin known to man and bends over to scoop up her supplies. There's two bundles of scrap paper fashioned into the most...let's say rustic notebook she's seen in a while, pretty much just paper and twine, but she's also scrounged a couple of pencils from around the house too. No clipboard, but this whole thing had kind of been spur of the moment, and she's hardly wonder woman now, is she.

"I guess I can forgive you this time," she heaves a sigh as she says it, rolling her eyes before quickly walking over to cross the gap between them. It's obvious that she's pretty pleased with herself when she presents the paper and pencil, and she flashes another, more subdued smile as she gestures to the store. "Here look, I brought things. List making things! Sounds like a super fun afternoon activity, right? Must be a Sunday, I can feel it. Don't you think? Sunday activity for sure."

And after that ramble she takes a deep breath, laughs lightly and nods her head in the right direction. "Come on, we've got to make up for so much lost time here dude."

So much. Like, five whole minutes.

[nedofpies]

"Must be," Ned agrees, more than willing to be swept along on the current of her enthusiastic good mood. It takes something special, to be resolutely cheerful despite the circumstances. He isn't capable of conjuring it up in himself, but he is grateful to see it in others. When she indicates the direction and begins to walk in it he follows after her, thinking that today might actually be enjoyable. He'd always volunteered to help with the inventory and stocking of supplies when he'd been at pastry school, and this can't be so different, can it? Just replace fruit and food processors and whisks with seeds and spades and watering cans.

"Thank you for getting all this started," he says, rubbing a hand along the back of his neck. One of the benefits of owning his own shop was that he didn't need to work with other people. He'd never really been one for leadership. He was perfectly capable of maintaining discipline over himself, but delegating? Not really his strong suit. "I can do more than just make lists, too. When it's time to start planting I can dig and... water and whatever else needs done." Ned might have been weak and scrawny as a child, but he's filled out well enough, and knows he's capable of manual labor. He's carried plenty of apple crates in his day.

REACTIONS

[facilitated]

[servingmichael]

Raphael hadn't meant to over see anything - hadn't meant to be in any one place in particular. But he'd been down the street and heard a gun cock. He'd flown to see what was going on, to see if those he knew were involved. For once, he mutes his thunderclap as he lands, sounding only the rustle of wings as he watches the blood spread over the girl's chest.

He could heal her. He doesn't. It's not out of malice, simply he sees no reason to - let her die and be at peace.

And then the boy nearly drops her, the sound of static hit his ears, and he watches the glow - and something else.

The girl is breathing again, and the boy just resurrected her. At this point, Raphael is staying, because he's curious.

[anniethedayplanner]

Annie was crossing the square on the way to the library - her home away from Greendale - when she'd heard the gunshot. Her head had turned in it's direction because of the novelty of the sound, not because of the fact that she had actually recognized it for what it was.

She froze at the sight of Laura collapsing, blood rapidly staining the front of her shirt. She'd always prided herself on the ability to react in an emergency, but shock kept her standing there for a few seconds more as she watched the gunman point the gun at the other man, then her paintball instincts took over and screamed for her to find cover.

She moved quickly, ducking behind the corner of a building and feeling her heart beating a hundred miles a minute as she tried to work out what to do next. She needed to run. She needed to get as far away from the gunman as possible, but a sick curiosity settled in her stomach and made her peek around the corner of the building when she didn't hear another gunshot. She watched as Laura's friend struggled to pick her up, feeling a lump forming in her throat. She hadn't known Laura well, but she was one of the people who had gone out of their way to make her feel normal since getting there.

Laura seemed to be sliding out of the man's grasp and as he adjusted her, Annie thought she saw a small flash. It happened so quickly that she couldn't be sure later, but it didn't really matter because two seconds later Laura was screaming and so was Annie.

POST RESURRECTION

[facilitated]

[facilitated]

I'll get to this once the main thread is done but here's a place holder for now

[facilitated]

Freaking out doesn't begin to cover what Laura is feeling right now. She's trying so hard to stay calm, but no matter what she does her hands just won't stop shaking. Her eyes dart towards Ned - she should say something, thank you, or maybe 'what the fuck', but certainly something at least. She can't quite manage it though, and she just stands there in silence with a bloody shirt and shaking hands until she sees Jet.

She doesn't do anything for a moment or two, just watches him quietly, then starts to walk over. About halfway through crossing the distance between them she bites down hard on her lower lip, and it's clear her restrain is slipping. She just about has enough time to get to him and throw her arms around his waist before a muffled sob escapes. She can't say anything, not yet, so she just presses her face into his chest and breathes heavily, trying to get herself under control. Shoulders shaking, she sniffs and holds him tighter. By now she's shaking all over, and at this point it would take some serious muscle to prise her away from him.

