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?
Darcy found her work day dragged on longer than she cared for, to the point where she was bringing reports home to go over and work on in her down time. So when 7pm rolled around, she was tossing reports in a pile to finish in the morning. Right now, she wanted to just wash away the stress of the day and start getting ready for meeting up at the diner with Ferris. She caught sight of her reflection and rolled her eyes, why the hell was she grinning? Shaking her head she reached up to let her curls down from the bun she had twisted them up in and stepped from her kitchen and toward her bathroom.
Darcy spent about fifteen minutes washing off the dirt from her day at work and another ten minutes staring at her closet trying to decide what to wear. Eventually she settled on a pair of dark wash jeans, strapless bra and an off the shoulder white sweater. Darcy applied her typical product to her hair and towel dried it with her hands as best she could before slipping into a pair brown ankle boots. Darcy put on some mascara, but didn’t really bother with other makeup, she had a long day of paperwork and it was exhausting. She grabbed her truck keys and slid into the driver’s seat, deciding to drive instead of walking to the diner, since it was a little on the chilly side this evening.
Upon arriving at the diner Darcy sat in her truck for a minute, not exactly sure what she was even fully doing here. Aside from grabbing a bite with a friend. A friend she happened to fuck senselessly two nights ago. Right. Nothing weird about that. Was only as weird as you made it. She shook her head and walked into the diner, pausing to allow the hostess to seat her, a booth toward the front corner, right in the window. She liked being seated near the window, gave her plenty to observe and entertain herself while she waited.
last edited Dec 21, 2023 6:22:07 GMT by Darcy Vance
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Nov 29, 2023 21:43:40 GMT
After the call the previous night, there wasn't much else that happened until the next morning, which for him was a blessing because he had a number of new bruises to work through.
Needless to say, it was a long day, if thankfully not dangerous. Ferris ended his shift on time, having scrambled to ensure his side of any reports were finished and the other firefighters had what they needed from him for anything else. He stepped into the showers to clean up after working out, already hungry after not having much frozen pizza. For everyone's sake, his idea of cooking was reheating food. Mastery of temperatures at least he was solid on.
He dressed in his usual jeans and a solid T-shirt but was unable to find anything to wear over the top. Either he had forgotten to bring another shirt, or it was in the laundry somewhere. So, he found a cream pullover with padded elbows and half button up collar and tugged that on instead. He tossed the crew a wave as he walked through the living room and out the back to his truck, more than a few of them wondering what had the fire chief leaving on time for once.
He parked at the diner at 8:35pm, easing himself out of his truck. He didn't know what Darcy's ride looked like, but her caramel highlight mane stood out in front window. His step hesitated slightly seeing the very public, very open front window booth. Well, at least it was a corner. That would help him feel better. He used the awkward step to turn and look at his truck as he pressed the lock button in his pocket, watching the headlights flash. He turned back to the diner and pushed the door in with his shoulder. Ferris waved to the hostess but didn't stop, making his way to Darcy's table. "Hey, Darcy. You couldn't find any cliffs around here, eh?" he said. Ferris sported a not so fresh bruise on his right jaw that was clearly fist sized. As he moved to sit down, he pulled his hands (his left with scuffed knuckles) from his pockets and set them on the table to help ease himself down, clearly sore, so he could sink into the booth cushions that were never comfortable enough. "I'd say I'm starving, but that feels insensitive," he said. Apparently, he was full of jokes tonight, though his tone both times was more gruff than usual.
Phone in hand Darcy was responding to a work email, she didn’t notice the vehicles coming and going, but when the diner door opened her fingers paused over the phone as a soft smile pulled to her lips, she caught his scent as soon as the door opened. She slipped the phone back into her pocket as her dark eyes lifted to meet his as he spoke. But her smile slightly faltered as she raised a brow. “Well plenty of cliffs around, but I decided I didn’t want to chance not dying in the fall and possibly just ending up a vegetable. Nice shiner you got there, and would you look at that…” She reached forward to take his left hand, thumbs ever so gently running along his knuckles as she did. “You got the full set.” She teased with a playful smile, looking at his knuckles and then letting go of his hand because she suddenly was very aware of the fact that they were in a pretty public place and people were looking. To be expected in a small town, especially when people were nosy.
“Oooh, someone’s got the jokes tonight.” Darcy shook her head with a chuckle, curls bouncing at the movement. “So, what happened last night with that emergency call, Chief?” She pretended to glance at the menu, though she already knew exactly what she planned on ordering. Strumming her fingers on the table lightly while trying not to think of how good he looked, and smelled.
