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xp_logs2005-06-28 09:19 pm
x-scarletwitch.livejournal.com) wrote in xp_logs2005-06-28 09:19 pm
In the RIGHT Journal This Time! (I'm a dork.)
Wanda and Madelyn meet up at the local bar on their last night to compare research notes. They discover that they've both found just as much as the other one. Zip and zilch. And they don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing.
The town didn't have much in the way of well, anything really, and the only places to get food were a tiny little cafe eking out an existence by providing lunches to the locals who worked in Main Street and the odd travelling salesman; and the bar, which had surprisingly good steaks and only a passing acquaintance to greens. And since the bar was the only place open in the evening, that's where dinner had been had most nights they were in town. Their last night was no exception - Madelyn sat at one end of the bar, saving the seat next to her by means of her daypack and a steely glare, waiting for Wanda to clean up after her return from the Inuit village.
It had been an oddly frustrating trip. Considering what the lack of news meant for Nathan, Madelyn supposed she should be glad, but her instincts were geared towards discovering information, and at the moment? They were most definitely put out. Taking a sip from her beer, she looked around the bar, deftly avoiding any actual eye contact that might be construed as an invitation - the local single men, and there were many of them, were particularly persistent. And eternally optimistic.
Looking tired, but now much more decidedly clean than she had about an hour ago, Wanda ducked into the bar. She'd taken Madelyn's suggestion from the start of the trip and had rented a motorcycle to reach the more remote parts of where their investigation would take them.
But it meant that she came back bone weary and rather dirty.
Spotting her current partner, she made her way over, trying to be as polite as possible to the folks in the bar and restraining herself from kicking someone in the teeth. Luckily, they all looked far too intimidated to put hands where hands shouldn't go.
"You look how I feel," Wanda commented, sliding onto the bar stool.
"That obvious, huh?" Madelyn said with a wry grin. She was tired, yes, and would be glad to get back to the school - she was missing Hank more than she'd realised she would. Catching the bar tender's eyes and indicating her glass and Wanda, she ran her hand through her hair. "So, four days spent finding out...not a hell of a lot I didn't already have data for. How about you? Anyone from the village remember Nathan's family or the settlement?"
Holding up one hand for a second, Wanda took a long drink from her glass. "Sorry, I needed that." She shot Madelyn a vaguely frustrated look. "Well, following the directions from what we got from Saul, what Nathan remembers and vague pointing from the locals I found-nothing. Entire village was moved."
The look on Madelyn's face was probably what she had looked like herself a few days ago.
"Dug a little deeper and hit some records, seems that there was some contaminated water-not sure when-and after enough people got sick, they relocated." Digging in her pockets, she continued, "I did find something, let me pull it out...sounds like you found nearly as much as I did?"
"Pretty much. Obviously, given the time span, there weren't exactly a lot of people around who remembered the settlement at all, but those I did find didn't have much to say beyond they kept to themselves and seemed like nice people, if a bit strange." Madelyn shrugged and reached for the tattered piece of laminated card that was the bar's 'menu'. "I spoke to Doctor McKenzie - he's been here since the Seventies and his mind's surprisingly sharp given he's nearly eighty. If anyone was going to have contact with the settlement, I figured it would be him." She sipped at her beer before going on. "He treated various people from there over the years - usually the serious injuries, since minor things they dealt with themselves. Nothing unusual, no patterns that might indicate abuse, no one person getting hurt regularly, no unusual injuries... Not even whispers that there was something going on." She gave Wanda a helpless look.
"So, zip. What else did you get? Anything on that family Nathan remembered?"
"That really is the only thing I was able to find." She pulled out a photocopy of a newspaper and handed it over. "Since I had their name to go on, once I discovered the lack of the town, I hit up the next town's library. Small but they at least had old newspapers."
Wanda sighed. "They all died in a fire a few years ago, the entire family. Ruled as an accident as well. Seems that someone may have been smoking and fell asleep and none of them woke up in time to get out."
She looked faintly frustrated. "All of our sources have either disappeared or died...talk about a dead end."
"Or have nothing untoward to tell." Madelyn picked up a coaster and started tapping it on the bar. "We should be glad - the whole bunch of nothing we've found all points towards Saul's story being right. But..." She growled softly. "It's too neat, all of this. Real life doesn't work this way."
Rubbing the back of her neck, Wanda nodded grimly. "One one hand, I can't help but think this is a little too convient, all of it. On the other...we've found nothing that points to something underhanded about this entire thing, except the fact that we don't trust anyone." They shared a small grin for a second.
"Where does this leave us? Back to where we were. Saul's story is sticking, thus far, and Mi..." Pausing she glanced around. "You know who have a history of mucking with people's heads, yes? I don't like it anymore than you do but unless you have any other ideas..."
"I know, I know." Madelyn sighed again. "Grar. I don't like this Wanda, I really don't. Which is stupid, because it's good that Saul's story is checking out. Maybe I'm just getting cynical in my old age." She finished her beer and gestured for another. "But you're probably right. Those bastards were more than capable of giving Nathan the wrong idea about his childhood. I suppose I don't want Saul's version to pan out because of the way it's making Nathan doubt himself. This whole thing, it's ripped away a fundamental part of his identity and it's messing with him, it really is."
"I agree, I don't like the loop that this has thrown him into. Not that I can blame him, I would probably end up in the same condition." Another sip, another sigh. "At this point, anything comes out of his past and it's hard trying to decide to trust it. Especially when all of what Nathan told us previously does not mesh, at all, with this. Talk about frustrating."
