Grandma's less pleasant memorabilia [mingle]

[ourearth]

Date: 24-27th of September
Characters: Everyone!

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A few weeks ago, they started building at the very end of the High Street. They're tearing down one of those ugly houses that were built after the war to replace all the buildings that had been destroyed in air raids, which Mossgate, being a coastal town with a significant harbour at the time, saw a lot of.

It's not an exciting rebuild in itself - Premier Inn is building a hotel to have a foot in Mossgate's reviving tourist industry. It is, however, kind of exciting to see new buildings, as there hasn't be much building activity on the High Street since the recession hit.

Or, well, it certainly causes some excitement. Because one of the typical hazards of building foundations in this area strikes: You tend to either hit Roman ruins, in which case you need to let the archaeologists have a go at it before you can continue - highly annoying for the builder. Or you hit a WW2 bomb, which needs to be defused and removed before you can continue - highly annoying for everyone who lives, works or shops nearby.

In other words, around 11am of the 24th, anyone within a certain distance of the bomb will be evacuated indeterminately while the experts come in and have a look at the bomb. So far, so annoying. The constables say that it shouldn't last longer than two days.

Due to the location and size of the bomb, the area of evacuation includes shops, a part of residential suburban Mossgate, a school, a senior residence and the town museum.

People who live nearby have to evacuate their houses and either stay with friends or relatives or bunk up in a hotel or emergency shelter in one of the local school's gyms.

Shops have to shut down and leave their goods in the hands of their security systems and the local police force.

A call for volunteers goes out to help evacuate the residents of the senior residence, as there isn't enough staff to evacuate all of them quickly enough.

Bus lines get rerouted.

Constables are pulled in from other locations and volunteers activated to send people away from the dangerous area, and tape goes up. Interested Bystanders [tm] gather and have to be argued with to make way for evacuees and professionals. Some local press gathers. Car drivers who just need to go through real quick, there's no reason to be like that Constable, don't you know who I am need to be sent away.

The excitement dies down some on the following days, though the evacuation lasts.

On the 25th, the Super announces that according to the experts the bomb should be in a state to defuse it and take it away safely.

On the morning of the 26th, a second announcement follows: No, it seems that the fuse and the bomb is too corroded to be defused, and that a controlled explosion will have to be undertaken.

Straw and other materials are brought in to pad the bomb and thus protect the neighbourhood from the detonation, other precautions are taken and preparations made, and on the 27th a controlled detonation removes the danger. But as detonated explosions go, they are still explosions, and the shock wave damages a wall of the next house, which holds McDonalds, while some of the straw catches on fire and is taken up by the sea breeze to set a roof two houses over on fire, which is the town museum. The fire department is present and quickly takes care of it, but the damage is still done.

After that, everyone is allowed to return to their houses, schools, shops, and so on.

Comments

[warped_replica]

Nearness so immediately renewed, Benjiro eases a hint of his weight over against her to affirm the contact between them. He watches curiously as she so quickly identifies a location for dinner, having assumed they could walk around the area for food between activities. Her suggestion is much better. Brows lifting with a growing smile, he watches the slideshow of images meant to allure patrons, "Looks fancy... Does it have a dress code? I have my outfit from the ball if it's more formal." He could go without the vest until dinner time to dress down after all.

Gaze returning to Sadie, his sharp smile widens all the more as she recalls the instance, "We were." Then when she confesses her earlier attraction to him, a tinge of a blush appears across his unbruised cheek with his smile softening with humbled affection, "...lucky for me it came back."

[dragoonrouge]

"It's smart for sure, especially if we go into the restaurant and not just the pub. I love it, and in the evening you get the most amazing view of the sun setting on the Thames and St. Paul's Cathedral lit on the other side of the river." Sadie recounts wistfully. "It would be a really lovely place to have my Eighteenth Birthday meal with you."

"Lucky for both of us. I'm glad that we moved to Mossgate."

[warped_replica]

So that’s a yes to the outfit.

Her praise heightens the appeal of the restaurant already granted by her suggesting it in the first place, and a verbalized desire to go for her birthday makes it the inevitable choice. Considering the time it should take him to heal, they should be able to go around her birthday at the end of the month, “Then we will. Whichever weekend it won’t interfere with plans you and James have with your family.” A moment of thought given, and he asks, “How soon do I need to make our reservation?”

Softly chortling as she matches his sentiment, he closes his eyes to rest and simply enjoy the closeness with Sadie. His parents sending him to Mossgate is probably the best thing they have ever done for him.

[dragoonrouge]

That is indeed a yes to the outfit.

Sadie thinks for a moment. "We could go on the 3rd November? The weekend before is going to be family stuff and that'll give you time to get better and time for us to plan too. As long as we book in the next week it should be fine."

She sighs happily as they remain tucked together, "I could fall asleep right here."

[warped_replica]

May as well recreate part of the conditions that helped lead to her act of courage.

Not rushing to answer, he thinks carefully through what he knows of the future schedule in the household then nods softly, "Yeah, I think that should work well." With a date set, he can easily make arrangements during his time in external exclusion and plan the details while he continues to work on the project for Walter's birthday.

"Heh, if I were to lie down I would be out in a minute flat," he says with a tired edge in his voice.

[dragoonrouge]

"You probably should," Sadie tells him, voice hushed. "Healing is tiring and you've still got a bit to go."

She twists slightly and gives him a kiss on the cheek. "Schoolwork can hold till tomorrow. Do you want me to stay till you've gone to sleep, or would you like me to leave?"