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Nov 30, 2023 0:22:53 GMT
So maybe that joke was a little much, but he had been thinking about what she said half the day and her embarrassment over her simple spelling error was endearing. "Valid point. I support it," he, tensing a little as she reached for his hand. Not because he was worried about anyone seeing the gesture. Public or not, it was late and the last he knew, touching someone didn't mean anything more than that. Darcy's soft caress made it hard to hold in a shiver as he more than remembered her deft fingertips running along his skin other places. "You have no idea," Ferris grunted, as those weren't the only places with bruises. He slid his hands off the table and then into his pockets carefully as she let go, feeling a little self-conscious.
He hadn't written the fight into his report and while he trusted Darcy not to say anything, he didn't want anyone else to make trouble.
Ferris grimaced as she teased him, but her laugh, as usual, was enough to get him to look back up. The Fire Chief didn't bother with a menu. He'd been here a lot in the past five years and even some of the newer wait staff knew what he would order. One could say cheap, no work, diner food was a staple for a single guy who only occasionally had to watch what he ate. He thanked his job and the free gym and the military for that.
His awkward smile turned into an awkward frown. "The construction site." There had been a few other calls over the course of today, but even though that one had been over 24hrs from now, he was still thinking about it. "I..." He probably shouldn't talk about it in public. But a glance around showed that there wasn't anyone at the tables next to them. And he had told her she should ask him later... Ferris kept his voice soft. "Some scaffolding on a new mansion collapsed, trapped one of the workers, had a broken arm from a bad landing. He'll be fine," he assured quickly, as that wasn't the point. "The point, is I decide we should inspect the worksite. For any other potential dangers. Seems fair, worker safety, labor laws, OSHA, whatever." He shrugged. "The foreman didn't like that idea."
Despite living in the town for the last four three years, no many people knew much more about her than she moved into two with a large group of people, she worked as a forest ranger, she spent a lot of time at the bar, and she kept to herself mostly. And she generally liked it that way, namely because it was entertaining to hear the rumors about herself that went around town. A soft smile tugged at her lips as she looked back across the table at him. Listening intently as he spoke, though slightly curious as to why he kept his voice down. “Damn, from the looks of your knuckles and chin I gather he made it clear he didn’t like that?”
For a moment the edges of her lips turned down, not thrilled by the thought of someone just hauling off and hitting Ferris for simply doing his job. But that sort of thing came with the territory at times. She raised a brow, now her chin propped up in her hand as she leaned against the table over her menu. They were interrupted by the waitress stepping over to take their order. “I’ll have a sweet tea with lemon to drink, and the thickest burger on the menu. Add bacon, onion and pickles, and an order of curly fries.” She said with a smile, handing the menu back to her and looking back to Ferris.
She might have slightly zoned out while he ordered, a bite distracted by a mental image of him in-between her legs a few nights ago. Darcy cleared her throat a little as she ran a hand through her mess of curls and looked back at Ferris.
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Nov 30, 2023 2:29:48 GMT
Ferris couldn't entirely avoid people with his work. But while he got around, he didn't share much. Like Darcy, he kept to himself. At least until recently. He realized he needed more friends than just his coworkers. Some of which he wasn't sure 'friend' was the right word, but they were all family.
Ferris grimaced. "No. I was expecting some push back and he argued with me about it but..." he reached up almost subconsciously to massage his jaw gently. "I didn't expect him to turn around and deck me," he admitted, visibly disappointed. The man was all for a good fight but not like that, not while on the job.
He paused as the waitress arrived, listening as Darcy ordered. He grinned. Burger and fries was classic. "Water tonight," he said to the woman. Which wasn't his whole order. But he had a usual and he didn't need to say it.
He was keeping his voice down because, "Assualting a firefighter is a felony," he noted. "I like Brandon and I don't want to get him in trouble...but the man has a wicked left right knee combo," he admitted. "Then shit hit the fan and I only connected a few times to break up a brawl," he shaking his head.
“Shit, those aren’t the typical bruises you’re expecting to receive in your line of work.” Darcy admitted with a shake of her head, watching him as he gave his drink order, she smiled. It didn’t surprise her to learn he was a regular at the diner. And that wasn’t a bad thing, she actually found it quite fitting.
“I see, that was great of you not to get him in any serious trouble. Definitely sounds like an eventful night!” She said with a nod as she leaned back against the booth, glad when the drinks were brought over. Darcy squeezed the lemon into her drink, then put it in her mouth to finish it off, making a puckered face in reaction to the tart flavor before folding it up in a napkin. She took a drink of the tea to help wash down the lemon flavor. “Sorry, habit.” She offered a half smile, hoping her cheeks didn’t try to claim too much color. “Any other exciting calls?”
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Nov 30, 2023 3:14:47 GMT
He shook his head in agreement. "I sat on an ice pack on the ride back to the station," he said seriously. But then chuckled softly. It was a sort of funny image. Even if he was still uncomfortable sitting down. "Rather break down a door or slip of the last rung of the ladder or something," he agreed.
