[MINGLE] Great Shakes

[sixthiteration]

WHO: EVERYBODY
WHERE: EVERYWHERE
WHEN: 13 July (afternoon, main quake) - 14 July (morning, last aftershocks)
OPEN TO: ALL - MINGLE
WARNINGS: Potential injuries, PTSD, and anxiety

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The sun is still high when the earth begins its initial, almost benign sway, but seasoned villagers know well enough that what follows will be far from gentle. Vibrations ramp up swiftly, exponentially, until within the space of a few seconds, the whole world is shaking — Dishes pinging down from shelves, young trees sifting free of the earth, shingles dislodging and tumbling like rain.

After 20 seconds, the worst is done, and after 30 the shaking has ebbed completely. Some will have escaped relatively unscathed, but others will not have been so lucky...

...and the aftershocks are still to come.

Comments

stella gibson | ota

[ex_assertiveness90]

She's at the dining table at home with her second tea of the day when the earthquake hits. If she had time, she'd get outside, away from potential falling objects — but everything happens so quickly that all she can do is duck under the table and hold on for dear life, watching as her teacup rattles its way off the edge and cracks to pieces all over the floor, spilling hot liquid and shards of porcelain.

The last time an earthquake hit the village, Stella broke her arm and spent almost two months healing from it, even with occasional trips to the hot springs; she has no intention of letting that happen again, so she waits until she's absolutely sure the shaking has stopped before she makes her way out from under the table. She picks up the bigger pieces of teacup to throw directly in the rubbish and sweeps up the rest, then goes to assess the rest of the damage with the studied composure of someone used to suppressing her emotions in a crisis. Miraculously, the dishes in the kitchen remain intact, but the exterior of the house is another story; the wooden parts of the front porch columns are starting to break loose, and what looks like half the roof shingles are either loose or dislodged entirely into the front garden. Not an entirely impossible repair job, just time-consuming — and something to be reserved for later.

Now, she's just going to do what she sees as her job here, which is to check in at the inn first in case anyone is looking for her — Peggy, mostly, she expects — and then to go around checking on everyone else. Having been through this once already, she knows it might be best to wait till after the aftershocks have passed to repair any structural damage — but emergencies she can help attend to. Injuries, lost persons, anyone in imminent danger. Stella has really never stopped being a police officer to her core, even here.

[fishermansweater]

They currently only have five geese. They'd scattered and flown off in fright when the earthquake hit, and only some of them had made their way back either to the house or to Annie. He'd found her, and some of the birds, and brought them back home, but Annie had been insistent, too upset about the lost geese to let him stay and comfort her. So he's gone out back out, after making sure she has East and a couple of the other birds with her to help her recover. He's brought the little hairless dog with him, because Coco had managed to help in settling the geese when they'd first come back from their explorations and had found the birds shut out of their pen by the wildly overgrown plants.

It turns out not to be a good idea. There are downed branches in the path, and as Finnick is stepping around one, there comes the quivering rumble of an aftershock. Finnick throws himself to one side, away from the tree that dropped the branch, and Coco bolts in a different direction.

"Coco!"

The little dog is gone up the path by the time Finnick feels safe to follow him, and the hunt for the geese becomes a chase after the dog, along the path back to the village. Fortunately, Coco doesn't keep running; he darts off the side of the road before he gets out of Finnick's sight, and when he gets to the spot, he finds the little creature huddled under a bush, whimpering.

"Hey, Coco, c'mere. I'll give you some fish when we get back."

That's the moment when he hears the sounds of footsteps coming up the path, and looks up to see Stella approaching. Finnick holds up a hand, his fingers gesturing down, in what he hopes is an understandable be quiet gesture. It had been for the Careers.

"Come on," he coaxes as the little dog sticks its lizard-like head out from under its bush.

It's only once he has the dog safely scooped up into his arms that he turns around to greet Stella.

"Sorry, just didn't want him to run off again."