Let 'em say we're crazy, I don't care about that!

[lucetimods]

Who: Everyone!
What: The final day. Moonfall. Twenty-Four hours remain. How do you spend it?
When: The 30th, all day
Where: Anywhere
Summary: The last day. The end has come. The moon is coming down and piercing the barrier. Nothing can stop it.
Rating: It will vary.


Details are here. But here's a recap and expansion!

By the time morning hits Luceti, the Moon has begun to breach the barrier, noticeable by how the barrier will fluctuate about the Moon's face in strange ribbons of energy. The oceans and lakes begin to rage as they are caught by the Moon's gravity. The ground begins to quake in an unsettling way. Small and harmless tremors that will slowly intensify over the course of the day. With the Moon already partway through the barrier, it will be noticeable that it is not quite as large as the real Moon. Though quite vast, the Moon itself does is not quite the entire size of Luceti, but is large enough to span the entire village and more. The Moon's angered face does not cease for a moment, even as it becomes the only sight in the sky.

Yet it remains in the sky, slowly breaking through the barrier, and proving indestructible in spite of all that is thrown at it. In the evening it will begin to cause gravitational disturbances, drawing up debris and small objects into the air. When it finally reaches midnight, the bottom of the Moon will be one mile above Luceti. At that point, all will suddenly black out and know no more. What becomes of the Moon? Does Luceti go splat? Will CJ finally get his moon rocks? Stay tuned!

Comments

ENJOY IT

[herotypical]

...Equal terms? Her gaze narrowed. She took a few steps further into the kitchen and reached for a bag of bagels on top the microwave. She worked at the twist-tie.

"Sure. Yeah. Equal terms."

07

[all7seas]

His eyes narrowed in return as he stared down her back. "Liar."

[herotypical]

Her face got a little...stony. Hard and fierce and ready to argue. But then she softened with a sniff and pulled free one bagel. "You know, it's your fault I'm still such a bad liar. You were supposed to teach me."

[all7seas]

"Corrupting one woman was possibly enough for me, slayer." He reached up and took down a package of granola bars.

[herotypical]

"I didn't mean--" Hmph. Fine. She wasn't interested in arguing if he was going to throw the title around. It only made her uncomfortable. It only reminded her of the many contradicting reasons why she shouldn't be with him in the first place.

Buffy retied the back and reached for a bread-knife. Bagels were always tricky things to cut. Too often, she ended up cutting them crooked.

[all7seas]

Jack peeled open one of the bars and ate it hungrily. It had been since early morning that he'd last eaten anything, after all.

Was it really in his interest for Buffy to be a better liar anymore? Yes and no. If it would save her life...? But then what would she keep from him? But wasn't keeping things from him an asset? Did he really want to know everything.

No. No, he did not.

[herotypical]

There were a fair number of things she still kept from the pirate but they were hardly the sorts of things she had to think about lying for. They were things that might as well have never occurred for how little she spoke of them to anyone. Some of them had been recently dredged up in accompanying Giles to the tunnels -- old wounds reopened just to warn him of what he'd soon be remembering.

She popped the crookedly cut bagel halves into the toaster and leaned her elbows on the counter -- away from him, still -- just to watch the appliance as it worked.

[all7seas]

"Annie?" When Jack spoke her name, it was in a low voice: an appeal. He didn't like all that "away"ness. It was like after the battle with Derek--the spar with Angel--all that hardness, brought on by the urgency of a dangerous situation. All of that slayer, coming diamondlike to the surface.

[herotypical]

It was true. She too quickly lost herself in the workplace. And in her case, the workplace wasn't an actual space but an atmosphere. The moment people had begun to panic, the business blinders had come on.

She popped the bagel too early. Turned the halves around to face in opposite directions. Lowered the lever once again. "...Yeah, Jack?"

[all7seas]

"Do you think it would be better for yourself to be out amongst them?"

Because sitting back and being in here was driving her mad--this much he could tell. He had experienced something similar while performing the duties of First Mate aboard Beckett's Mum: supervising the most minute details of a cargo ship under Norrington's supervision while others were sailing free.

[herotypical]

She turned.

"In here? I'm stuck worrying about everyone out there. Who's made it to shelter, who hasn't. Who's left in the clinics with no one looking after them. Which houses might need supplies. Who's alone. How many other kids might be looking for..." Buffy shrugged. It was only working her up further to try and voice those concerns.

"But if I was out there? I'd be worrying about you two back here. If the house was standing. If the moon was too close. If some freak in a mask had broken in and tried to axe-murder the both of you." A sharp breath. "So no, Jack. I don't think it would be better out there. And I don't think it's better in here. There is no better. No worse. There's just a choice. And I'm making it."

[all7seas]

Sparrow wished he could take Jilly away from this place---and that in so doing he could take that choice away from Buffy. She clearly did not trust him enough to keep himself and the child alive.

"Stuck, aye." Another deep breath. "If the house were falling, I'd bring her out. If the moon came too close, I'd wrap her up in my coat. And any murderers would be soundly ended, Buffy, before they could get anywhere near her. Your choice is based on..." He trailed off, then tried to make his voice sound more reassuring.

"Just a false choice is all--worries you needn't have."

[herotypical]

She wasn't certain she knew how to step back and not worry. Not to take control. Because at least if things went wrong, then...

"I'm staying."

[all7seas]

"On equal terms. Because you love me."

[herotypical]

Buffy Summers nodded. And hoped that she could get away with just a nod -- it wasn't that the words were impossible, anymore. But she still wasn't sure about the way they sounded on her lips. Too good to be true, perhaps. Ringing too false even if she meant them whole-heartedly.

[all7seas]

Jack rubbed a palm across the back of his neck. She does. She does. She said it, before. She does.

"Right. Well. Good. Fine, then."

[herotypical]

Well, then. There was only one thing left to do.

"Come here."

[all7seas]

He was at her side very quickly indeed. "You think," he whispered, "that I would not feel the same way about not keeping you in my sights through all this?"

[herotypical]

She reached for his hands -- the first genuine contact since that initial touch on the cheek upon his return -- and pulled him nearer. Buffy was stronger, faster, harder. And she had yet to die in this place. She was not in a position that allowed herself to see how anyone could worry about her the same way she worried about everyone else. As far as she saw the hierarchy of protection, Jack was looking after Jilly and she was looking after Jack.

"So here I am. Sighted." Her bagels were forgotten.

[all7seas]

And it was probably that hierarchy that Jack balked at the most--so different from the way he saw things, as surviving was one of his greatest strengths, after all.

"Thank you for that." The words came in a breathy rush, all smushed together: an acknowledgment of the sacrifice she was making.

[herotypical]

Buffy was approximately ten times more accustomed to being apologized to by Jack Sparrow than being thanked. So she half-frowned for a second. Lost in thought.

And right about then was when toaster popped suddenly behind her. There might have been some slight jumping.

[all7seas]

"Going to eat all of that bagel?" At the jumping, he simply held onto her hands more tightly.

[herotypical]

She hadn't turned yet to check whether it was burned or not.

"Why? Want half?"

[all7seas]

"Maybe." He kissed her very carefully on the forehead. Sometimes when she got like this, Jack was afraid she might break to pieces, or ignite, or simply become so hard that she would not feel like a woman anymore, but like a lump of stone. They were irrational thoughts and fears, of course. Her skin felt warm. Not a stone.

[herotypical]

"Maybe? With cream cheese?"