Keep Calm, It's March Madness!

[sunborne]

Who: Daylight & Noelle & Various.
When: March 1 - 15.
Where: Multiple locations throughout Santa Rosita.
What: The first two weeks for Daylight vis Lornlit and Noelle Rosas. Multiple prompts - limited and open - can be found in the comments below or by clicking the navigation ahead.
Warnings: Possible descriptions of Living Island events. Will update as necessary.

DAYLIGHT VIS LORNLIT, PROMPTS.
🔥 LOOMIS DRIVE 101, MARCH 1 -5.
In which it's the aftermath of the Living Island events.

🔥 BLUE MOON DINER, MARCH 6 - 7.
In which Daylight learns about his new diet plan the hard way.

🔥 AROUND SANTA ROSITA, MARCH 8 - 15.
In which there's something important Daylight's got to share.

🔥 CLOSED PROMPTS.
Pre-arranged activities between Daylight and fellow characters.

NOELLE ROSAS, PROMPTS.
🌹 BLUE MOON DINER, PART I, MARCH 6 - 7.
It's just Noelle cursing up a storm and losing her mind.

🌹 BLUE MOON DINER, PART II, POST-BLUE MOON DINER, PART I.
After going apeshit, just a bit, Noelle - er, Blossom - gets back to work.

🌹 FREDRICK LOREN HIGH, MARCH 8 - 15.
'Blossom' has to tell someone something.

🌹 CLOSED PROMPTS.
Pre-arranged activities between Noelle and fellow characters.

NOTES.
- Using prose for setup but will match my thread partner's preferred style.
- If you want a closed/tailored prompt, feel free to message me or reach out via Plurk on prognostic.

Comments

[fanoperator]

Huaisang's friendly and inoffensive smile only brightens at the urgency in Daylight's voice, and he gladly shows his friend inside, as though this is only the most pleasant of social calls. It isn't until they're safely inside that his cheery veneer turns to concern. "Daylight? What's going on?"

His fingers itch with worry, wanting to reach out and touch in order to soothe either Daylight or himself, and he has to chew on his lower lip to keep himself from offering tea or alcohol. Those offers can happen later. Daylight seems urgent and worried and Huaisang doesn't want to hold him up if he needs to leave in a hurry.

[sunborne]

Daylight, thankful to have such a good friend like Huaisang for times like these, gets straight to the point:

"They're hiding mail at the post office. When I mean they're hiding it, they are hiding it. There were piles of the stuff. I think they have multiple dead letter offices, too, with how they just keep" He stops himself here, realising how fast he's talking.

He takes a deep breath, calming himself from the rush of excitement of discovering this turn of events. He does his best to keep himself from saying it all in one rushed breath, knowing context is important. "Do you have something known as a dead letter office where you're from? A place where mail that can't be forwarded or returned to goes?"

[fanoperator]

Huaisang blinks cluelessly up at him, having no idea what he's talking about. Unfortunately in this case, things are very, very different where he comes from, and there is no centralized communication like the post office. He just shakes his head helplessly. "What's a post office?"

If he's received any mail, he hasn't yet checked it. That weird box on the edge of his yard? That belongs to the city, right?

[sunborne]

Oh.

Okay then.

They gotta add a bit more context to this. Only a little bit, Daylight tells himself before he tries his best to explain: "It's a building where all the packages and letters first go before it can be received by the person it’s addressed to.” He pauses, trying to figure out. “It doesn’t got directly to them. It needs to be picked up by someone who’s allowed to take it, take to it where it will be processed and then given to someone else who will take it to the person. It’s this thing we do.”

For some reason. Don’t ask him why they have to make it so complicated when you need a guy and his trusty bike.

Hey wait get back to the topic, Daylight!

“—But that's not the case here,“ Daylight continues, “Any time a letter is put into a mailbox, whether it’s for out of town or in the town, it goes to the dead-end room where it’ll never leave. The entire staff seems to be in on it. Nothing goes out and attempts at communication is stifled here.”

Besides Daylight’s work as a courier. Is that why they took him in...? “Have you ever tried to send a letter here? Or get a package from someone? Outside of bills and stuff like that?”

[fanoperator]

Some more blinking as Huaisang attempts to take all this in and assign meaning to it. He understands missives and messengers, at least, though the idea of centralizing such a process is completely alien to him. As much as he likes bureaucracy, that is an entirely new level of it.

"Bills?" He echoes weakly, wondering what that even means. He shakes his head quickly. That's not what matters. What he wants to know is--"Does anything come in? From outside? Or is it just... nothing comes in, nothing goes out, and what even are we eating if the food isn't restocked from anywhere?"

That explains the popularity of canned and unnatural foods, really.

[sunborne]

... He had never thought of that, actually. That majority of the food they have in town is the canned, stocked food. It would explain the town’s damn obsession with jello.

It makes his new diet more finicky than ever but that’s a bridge they’ll cross when they have to cross it. Right now, Huaisang has a good question that Daylight needs to answer: “From my understanding? Maybe nothing comes in? I haven’t seen any packages or mails from outside but there were so many items in the dead room… I wasn’t sure what was from here or what was from outside.”

He sighs, crossing his arms. “Believe me— I was tempted to grab some stuff and see what was being held back but it’s not possible.” He quickly explains why: Too many of the locals work there, the distant, creepy ones who watch you like a hawk. How one of them was the postmaster general, meaning this was all on purpose. “Honestly? I’m surprised I was allowed to be part of the group at all. It’s... unnvering how deep this goes, I won’t lie.”

