03.2023 | WELCOME BACK! Hello friends old and new! I'm so excited to welcome you all back to SITW! I've made some changes to the plot and added the ability to play supernatural charcaters! So come and check it out! I can't wait to jump back into this little town with all of you!
A strange history surrounds the town, it is a place where mysterious and supernatural things have been known to happen. The reputation of the town reguarly draws in visitors and newcomers alike. While some residents avidly believe in the supernatural, others are far more skeptical. What do you believe?
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Dec 16, 2023 1:43:15 GMT
Her point on hunting made more sense than she thought it did. "Does sound more fair than using a gun," he noted. Ferris certainly understood the rush of adrenaline that stalking and then chasing down prey entailed. "You take your steak raw, I take it?" He guessed, though from her ordering that burger, it wasn't too hard to pick up on. Ordering everything even just 'rare' in public though was a bit...unsettling to do. Medium rare was a bit more normal.
Ferris shrugged and made a sound of doubt in his throat. He wasn't so sure pettiness had a place anywhere, but he also wasn't about to take the moral high road when he knew he was no saint. It had got him where he was and for the most part, he was glad of that. "Good enough place as any," he said simply. He hadn't seen much active duty, so he wasn't sure he had made much impact saving any lives. Now was a lot different. "Being a firefighter just...fit." It helped that his then girlfriend was a nurse and had opened the field of being a first responder to him. "Not really sure what else I would be doing." Not without a degree anyway.
He shined his light over the faintly used game trail, peering down it in the dark dubiously. "You don't happen to have night vision while human, eh? Cause I don't." He got the feeling Darcy was a lot more thrilled about stumbling around in the dark with him than he was with her. Well, okay, a different kind of stumbling maybe.
“Depending on the type of bullet used and how good of a shot the hunter is, it can impact the way the meat tastes.” She admitted with a slight shrug, knowing that she personally preferred to take down her own prey as well. It was just the way her mind was wired, she wasn’t shy or embarrassed about her ability to take down prey to feed herself and her pack. “Medium rare, is perfect to me. It’s like bread; sliced bread is good, but toast is superior.” Darcy said with a tone of absolute certainty.
“Well, I think it suites you. You seem to enjoy it, at least from what I gather.” Not only that, but he had a little work family that held him in high regard, and that didn’t happen unless you were well suited to the job and position. She raised a brow as he seemed uncertain of the trail.
“Ive got decent eyesight, but nothing near night vision, not in my human form.” She admitted with a light shrug and paused. “I mean, we’re only about fifteen-ish minutes out if we keep going at this pace. I can hold your hand if you’re scared.” She teased, stepping back toward him and giving his side a playful poke.
“Based off what I’m smelling… there’s a handful of rabbits near by, a few raccoons scattered about and a little further off there are some deer…” She paused to inhale, smiling a little at the mixture of scents. “Three, a doe and two fawns… remember; I’m the scariest thing out here tonight.”
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Dec 16, 2023 4:05:58 GMT
Ferris raised an eyebrow as she talked about the shot affecting the taste. He'd figured there was a difference between say, something hit with buckshot and a single shot clean kill, but he supposed he'd never been that discerning. Nor did he eat his catch then and there. "I'll take your word for it and stick to medium rare myself," he said.
He smiled slightly. He did enjoy it. Sometimes he still wondered if he was doing this whole 'life' thing right, but even on his bad days, he didn't know where else he would be. He may not have come to terms with everything in his life, but when it came to his work, that consistency had saved his life more than once, even if that seemed a little backwards. Sweetwater and the fire station were home more than anywhere else.
The fire chief grunted as she poked him. "I'm not scared," he objected, stepping out along the trail without her to prove that point. He did keep an eye on the ground a bit more on the game trail, not wanting to face place and embarrass himself. Not that she didn't already have enough ammunition to give him shit with, tripping in his own apartment. Ferris looked over his shoulder at her as she listed off everything she could smell. "Show off," he teasingly grumbled. "Two fawns is pretty rare, yeah? What do deer smell like to you? Besides- fuck." He cut off as he did nearly trip, catching himself on a nearby tree trunk. He turned his attention and flashlight back to the ground in front of him and kept moving. "Besides food?"
“I don’t blame you, it’s definitely different.” Darcy shared with a half smile, honestly finding it vastly entertaining to be able to talk about this topic outside of her pack. She watched Ferris for a moment, then chuckled as he stepped out ahead of her on the trail.