"And then some." Madelyn flipped the menu in front of Wanda. "Still, at least we've closed off this particular dead end. And while Nathan's a mess right now, he's not stupid - he won't do anything rash." She mustered a grin. "So, what do you feel like? The steak or the steak?"
The town didn't have much in the way of well, anything really, and the only places to get food were a tiny little cafe eking out an existence by providing lunches to the locals who worked in Main Street and the odd travelling salesman; and the bar, which had surprisingly good steaks and only a passing acquaintance to greens. And since the bar was the only place open in the evening, that's where dinner had been had most nights they were in town. Their last night was no exception - Madelyn sat at one end of the bar, saving the seat next to her by means of her daypack and a steely glare, waiting for Wanda to clean up after her return from the Inuit village.
It had been an oddly frustrating trip. Considering what the lack of news meant for Nathan, Madelyn supposed she should be glad, but her instincts were geared towards discovering information, and at the moment? They were most definitely put out. Taking a sip from her beer, she looked around the bar, deftly avoiding any actual eye contact that might be construed as an invitation - the local single men, and there were many of them, were particularly persistent. And eternally optimistic.
Looking tired, but now much more decidedly clean than she had about an hour ago, Wanda ducked into the bar. She'd taken Madelyn's suggestion from the start of the trip and had rented a motorcycle to reach the more remote parts of where their investigation would take them.
But it meant that she came back bone weary and rather dirty.
Spotting her current partner, she made her way over, trying to be as polite as possible to the folks in the bar and restraining herself from kicking someone in the teeth. Luckily, they all looked far too intimidated to put hands where hands shouldn't go.
"You look how I feel," Wanda commented, sliding onto the bar stool.
"That obvious, huh?" Madelyn said with a wry grin. She was tired, yes, and would be glad to get back to the school - she was missing Hank more than she'd realised she would. Catching the bar tender's eyes and indicating her glass and Wanda, she ran her hand through her hair. "So, four days spent finding out...not a hell of a lot I didn't already have data for. How about you? Anyone from the village remember Nathan's family or the settlement?"
Holding up one hand for a second, Wanda took a long drink from her glass. "Sorry, I needed that." She shot Madelyn a vaguely frustrated look. "Well, following the directions from what we got from Saul, what Nathan remembers and vague pointing from the locals I found-nothing. Entire village was moved."
The look on Madelyn's face was probably what she had looked like herself a few days ago.
"Dug a little deeper and hit some records, seems that there was some contaminated water-not sure when-and after enough people got sick, they relocated." Digging in her pockets, she continued, "I did find something, let me pull it out...sounds like you found nearly as much as I did?"
"Pretty much. Obviously, given the time span, there weren't exactly a lot of people around who remembered the settlement at all, but those I did find didn't have much to say beyond they kept to themselves and seemed like nice people, if a bit strange." Madelyn shrugged and reached for the tattered piece of laminated card that was the bar's 'menu'. "I spoke to Doctor McKenzie - he's been here since the Seventies and his mind's surprisingly sharp given he's nearly eighty. If anyone was going to have contact with the settlement, I figured it would be him." She sipped at her beer before going on. "He treated various people from there over the years - usually the serious injuries, since minor things they dealt with themselves. Nothing unusual, no patterns that might indicate abuse, no one person getting hurt regularly, no unusual injuries... Not even whispers that there was something going on." She gave Wanda a helpless look.
"So, zip. What else did you get? Anything on that family Nathan remembered?"
"That really is the only thing I was able to find." She pulled out a photocopy of a newspaper and handed it over. "Since I had their name to go on, once I discovered the lack of the town, I hit up the next town's library. Small but they at least had old newspapers."
Wanda sighed. "They all died in a fire a few years ago, the entire family. Ruled as an accident as well. Seems that someone may have been smoking and fell asleep and none of them woke up in time to get out."
She looked faintly frustrated. "All of our sources have either disappeared or died...talk about a dead end."
"Or have nothing untoward to tell." Madelyn picked up a coaster and started tapping it on the bar. "We should be glad - the whole bunch of nothing we've found all points towards Saul's story being right. But..." She growled softly. "It's too neat, all of this. Real life doesn't work this way."
Rubbing the back of her neck, Wanda nodded grimly. "One one hand, I can't help but think this is a little too convient, all of it. On the other...we've found nothing that points to something underhanded about this entire thing, except the fact that we don't trust anyone." They shared a small grin for a second.
"Where does this leave us? Back to where we were. Saul's story is sticking, thus far, and Mi..." Pausing she glanced around. "You know who have a history of mucking with people's heads, yes? I don't like it anymore than you do but unless you have any other ideas..."
"I know, I know." Madelyn sighed again. "Grar. I don't like this Wanda, I really don't. Which is stupid, because it's good that Saul's story is checking out. Maybe I'm just getting cynical in my old age." She finished her beer and gestured for another. "But you're probably right. Those bastards were more than capable of giving Nathan the wrong idea about his childhood. I suppose I don't want Saul's version to pan out because of the way it's making Nathan doubt himself. This whole thing, it's ripped away a fundamental part of his identity and it's messing with him, it really is."
"I agree, I don't like the loop that this has thrown him into. Not that I can blame him, I would probably end up in the same condition." Another sip, another sigh. "At this point, anything comes out of his past and it's hard trying to decide to trust it. Especially when all of what Nathan told us previously does not mesh, at all, with this. Talk about frustrating."
"And then some." Madelyn flipped the menu in front of Wanda. "Still, at least we've closed off this particular dead end. And while Nathan's a mess right now, he's not stupid - he won't do anything rash." She mustered a grin. "So, what do you feel like? The steak or the steak?"