Infinityandmadness - No Mask? NO MASK!!

As she approached, he pats his hands on the box, almost in a bit of warning. But said nothing at the moment, lifting his head a little as he stood up from the box then and nodded at her words as Tali moved to go find boxes to move, “Right. Well, nothing a first aid kit can't fix. So. Hand is still attached.” He replied. Lainn lifts up one of his hands, showing the sore cuts in his palm. Then quickly turned his hand away from the woman, “But no, not hurt. Just clumsy. No need for any infirmary visits. Right?” He questioned toward Tali, who jumped off the truck with an excited agreement to Lainn as he tried to drag a box loose, still. Lainn moved to help pull the box out and nodded as the woman went on, “Yesterday. Later in the afternoon.” Setting the box down while letting Tali believe he had been carrying most of the weight, he pulled away and back to Montana, “So. How are you doing today, and all of that? Great weather today, isn't it." He clapped his hands together, not planning on making any lasting impression or anything. Since he planned on them leaving soon.

She got closer to the man and the kid and was feeling sort of awkward not knowing who they were. "Well, usually when people mention aid kits around here, its because someone has had their hand chopped off or worse." she didn't much censor herself for the kids sake, Montana had a tendency to treat everyone as if they were her peers. "You boys ain't hurt, are ya? We got an infirmary just down the road..." she looks them both over, trying to figure out what might be off but failing at that front. "A-are you....when did you guys get here?"

Following his son into the shop, he took a look around, letting Tali free roam for a bit. Crossing his arms under his chest Lainn started over toward an interesting side not sure what he would find anything of worth in the whole place.

Now that Lainn was getting a better look as he closed in on the items that had caught his interest, he was certain there was nothing of worth. Reaching out for one random item, he paused when a voice interrupted him. Glancing over at the stranger when they brought up fighting for a pair of pants. He glanced away, considering for a moment, how that would go.

Sizing them up, he grabbed the pants and ripped them away from the other's grasp, holding them up to look at them more properly, “Too slow.” As the other started to explain themself to him, he narrowed his eyes on them, tilting his head, “Okay?” Great, a pacifist who couldn't decide to be one or not. Just what Lainn figured he always needed in his life.

Lainn bites on his lips, before making a small popping noise and leaning in a little bit toward the other, “I'm also a pacifist. But sometimes, some people need punched right in the jaw. The human shut off button.” Pulling away a little, he holds the pants out for the other to try to grab if they'd wanted to, before pulling it out of reach again, “Okay. Maybe. I'm not a pacifist. I'm actually an escalator of conflict. Since we are exposing.” He turned away leafing through more of these drab clothes, muttering under his breath, “I don't think you are a pacifist, either.” Probably because he suspected that most of the town was in a violent cult.

where: second chance thrift to: open

—

being stuck in this town shaped prison put a limit on the amount of hobbies mason could half-heartedly start and stop when he got bored. but where there's a will there's a way, and he was in desperate need of some kind of distraction. ever since the storm there was a certain unease that had seeped into his skin, even more prevalent than it had been before. it was growing increasingly harder to sit still.

so he decided to go thrift shopping. there was a feeling of normalcy that came with sifting through racks of second hand clothing, even if the options were considerably slimmer than he was used to.

there was already a vague idea bouncing around in his head of how he'd DIY whatever he could salvage into something he wasn't embarrassed to be seen wearing in public. but the hunt was proving harder than he'd thought. cold and slightly shaky hands came up to rest on a hanger, his gaze raked over the item when he noticed the other person in his peripheral vision. " i'm willing to fight over these pants, " he was joking, mostly. " i'm usually a pacifist but desperate times and what not. "

Lainn listened to Tali's explaining where he put it. Then about a few other things he helped to pack into the truck. Lainn nodded and moved to look over at the back of the truck. It wasn't everything from their house back in Birdseye, as there had been one other truck one of his friends had offered to take the night before he and Tali left in their own. Lainn reached over toward one of the boxes, and started to tug on it before Tali had reached over to grab his shirt, giving it a tug at the same time Lainn had heard the stranger's voice.

Turning away from the back of the truck, Lainn looked at them and knocked his head in greeting, responding with a “Hey.” He looks her over before saying, “Yeah, we did. About, say, three PM yesterday.” He wasn't really sure, actually. Lainn wasn't sure so far how to approach the situation, at the moment. But he figured, whatever kept these people docile was going to work in his favor, “I'm Lainn. And we're good-just needing to get something out of the back.” He felt, as he said this, that he shouldn't just leave it there, he should ask her about herself, people like that, “What about you?” He faced the open truck again and pulled the box out, reading what was written on the side of it before placing it to one side.

charlie was on her way to her shift at the store when she spots a moving truck and two people she hadn't seen before. she has started to get used to not being the new face around town in the two months that she's been here, there has been a handful since she arrived. but it still didn't make it easier to know that more people were getting stuck here like she was- like they all were. since there wasn't really much of a rush to get to a store that was pretty much there for normalcy, she decides to take a detour and see if they newcomers were okay.

"hey there," she says as she rounds the truck, glancing inside for a second before looking at the man. coming in with a truck full of your things was probably about the best anyone could ask for when being stuck in this place. they were luck, all things considered. "you guys doing alright? did you just get here?"