“I mean, if you got it; flaunt it.” She added with a grin as she continued on the path not too far behind him. “Honestly, a lot like the forest. But then there’s a really enticing mixture of warm fur, sometimes a bit gamey, and always a bit musky. More sharp during their breeding season though.” She couldn’t contain her amusement when he stumbled a little, glad he was able to catch himself on tree trunk.
“Careful now, if hurt an ankle I’ll have to carry you to safety.” Darcy teased with a grin, directing her flashlight to the path so she didn’t trip over anything herself.
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Dec 16, 2023 18:34:35 GMT
Ferris wasn't so sure this was something she wanted to talk about, but Darcy was at least a good sport about humorist him. He supposed she had been the one to make this sort of conversation acceptable between them. She had revealed herself to him and owned it, after all.
He smirked and shook his head at Darcy. She sure was something impressive. "Yeah, the smell of fur always makes me hungry too," he said in his standard seriousness that might have also been dry humor. It was amazing everything that she could smell. He imagined it was difficult to keep a secret from a werewolf. Though from the sound of it, there wasn't much reason to in her pack. Not that families always agreed, but they seemed to work out things pretty openly. Ferris had a feeling that was part of why Darcy was so...not aggressive in a physical sense, but certainly confrontational when it came to conversation. But he was glad for it. Being able to talk like they had the other evening had helped a lot.
"I'll be fine," he asserted. At least as long as he paid more attention to navigating in the dark. As they approached the tower, there was a sort of peacefulness out here he could appreciate. From the stars above to the eerie calm of the empty forest. The beginning of winter made everything a bit drab and monotone in color and sound, probably making it a lot easier for his werewolf companion to sense animals around them. He recalled suddenly what she told him he smelled like, as he imagined that was half of what she could scent right now. He really needed to stop smoking.
”I said enticing, not hungry… there’s a sort of comfort in the scent of their warmed fur. Almost as if sunshine could be held captive and given a more specific scent.” She might not be making much sense, but she didn’t quite know how else to explain it. It was a scent that many woodland creatures were commonly known to share.
She watched him continue on and did the same, only making slight alterations to her steps along the path so as to not trip over her own feet. But soon enough the tower was in sight and she smiled a little. “Okay, works for me.” There was a playfulness to her tone that suggested she was in a pleasant mood. And she truly was. There was sort of sense of peace surrounding this night that their last hike didn’t have. Granted, running into a bear wasn’t the original plan, but they’d made the most of that entire situation.
She clicked the flashlight off and quickened her pace to a slight jog toward the stairs at the base of the tower that stretched out toward the top where any further view was obscured by the base of the floors. Darcy didn’t need the flashlight to find her way to the metal stairs. “Did you know that some fire lookout towers are rented out in the summer months for as low as $40 a night?” Of course, that was in places where the towers weren’t used as often and staffed. This older tower was still in use, though typically by volunteers.
Darcy turned to look at Ferris with a raised brow. “I’ve just gotta make sure the radios are functional and the emergency pack is stocked, you’re more than welcome to come on up and enjoy the view.” And with that, she turned back to the stairs and made her way up.
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Dec 17, 2023 16:22:51 GMT
The corner of his mouth turned up at her desire for distinction. She was right, but he had put it that way on purpose, to mess with her rather than be right. Her further words, while they made sense, only led him to double down. "Not sure where you equate 'fur' to 'sunshine'...but you're the one with the better sense of smell," he said, a playful diss in her direction accompanied by a shrug.
Ferris walked to the steps, flashlight on, though he did follow Darcy with it. Partly out of habit to help Darcy see, partly to watch her go up the stairs. "That sounds only slightly above camping," he said, the words delivered flatly. He wasn't sure if she would notice. He paused at the base of the stairs to look up, but he supposed a workout would be good for him and stair drills were common enough in his profession. He started up the stairs. "Long as it's warm up there," he noted. Though he did suspect the view would be worth it.
“What part about ’warm’ fur are you missing?” Her tone suggesting the confusion that was evident on her face. “I know that’s not just something werewolves can smell, even some of the other rangers, human ones, and I talk about the differences in…” She trailed off, she turned to look at him and narrowed her eyes a little, unable to fight the red touch to her cheeks. “And you’re being facetious.” Darcy shook her head, feeling a bit silly for not having picked up on his teasing until now.
She paused her steps up to glance over the railing in his direction. She didn’t know if he meant that literally, or as a joke and after the previous teasing she still felt a little bashful. So she simply shook her head a little. “We’re going to have to work on your delivery and tones for the jokes.” she gave a playful wink, but continued up the steps with practiced ease.