[retrograding]

It's alright. Jet's not exactly all there himself. It isn't as if he's never seen people die - he has, in much gorier and gruesome detail, but maybe it's the simplicity that throws him so badly. There's more to it, but he doesn't let himself think much about it. He doesn't have time to. Because she's up, walking to him, and he doesn't really understand how she's doing it, when she was shot, right there.

Jet doesn't have to think twice, though, because she's there and she's holding on, she's shaking so hard she feels like she's going to come apart if he doesn't stop it. Jet has no intention of letting anybody pry her away from him. He immediately wraps his arms around her, covers her and keeps her safe, rests his hand on the back of her head and murmurs to her. "Shh, shh. It's okay, mija, you're okay. Shhh..."

[facilitated]

"Did- Jet...I just died. Oh y god, I just died. He shot me and I died and now I'm back and I don't know how-"

It all kind of comes out in one big rush, one minute she's silent and the next she's babbling, just repeating 'I just died' as though saying it more than once is going to help her process it better somehow. Weird things happen in this town, she knows that, but nothing could have prepared her adequately for that. She knows she didn't just pass out, knows that the blood on her chest isn't a serious injury - it's a fatal wound. She'd died, and now she's back and that thought is absolutely terrifying.

Laura pulls away, just a fraction. Enough to tip her head back and look at him, and it's clear how much she's struggling with this. There's blood on Jet's shirt now to match hers, and even as she struggles with holding back another sob she touches the patch lightly, frowning and letting out a shaky breath.

"I- there's, I'm sorry. I got-" My blood is a little too hard to get out right now, so she just swallows. "I'm sorry."

Placeholder for responses directed at Ned

[nedofpies]

Re: Placeholder for responses directed at Ned

[venatical]

Dean's really doing a piss-poor job of "hiding from Crowley," like marking all his network things as private is going to do that much good when he's out walking around like, every day. He can't stay cooped up in the house though or he gets antsy, especially when he feels like he should be doing something. If he can't bust them out of here, then at least he can help fix the place up, can help supply the food. He's been out scrounging up some building materials, gathering up tools so he can set up a sort of go-to area for supplies for the rest of the team.

He's not very close to Ned and Laura; in fact, he's headed away from the town square, but at the sound of the gunshots, he whirls around and locates the trouble area, but he takes long enough that Laura's already on the ground. He puts down the toolbox he's carrying so he can pull his gun out, holding it up as he jogs forward, and he tries to decide if he should yell at the guy, or if being spooked would make him shoot the hostage.

Before he has time to decide, and once he's closer to the three of them, Laura's already up and talking again, and Dean lowers the gun, his eyes wide as he finishes watching the scene play out, paying close attention to the three of them. Laura seems like a ditz, the guy with the gun seems completely unhinged but in the normal human way if he's using a gun. And in the end, it's pretty obvious he's 100% mortal. So it's Ned who has Dean's attention at the end of the day, not the psycho wielding a gun.

He's still holding his gun as he approaches him, and he rubs the back of his hand over his mouth before he meets Ned's eye.

"So what's with the magic finger? Huh? What was that?"

[nedofpies]

Oh, good. Another gruff, intense-looking man with a gun. Because that's bound to help Ned calm down.

He expected this, of course. Dean's suspicious questions aren't a surprise, because Ned has played out variations upon this scenario a million times in his head. Still, that doesn't mean he knows what to say. How can he even begin to articulate an answer? He's spent his entire life constantly aware of his power but never, ever speaking about it. How is he supposed to just explain something so fundamental to his life, to a complete stranger, at the drop of a hat?

A complete stranger with a gun, no less.

Thinking that he'd really rather not have this man, too, start waving a gun in his face, Ned manages to choke out: "It was an accident." It's not the explanation that Dean so obviously wants, but it's the best he can do at first. He isn't looking so hot: pale-faced and shaking, with Laura's blood still on his shirt and one hand pressed to his chest.

[venatical]

Dean's not putting his gun away until he knows what he's dealing with. And okay, granted, if Ned's all that special, his gun probably won't help him any, but he's not going to pull out his demon knife either until he knows what's up. Ned's "oh my" act isn't swaying Dean's opinion any yet. He needs to see more to be sure if he's faking it or not, and he needs to figure out what manner of beast he's working with here before he can pull out any sympathy cards.

He keeps his gun at his side, though, pointed at the ground and held seemingly loosely, even though he can have it up and firing in a few seconds.

"Oh, I'm sure it was. You want to explain how that accident even came to happen accidentally in the first place?"

[servingmichael]

He's going to watch, just watching for Ned to be alone, then he'll step up. But he's there, and glowering at those he can just banish away.