Ferris still wasn't sure if he should have e put it in the report. Clearly the foreman didn't respect him as much otherwise he would have talked it out. Or at least not kneed him in the balls.
The lemon thing was strange. In a funny sort of way. He winced in sympathy at her sour face. "Old habit?" He asked, taking a drink of his water with ice and no lemon.
"Most calls aren't exciting," he noted. But he supposed from the outside it looked like fun, risking life and limb to play with fire. "Took a call for a kid having a panic attack at the mall this morning. Fucking twelve years old and having panic attacks..." he shook his head. He couldn't imagine. "He was okay after a while and a game of Uno."
She winced at his response and shook her head. She honestly couldn’t relate to that pain he’d experienced, but she knew it had to hurt something awful. His chuckle made her smile though, glad he could at least find some humor in it all now. “Or fight a bear?” Darcy teased with a wry smile and a playful wink, taking another sip from her drink.
“Apparently it doesn’t matter how many times I do it, I still think that eventually I’m going to manage to do that without wincing.” She shrugged with a shake of her head, looking back to him as he continued.
“Aww, that was sweet of you. Did you let him win?” somehow the mental imagery of Ferris playing cards with a card to help calm him down was something she found quite adorable. “I’m too competitive for games… the won’t even invite me to play monopoly anymore during game nights.”
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Nov 30, 2023 3:50:21 GMT
"Or fight a bear," he agreed, if not so enthusiastically and upbeat as she said it. That bear had really been something though, looking back. Terrifying and beautiful.
He shook his head at her odd personal challenge. "You know the definition of insanity?" He chided her with a laugh.
"Let him win? What do I look like, a guy not perfectly capable of legally losing at Uno to a twelve year old?" Because he was. He was perfectly capable of losing while trying to win. He was often lucky but not very good at game strategy. Ferris made a face, accompanied by a sound of disgust. "Monopoly isn't a board game, it's a paired down economy simulation. Anyone ever asks you to play that, they aren't your friend." Or were looking for a reason to stop calling her one.
He wanted to say more when their food arrived. Her large burger and pile of curly fries and his massive platter of bacon, four over easy eggs, sausage, home fries, and three pancakes topped with granola and banana. The waitress set syrup and hot sauce on the table and Ferris' stomach growled loudly. "Thanks," he said to her with a smile before digging into the pancakes first, adding butter and a tad of syrup.
"And then this afternoon there easy a fire alarm from one of the West side homes." Which might be more the exciting he meant.
It was almost hard to believe that was one of their recent shared experiences. Not many people could brag about that, not that either of them honestly was boasting of that whole encounter. “Why Chief, are you implying I’m insane?” She quirked a brow and grinned, knowing he wasn’t far off. But in a world where werewolves truly existed, sanity was a luxury.
“Oh, my bad. I guess I just assumed you were great at card games. You’ve got a good poker face.” She gave a half shrug, smiling the whole time and then laughing at his opinion of monopoly. He wasn’t wrong, but it was amusing how quick he was to share that opinion. “Oh, so I should take it as a compliment that I’m not being included for that game?” She teased lightly with a shake of her head.
“Thank-you!” Darcy offered cheerfully as she immediately picked the ‘bounciest’ looking fry and popped it into her mouth and chewed, trying her hardest not to do an obvious ’happy dance’ as she enjoyed it, but failing miserably because she was childish and couldn’t contain her glee over the food. It smelled divine.
She unceremoniously scooped up the burger and took a bite, trying not to let the ketchup drip off on her white sweater, that would be annoying. She raised a brow as she listened, enjoying a few more fries and a sip of her drink. “Sounds like you had a pretty busy shift! Did the fire cause a lot of damage, or was it pretty well controlled?” Another fry popped in her mouth with a smile.
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Nov 30, 2023 12:09:07 GMT
Ferris grunted. Because if she wasn't crazy, then he was. He still felt like the implications to her werewolf revelation hadn't hit him. But then he had grown up Catholic and many people had talked about that profound "moment" when they realized God. Ferris didn't have one of those moments, about God or werewolves. Maybe he was too practical for such a thing. Darcy kept proving herself true in plenty of small real ways. Thank fuck, otherwise he might have done more than drink.
He frowned at her. "Uno's not a bluffing game." He was good at bluffing around humans, maybe. Ones that couldn't read his heartbeat from a mile away if she tried. He wondered if she tried. Right now, or a mile away. It was...a strangely reassuring thought. Ferris nodded. He hesitated to say it, but he liked board games. Some. A little. But not family games, like European style board games. Some newer ones. Even some that were co-operative over competitive.