“Should be a touch warmer. The metal still cooling off from being in the sun all day. It’s not been dark long enough for it to be too cold.” Darcy called down to him as she continued her way up and smiled, not bothered by the physical activity or the sting of the cooler air in her lungs as she inhaled deeply. She reached the top after a few moments and walked along the little railed deck around the lookout, sighing contentedly at the view. The only light visible was a security light inside the lookout. Aside from that; it was the night sky, moon light and stars.
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Dec 17, 2023 17:21:47 GMT
Ferris turned off and stowed his flashlight as he began climbing. The moon and stars offered enough light that he wasn't entirely blind, and he had enough spatial awareness of the height of each step to not trip. He'd heard her words, he had just chosen to ignore it. Though factoring 'warm' into the equation didn't make it much better for him. Warm fur made him think of heat and fire and burning. "And you're using big words to make me feel stupid," he traded back. He knew what facetious meant. Sort of. Okay, maybe not, but he also wasn't really upset with her for calling him out on whatever it was. "I have...a very different connotation of 'warm' mixed with a...a flammable substance." He attempted to explain. Though he had that understanding from before his current career path.
He grimaced. Sometimes he was a bit more monotone than the situation warranted but not all the time. Though Darcy wasn't the first to call him out on something like that. With Cisco, it was his ability to pick up on jokes, with Darcy it was his ability to deliver them. "I never said I was good at humor," he pointed out with a backhanded compliment. Clearly, she was just better at picking up on things he said. Maybe not the pun, but that was alright. The appropriate reaction to something like that was to slap him, after all and he was okay with avoiding that.
The firefighter reached the top a minute later, panting slightly. Why did he do this to himself? More importantly, why did he let Darcy do this to him? He leaned on the railing next to her, looking down for a moment at the vast number of flights of stairs they had just completed. Thankfully nothing in town was this tall. He pulled the beanie off and wiped a hand through his hair and the sweat from his forehead before tugging it back on. "Guess I'm not working out tomorrow, eh?" he panted, glancing over at Darcy and then following her gaze up to the sky. "Okay, the view's worth it," he said softly, getting his breath back.
“Hey, I would never try to make you feel stupid.” She said with a slight roll of her eyes, leaning against the railing as she continued. “I simply meant that the way a deer, or really; any animal’s coat smells after being in the sun for a lengthy amount of time. There’s a sort of… fuck, I don’t know how to explain it really. And now I feel like I’m just rambling.” Darcy ran a hand through her mess of curls, shrugging in mild exasperation.
She didn’t have to turn to look at him to know he’d made it to the top, his scent was much stronger from his activity, heat passing through her chest as she tried not to hyper fixate on just how good he smelled to her. “I mean, whether you want to workout further or not is your call, but I think you’re good.” She said with a soft smile, only momentarily glancing at him before looking back up.
“When it’s not too cold, it’s actually pretty great to stay out here.” Her tone was softer, eyes happily taking in the sight above.
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Dec 17, 2023 19:18:00 GMT
Thankfully, Ferris rather liked when Darcy talked. Listening to the sound of her voice was enjoyable enough even when he wasn't so in tune with what she was talking about. Like in this instance. But it was still interesting to hear her vastly different perception and perspective of the world. He simply pat her on the shoulder amicably when he reached the top and she was still stuck on that conversation. She didn't need to explain, nor was there a need to wrap up the moment neatly between them. They'd probably come back to the discussion of how things smelled many times over.
He shivered slightly, at once too hot and too cold. But he was enjoying the moment next to Darcy, looking up at the stars. The blanket of the Milkyway unfurled above them was breathtaking. Space had always disconcerted him a bit. The vastness of it, of all the galaxies and solar systems that each star represented in just a pin prick of light was daunting. It made him feel even smaller than he did on a normal day. People like Elrond earned a lot of respect.
And then he looked down over the railing again and couldn't help having one of those 'call of the void' moments as he imagined hopping over the railing and jumping. It was impossible to tell in the darkness, almost looking like a true 'void' down below. Darcy would panic, so it would be a rather dick move of him to do it in present company. And sure his sister and her family, plus one or two guys at the fire station would be upset with him, but how many people would really notice? How many people did he matter to. That it wouldn't just be an inconvenience to move his stuff out of his office and apartment. Would come to his funeral like he had to Garrett's only for it ultimately to not matter to him in the slightest because he just wouldn't exist? It might not even be a far enough drop to kill him, but the dark allure of drastic action and the end of pain sat heavy in his chest. Ferris didn't respond to Darcy's words, didn't even seem to hear them.