[fanoperator]

"I'd be surprised if anything came in," Huaisang agrees. "This place doesn't seem real, anyway. We're isolated, wherever we are. It's surprising they don't even exchange letters within the town, but it makes sense that this place wants to stifle communication. The more we talk and share and investigate, the better we'll all be."

Drawing Daylight further inside, Huaisang puts on the kettle for tea and pours a couple of glasses of gin in the meantime. "Alcohol," he says, pushing the glass toward Daylight. "It can help with shock."

He absolutely feels the shock himself. As much as Daylight is human, perhaps he has human responses to these things. "You have to pretend you are part of the group. Pretend you don't see anything wrong. Get back as soon as you can, if you're supposed to be there now."

[sunborne]

Daylight makes an apologetic expression towards Huaisang as he picks up the glass and nurses it in his hand but doesn’t make a move to drink it. He’ll explain his, er, new diet later when the timing is more appropriate for such a conversation.

Right now, his mind is more focused on the fact they discovered a new way the town is under a stranglehold of the Powers That Be. It threatens to give him a migraine if not for the very advice that Huaisang gives, a balm to the throbbing pain he feels building in his head. “—That’s really good advice,” he manages to say, smiling at his friend. “I definitely gotta butter the up the crew if I want to be able to go in there with more confidence. If I’m lucky enough, maybe I can grab a letter or package. See what’s in them.”

“... Now that we’re talking about this sort of thing, there is something else I wanted to let you know.” He grins, trying to project more confidence than he really feels. “Since I feel like you would be a big help if you’re up for this harebrained scheme of mine.”

[fanoperator]

"I don't know if it's a good idea to try to steal something." Huaisang is glad to knock back his own glass of liquor. He feels like he needs it to deal with this place. "I don't think the letters and packages will be anything of value. They're just... proof that this place is a closed bubble. Nothing in, nothing out."

Nodding agreement even though he doesn't know what it is, Huaisang studies Daylight. He's come to really value Daylight's friendship and help. Whatever it is that his friend needs from him, he's eager to do his best. "Of course. What is it?"

[sunborne]

Give Daylight a second as he ruffles through his jacket, trying to find something he knows he did carry with him— Ha! Here it is!

He pulls out a crumpled piece of paper and smooths it out, presenting it to Huaisang’s inspection. Inspecting it quickly reveals it’s a list of names of the locals of this town and their thoughts on the following questions:

Feelings on South Santa Rosita?

Open to the idea of going there for an event?

What things do you look forward to, holiday- or party-wise?

If there are plans for you, would you be interested in helping?

And so on, along that train of thought. “I spoke with the Head of HHA after you and she, um, kind of gave me a way in with her.” He goes on to explain that Rosemary would be interested to see if South Santa Rosita could be a viable place to hold events and parties, given the space, after Daylight brought it up. “I more or less volunteered to spearhead this possible project because we can get on the HHA’s good side and distract them for others to do what they want back in town.”

... Whatever that maybe. It’s clear by the scribbles and crossouts on the list that this is very much a work-in-progress.

[fanoperator]

Huaisang looks over the paper with interest, tapping at his chin in thought as he processes the information. "I think distractions are a great idea, but there are a lot of risks even so. Not all of the smiling puppet-people are members of the HHA, and those who aren't might be all the more alert to those of us who aren't in attendance at any distraction project. But, I am fantastic at party planning. I could absolutely plan a phenomenal party and keep the townsfolk distracted while one or more other groups carry out important missions."

Filling a tea pot with leaves and freshly boiled water, Huaisang settles at the kitchen table, resting chin in hands as he considers the notes Daylight has gathered. "What do you think are our priorities once we have a distraction like that?"

[sunborne]

He smiles in gratitude at Huaisang being so willing to help him, from cautioning him of the pitfalls of the plan and still willing to give a hand, all the same. Especially in a place that he's going to need a lot of help in: Party planning isn't Daylight's repertoire at all - that was Dialup's thing, being the face of their fireteam. - so this is a big boon for him. Thanks, buddy.

Hmm.... Daylight rubs the back of his head in thought at the question, stewing over it.

When all is said and done there is an answer that immediately comes to mind, in Daylight's opinion: "Gain access to places that would normally be busy. Town Hall is the one that comes to mind." And with this new revelation he now knows: "The post office, as well. To see if we can grab stuff from the dead rooms or glean any clues from them." What the dates are on the packages. What names are addressed or from. If any names on the packages for in-town are no longer around or keep coming up...

"There's also that tunnel and seeing where it goes or what's in it but... That's pretty risky, even for this venture." With how it's in South Santa Rosita, where the event in question will be held.

[fanoperator]

"Town Hall is a good idea. Power and records. I don't think you should take any risks with the post office. Better to be patient and quiet and see what falls into your hands there." Huaisang nods, thinking all this over. His brow furrows almost comically as he thinks through their information.

"I agree about the tunnel. I'd hoped to do something there with my friend Wuxian, but he... he vanished only a few days after we returned from the bunker." Pain, fear, and exhaustion all swiftly flicker across Huaisang's face, but he pushes all that away. He has plenty of experience with burying his pain. "The... what was I saying? The Mayor's house also seems like an important target. If we can ensure he's at the party, or next time there's a big cultural event where he should appear... that Founders Day thing they've mentioned. He'll be at that. And we can break into his house while he's busy."