[nedofpies]

When he finally gets a moment to himself Ned feels, quite frankly, shell-shocked after everything that's happened. He sighs, and it's as if he's been hold his breath for hours. He can't believe he's gotten through this with... well, with minimal damage, really. Sure, his secret's out and he doesn't doubt that everyone in the town will know what happened within a matter of hours. But Laura is alive again. The man who killed her is dead. More than that, no one has killed Ned yet, or thrown him in a cell. That's more than he'd dared to hope for.

[servingmichael]

Raphael gives Ned a moment to just breathe before stepping forward. "Hello Ned." Raphael is one of the shorter, less built of the archangels, at least in this vessel, just at six feet and slim, and the suit gives him an authoritative if bureaucrat look. "You should probably sit down and breathe."

[nevermindtherunning]

The Doctor heard the shots and took off running, but somehow miscalculated where he needed to be, and he missed everything up until the end where he caught the resurrection.

What... was that? The glow from the tall bloke's hand or.. something, and then she was back to life. He sees the other man fall to the ground and all hell seemed to have broken loose.

The Doctor lies low for a while, hiding in the dark, watching and observing, running numerous hypotheses in his mind as to Ned's ability. Finally, when things seemed to have calmed down, he makes his presence known. "Impressive!" He comments, as he strolls up, hands tucked away in his pockets, "Tell me, what exactly was that back there?" He hadn't seen anything like that since, well, the Time Lords. He knew there were people with other abilities here, but he hadn't seen anything like that. Not yet at least.

[nedofpies]

Exposing his power in public is, apparently, a great way to meet new people. Now if only it weren't completely traumatic at the same time, Ned might be able to make a good first impression with those new people. As it is, he's a few steps away from coming completely unraveled.

He watches the Doctor's casual approach with trepidation, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. It is a point in the Doctor's favor that he doesn't come bearing a gun, unlike... a lot of others, today. Still, Ned is leery. It's clear from his curious question that he saw everything that happened, and that he wants to know more. The question is, if Ned doesn't tell him more, what methods might he resort to to get that information? Ned's paranoia, barely held in check on the best of days, is right running rampant after everything that's happened. A simple trip to meet Laura and do an inventory had resulted in him being terrorized and exposed as the freak that he was. Who knows what this simple inquiry might lead to?

"If you say so," he answers, softly. It's clear from his tone of voice that he doesn't agree. It's been a long time since he's been able to think anything good at all about his power.

There's no point in lying about what happened, now. Too many people saw, too many people have already heard him explain. That doesn't change the fact that guarding information is a reflex for him at this point: automatic and involuntary. "I don't know, what did it look like to you?" It's just possible this man didn't see everything, in which case Ned wants to keep him as in the dark as possible for as long as possible.

[nevermindtherunning]

Mirroring Ned, the Doctor rubs the back of his head, "Well, regeneration energy to my eyes." He bends forward, almost scrutinizing Ned, "But you're not at Time Lord, so I'm rather curious."

For a split second, the Doctor really had thought Ned might have been from Gallifrey, but the closer he got, the more he was able to tell that was wishful thinking on his part. "But," He runs his tongue along the front of his teeth, "It seems you absorbed energy from that nutter over there." He nods to the body of the shooter.

[facilitated]

She waits. It's after they've both calmed down as much as can be expected, and that's probably a blessing for both of them. Laura's still got stains on her cheeks to betray just how not calm she'd been earlier, and she's doing a poor job of hiding the large, dark stain still on her chest with folded arms, but when she's managed to get the shaking down to a bare minimum, she seeks Ned out.

So maybe she's not quite done shaking, because when she sees him things kind of get a little more difficult again, and she has to swallow hard to fight away the lump in her throat. She's fine though, she's got this. Laura's all about being perceived as tougher than she really is, and this is no expection. Sure she just died. No big deal, okay? Whatever, it's not like these things matter.

"Ned?"

...Goddamnit, her voice shakes. She takes a deep breath, stepping in a little closer, and squeezes her eyes shut for a moment before continuing. "Uh, do you have a minute?"

[nedofpies]

It's not that Ned's been avoiding Laura, exactly. It's just that he was busy being interrogated by everyone and sundry. Sure, he could have made the opportunity to go over and check that she is, if not okay, at least some approximation thereof, but he didn't. He really isn't looking forward to having the conversation he knows he'll need to have with her.

For all that Ned's known about his powers for many years, he doesn't have any sort of script to follow for this situation. He isn't sure he's going to be able to keep it together. Not when Laura looks so wrecked, so frightened when she approaches him. Ned tries to tell himself that she's only trembling because she was murdered a little while ago - that no part of her terror and confusion is directed at him and his part in bringing her back. But it rings hollow and false, even in his own mind. Why wouldn't she be frightened of him? She has every right to be.

"Sure," he agrees quietly, crossing his arms in an unconscious mimic of her. He can't bring himself to look her in the eye for more than a second or so, settles on staring at their feet instead. "You, uh," he clears his throat, "you've probably got a lot of questions?"