Very Busy People - The Limousines

When the other came to stand and looked at him, Lainn directed his gaze away while listening. He watched Tali mumbling about some of the plant life he was seeing before looking back at Lucas, “Really? You encourage that?” Lainn questioned, curious. Then knocked his head toward the other, “Lainn. So, you're Sheriff of this place?” He questioned, wondering how that was established, and why. However, he was not one to go against 'order' over chaos. He very much did enjoy some chaos, too. Lainn twirled the leaf between his fingers on his right hand, “How bad's the crime rate around here?”

Lucas actually looks up to who he's talking to. He vaguely recognizes the face as someone semi-new. Seeing a child helps. Larry? Lauren?

Lucas stands. "Sorry. We just encourage people not to get too close to the woods. Sheriff Lucas Miranda."

He steps forward, offering his hand.

He glances over and smiles toward the kid playing.

bought this gem secondhand and can’t get over how stunning it is 🪐 reblog is okay, don’t repost/use

Lainn raised his eyebrows at their echoing, before squinting at the others, in a small moment of quiet. Though as the stranger continued, he is gaze shifted elsewhere as he listened quietly. That did sound very strange. Though, he supposed most coffee tasted terrible, anyway. As he never liked the stuff. Though he would never have described of the times he had tasted it, to be like a burnt tire, “Does it ever get cleaned out?” He chanced asking. Not sure this was the right person to ask. Turning his head from them, he looked about the 'station' where any coffee maker might be, spotting it easily, then giving a 'tsk' toward the look of the thing. It needed to be put out of its misery.

With a hesitating glance back to the other, he further listened to them as they moved their comments on toward him. Moving closer toward the coffee maker, he sighed a bit, begrudging of this newcomer look he was sporting in his being, at the moment. He hated being new to anything. It drew far too much attention than what he really liked, toward himself. Lainn nodded, however, “I'm not really much of a coffee drinker, to be fair.” Though he could, perhaps, help to make the coffee better, if need be. Lainn glanced at them, “Just, getting the lay of the place, I guess you might say.”

“Have you seen me around, huh.” He supposed his exploring was noticed, “I suppose you'd say that is the case. Though I don't drink coffee, I thought there might be something. Maybe tea… But hello. I'm Lainn.” He elegantly held out his hand, gesturing to Tali, “This is my son, you may call him Tali.” Lainn introduced, his eyes on the area of the coffee maker once more, “It is good to meet you Sullivan, I guess?” He grinned, “Absolute loathing might be more descriptive of what I feel toward coffee.” Turning then, he politely took the other's offering for a handshake, giving a strong, good shake before letting go after a respectable amount of time. Then he pointed at the coffee maker, “Who owns it?”

“What’s wrong with it?” Sullivan echoed, their Southern drawl curling around the words. They gestured dramatically at the mug. “You mean aside from the fact it tastes like someone boiled a burnt tire in swamp water and called it a day? Absolutely nothing. Top-notch poison.”

Their grin deepened as their gaze drifted back to Lainn, noting the way he was sizing them up—or maybe just trying to make sense of them. Sullivan let the silence hang for a moment before adding, “Let me guess—you’re not here for the coffee either, are you? No one comes here for this mess unless they’ve lost a bet or all their other bad habits dried up.”

They tilted their head slightly, as if considering something. “I’ve seen you around,” they said, gesturing lazily toward him. “Usually keeping to yourself. Guess the coffee finally broke you down, huh? Name’s Sullivan, by the way. Figured we should get that out of the way since we’re bonding over mutual disdain.” They extended a hand with a crooked grin, their tone a perfect blend of playful and sardonic. “You?”

With: Anyone Location: Near Fuel Stop Gas When: Early morning.

Opening the door to his house, he glanced around, taking stock of the area around the small little town. It wasn't too different from his own hometown. Smaller, sure. But, going by what he was told on the first day he arrived, despite his continued skepticism. He was sure if this were a normal town run by normal people, it would have been nice to spend on outdoor retreats. If you enjoyed a swampy environment. It was early. He couldn't really sleep in this strange place. Which was really interrupting his usual sleep routine. As Tali trailed behind him, he closed the door behind his son and began walking beside the other toward the more active part of the town.

Lifting his right hand up, he hissed under his breath, feeling the sting in his palm from his nails the night before. Tali looked over to Lainn and revealed what had happened, “Really? Wasn't too scary, was it?” Tali shook his head and said he had only been worried Lainn would hurt himself. Lainn turned toward the moving truck and opened up the back, “You think we packed the first aid kit near the front or the back?” Staring into the back of the truck, he frowned, not looking forward to going through items in it just to find anything like that. Not that it really mattered at all anyway, given their current situation. It couldn't all sit in there, anyway.

dark academia isn’t just for the humanities: i bring you STEM academia.

observatories. stargazing. biographies of scientists. filling the board end to end with equations. hand-drawn anatomical diagrams. the hazy euphoria after finally finishing an assignment. oppenheimer & frankenstein. the uniformity of a circuit board; the chaos of a programming window. ibm’s a boy and his atom. event horizon telescope’s black hole photo. the wonder of studying anatomy and knowing that’s happening within you. sketching organic compounds that may as well be sigils. studying latin for medical terminology. doing problem sets to classical music.