Darcy began to pick over her plate while Ferris smashed his pancakes, barely cutting them up enough to eat. He was in fact quite hungry, and he really like breakfast food. Even at 9 at night. The rest he didn't eat so thoroughly one at a time, rather methodically combined bites of meat with potatoes and egg to mix everything together.
"Controlled stove fire," he said, swallowing and taking a drink of water. "Lots of smoke, some very very very well-done steak. And a kitchen remodel that the wife said was her Christmas present." Guess she would be getting that sooner. No on beat him up physically or with a card game so was a win. Honestly the spectrum of encounters with his job was dramatic. While the fire was the most dangerous, it hadn't been the most stressful thing of his shift. Though arguably, Cisco trying to access his phone had been pretty stressful too. All of it was why he didn't sleep well and like many firefighters, that lack of sleep and stress built up over time into health problems. But he was fine. He knew the risks.
"What was up with that hiker?" He asked, turning the onus of talking on her so he could focus on eating.
Granted the idea of her simply being insane might not seem like such a stretch: talking about werewolves and other potential supernatural entities. I mean, she did find his apartment simply from following his scent through town… that most certainly didn’t sound like something a ‘sane’ woman would do. No, sane people texted or called. So maybe she was’t as sane as she’d like to think. Either way, her eyes flashed with amusement as he talked about Uno not being a game one could bluff in. Which was a fair point. It was more a game of chance.
“You’d get a real kick out of the game nights my friends have.” The use of the word ‘friends’ in place of pack seemed like a fair trade. It was hard to bluff in a room full of people who could hear then changes in your heart rate. Even Darcy struggled to successfully bluff when playing a friendly game of poker with the pack. Which seemed to make the game even more fun; though she knew a wolf or two who had a deceivingly wicked knack for keeping their heart rate steady.
She continued to thoroughly enjoy her food as she listened to his recounting of the fire. She didn’t envy him when it came to handling those situations. Fires weren’t exactly her favorite situation to handle, though the ones she encountered weren’t typically as easy to control or contain at times. Darcy had just finished enjoying a massive bite of her nearly devoured burger, pausing for a drink of her sweet tea when he asked about the hiker. She couldn’t help the slight roll of her eyes at that one.
“A family of tourists decided to opt in on a guided hike with some basic rock climbing. The oldest son got ‘bored’ and decided to slip away from the group during the rock climbing portion and explore some of the caves that are currently closed and gated off.“ She popped a fry in her mouth as she shook her head, swallowing it before continuing. “He climbed the fence, ignored all the signs warning to ‘keep out’ and ended up getting himself stuck because that set of caves has been experiencing cave ins. Thankfully he wasn’t hurt, just a bruised ego from being scolded and fined.” She chuckled as she added. “I expect that mindset from teenagers, but this guy was at least twenty-six!”
Post by Ferris Felwinter on Nov 30, 2023 18:47:24 GMT
From the way Darcy said 'friends' this time, he got the feeling it was a place holder for something else. Something she wouldn't normally say in public. Pack, probably, as he had heard her say before. The idea of playing poker surrounded by a bunch of werewolves sounded...uncomfortable. Maybe a little terrifying. "That a challenge? I dunno, might be intense enough to trigger an emergency response. Like with the bear." She'd mentioned more than once how well he handled what happened, and he didn't just mean the bear. Whether his mental trick was enough to help him bluff a pack of werewolves, he wasn't so sure, but maybe. Might be fun to try sometime.
They both destroyed their various plates of food. By the time she had finished explaining why the guy went missing, he was nearly finished. Ferris snorted. "I would have guessed seventeen for sure." And been way off the mark. "Idiot," he added and then relented a little, "Glad you found him alright." It was probably for the best she had left so quickly the other morning anyway. That she had spent the night, accident or not, was probably not a good idea. As much has he had really enjoyed the company.
“Oh gosh, now that’s something I’d pay money to see.” The thought of Ferris going toe-to-toe in poker with a group of werewolves was quite an entertaining idea. She got the feeling Ferris could handle himself in the situation, it’s not like they’d be getting aggressive toward him or anything. Just a friendly, slightly competitive game of poker.
“Honestly, when it’s teenagers and kids it doesn’t bother me. Kids will be kids. But this guy was just asking for trouble.” She finished off her plate and smiled at the offer of a refill on her sweet tea, nodding. Darcy sucked a little seasoning off her finger and nodded her thanks once her drink came back. Her dark eyes returned to Ferris, not letting her mind wander to some more fun moments from the other night, she didn’t need her cheeks getting rosy right now. “Aside from the lost hiker; everything was business as usual. Which happens to be copious amounts of paper work, but it only makes me wanna die about half the time.” She chuckled a little and raised a brow. “How would you feel about a change in scenery? If I’m not mistaken, there’s an open mic night going on just up the road.”