While her gaze was fixed on the night sky, she was very aware of Ferris being beside her. Try as she might to just keep her attention upwards, she couldn’t. The smell of his sweat heightened his natural scent, making her unable to really keep her focus elsewhere. Which is why she was confused at his silence. Darcy lowered her gaze to take in the man standing beside her and could help the fluttering in her chest.
His focus seemed elsewhere, and she couldn’t help but wonder just where his mind was. Though, she had a sinking feeling it wasn’t a positive mindset. Everything in her screamed for her to touch him, to just be closer to him right now. So, she caved and just let her inner wolf win for the moment.
Darcy turned to face him, reaching her hands up to cup his face and pull him to look at her. “Ground control to major Ferris.” She teased lightly, offering a smile while gently brushing her thumb along his jaw. “Hey, I’m really glad you came with me. It’s not near as fun when I do this alone… so, thank-you for being here.” She gave a soft smile and dropped her hands from his face, and slipping around him to give him a hug.
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Dec 17, 2023 21:16:45 GMT
Ferris started slightly at Darcy's touch and offered a forced smile in awkward embarrassment. "Uh, right, sorry," he said, reaching up to try and take her hands gently from his face, only he stopped. Her warm touch and warmer words in that moment meant a lot. It made him feel only more guilty for where his thoughts had strayed.
Even though he couldn't really see her in the dark, his grey eyes found hers, reflected in the moonlight. Before he could figure out what to say back, she hugged him. Ferris wondered if her sense of smell could pick up more than just warm fur and maple and fear. Could wolves smell other emotions? He supposed maybe, considering it was all just chemical balances. That was how service dogs sensed when their person would have a seizure or needed to take some other medication after all. Best she didn't know what was really going on.
That, or Darcy was having a really bad day, and he was being insensitive. He hugged her back tightly, but perhaps not as tight as she held him. "Thank you for inviting me. You need a twenty second hug or something?" He asked honestly, to that end determined not to let go until Darcy did. So maybe she was right and it did feel good. Being in her arms was a welcome distraction.
Ferris didn't pull away, but half turned to look in the windows of the old fire watch tower. He knew they had someone stay up here every so often. Now that it was off season, it was likely to remain empty. If he thought there was any fresh water in there, he'd joke about making hot chocolate.
Why did she find the fact that she startled him adorable? Smiling at his apology and just shook her head a little. “You don’t have to apologize, it’s easy to get lost in thoughts this far away from distractions like work and the busy little town.” She gave a gentle shrug, enjoying the physical contact.
Darcy hoped he didn’t find her frequent hugs to be annoying, namely because she couldn’t one-hundred percent help it. Sometimes her need to touch him was stronger than her will to resist. She smiled against his chest, giving a slight nod. “Oh, absolutely.” Selfishly just wanting to enjoy the closeness as long as she could without it being ‘weird’.
“It’s a little unfair how good you smell.” She said with an almost playful whine as she gently buried her face into his chest for a moment, pulling away after a moment to turn for the door into the lookout. The inside illuminated by a single emergency light, the inside was fairly simple. A little sort of cot with a folded blanket and pillow stacked on it, a sort of island in the center of the room, a telescope in the fair corner. She stepped inside and moved to check on the radio, ensuring it turned on and have functional extra batteries in the cabinet under the island, as well as checking the lantern and its batteries.
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Dec 17, 2023 23:30:50 GMT
The firefighter grimaced. Well, at least she didn't seem as concerned as the other day. Maybe he should talk about it, but he didn't want to ruin the mood. Darcy seemed happy at least, more so after the hug. And she was honestly glad he was there so he would do his best to return that attitude. Because he was beyond grateful to her.
"So I've gathered," he chuckled. She'd mentioned it a few times now and he had noticed how she pressed her face against him. Even after exerting himself and smoking, Darcy seemed to find his scent...attractive? Maybe even arousing if how she touched him and buried her face in his shirt and vest was any indication. He supposed even for humans, a scent could do that sort of thing.
Ferris let go when she did despite finding he didn't really want to. He'd needed that closeness far more than she could possibly know. With another glance up at the stars, he followed her inside the cozy space. "You know, this is kind of cozy." Not much to do besides watch the landscape maybe, but nice. Lonely too, though no more than his own apartment, even all the way out here. He closed the door behind him to keep out what little cold he could. Older tower or not, it looked rather well kept together, with newer windows and seals. He watched her move about in the dim lighting. "You bring people out here often?" he asked, tugging of his hat for the time being. It wasn't quite warm, but it wasn't as cold as outside and he hated hats.