[warped_replica]

To answer her encouragement to sleep, he sighs softly and murmurs softly, "Yeah..." His bruises may be less tender than they were but his rib has barely improved in the last four days.

Benjiro smiles to her at the kiss on his cheek, then glances to the folder laying near on the bed. Aware of his computer still running as well, he feels like he should get a little more done before giving into the urge to rest. The choices she offers are met with a small pout and he reaches up to touch her hair, "You just got here... But, if you insist I sleep, I'd like it if you could stay until I doze off."

A quick nap would probably do him some good, then perhaps he can return to work with a clearer head.

[dragoonrouge]

"The more you sleep now, the quicker you'll feel better and the more time I'll be able to spend with you this weekend." She tells Ben, giggling at his pout and purring happily as he touches her hair.

"I will happily stay until you've dozed off. We should probably get into a more comfortable position first though." Sadie carefully untucks herself from Ben's side, standing up and placing the folder on Ben's desk, turning the monitor off at the same time.

"Are you okay to lay down?"

[warped_replica]

Less time with Sadie now in favor of more time with her later when he has more energy and strength recovered does sound like a worthwhile trade. That, and her purr is rather convincing.

Hand lowering down as Sadie eases herself away, he uses both hands on the bed to support himself sitting upright alone as he feels the fatigue more acutely with the promise of sleep. Watching as she takes away the temptation for work, he nods at her question, “Yeah, I can.”

Scooting along the edge of the bed to center himself closer to the head of the bed, he turns his one hip to bring a single foot up on the edge as he eases himself down to his side with the other following midway down. An accompany grimace shows briefly, but once he has his shoulder down, he rolls easily to his back with a push of his legs and a hand. One at a time, he slides his heels down to lay entirely flat on the top of his bed with space on either side open for Sadie to join him, if with more to the far side of the bed.

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie watches Ben closely as he settles himself down and, satisfied that he's managing, walks over to the door to turn the main light off and leave only the bedside table light on. Sitting herself down on the edge of the bed, she lays back and turns on her side so that she can face Ben. Pulling the duvet up and over them she smiles as she turns off the bedside light.

"Much better." She scootches closer to Ben and takes one of his hands, "If I'm not careful, I'll also drift off."

[warped_replica]

His head lifts briefly to watch as Sadie returns to the bed with the main light now off, then relaxes back as she shifts to settle down next to him. The light weight of the duvet over them is comforting, and he urges himself to keep his eyes open in the diim light from behind the curtains and blinds of the windows so as not to succumb too quickly. Tilting his head closer to her, his fingers close to hold her hand in return and he smiles at her, "I certainly won't complain if you do..."

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie sticks her tongue out at Ben, "It is very tempting, with you being so nice to cuddle but I do need to go home and walk the cats at some point so I must remain strong against your wicked wiles."

Grinning she shifts her legs, hope you like cold feet touching you Ben because Sadie is out to steal your body heat.

[warped_replica]

So much for being drowsy.

Before Benjiro can come up with a proper retort, he is subjected to a rather unpleasant sensation of ice being pressed to his legs. He immediately shivers with a cringe in his legs with a shrill noise squeaking out of him before he recovers enough to use words, “Brrrr! Note to self, look into electric blankets.”

For that, Benjiro tries to tug Sadie closer to share what warmth she does possess when he himself cannot move well on his back for the time being.

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie giggles at Ben's reaction, "That's what the cats are for."

She happily scooches closer to Ben at his tug, and closes her eyes. "...This is nice...Just being able to cuddle like this."

[warped_replica]

"Afraid I don't have one of those," he reminds, knowing full well his ability to have any sort of pet is limited. "I could always get you a pair of those extra thick socks." That should keep those feet warm.

Once Sadie comes closer, Benjiro curls in to snuggle up with her as well as he can without turning from his back, one arm draped across her while the other holds her hand. He smiles at her comment, not yet allowing his eyes to close for fear they won't open again any time soon, "...perhaps we should indulge more often then."

[dragoonrouge]

"That would do the trick when we don't have the cats I suppose." She acquiesces teasingly, "If only to protect you from my occasional vampiric touch."

Sadie's purr picks up as Ben moves closer too and the comfortable contentment settles into her bones. "Absolutely. Cuddles and naps are wonderful things after all."

[warped_replica]

Playing it up, Benjiro fakes another shiver through his whole body at the mention of a vampiric touch, "Brrr! It's that or I build up immunity with constant exposure."

Here and now, he feels like nothing could tempt him away. Sadie is warm and soft to his touch, her presence drawing the focus of all his senses so that the rest of the world is nothing than a remote thought. Relaxing more every second, a soft yawn forces itself out, followed by a sleepy murmur to excuse it.

[dragoonrouge]

"Worry not, we can cuddle more until you earn a plus two to your Constitution modifier."

She squeezes Ben gently, slowly starting to happily drift off herself, tucked into the warmth of Ben's bed.

[warped_replica]

"That might be my dump stat, so it could take a while..."

After his yawn passes, he feels that his eyelids have grown rather heavy. Benjiro returns the squeeze weakly, mumbling something unintelligible seconds before he is lulled into a light, peaceful sleep.

[dragoonrouge]

"Nah...you're hale and hearty. Your dump stat is Strength." She teases him gently.

Sadie starts to doze as Ben drifts off, a small smile on her face at his unintelligible murmer. She won't stir until the two of them are disturbed.