lovethyneighb_or: (Default)
Father Francis John Patrick Mulcahy ([personal profile] lovethyneighb_or) wrote in [community profile] ph_logs2025-10-12 04:48 pm

the sound is not asleep [closed]

Who: Father Mulcahy ([personal profile] lovethyneighb_or), Felix Gaeta ([personal profile] not_a_traitor), Zivia Birnbaum ([personal profile] tehilim127_1), and maybe another
What: Mulcahy has a hard time with the aftershocks of Number 2's visit
When: 4 days after the party; September 25th
Where: His house, Downtown Hollow
Warning(s): Paranoia, ptsd, destruction, eating disorder, others in headers


It all starts simply enough. Mulcahy retreats to his house and entertains no visitors. I need some time, Mulcahy says, and who could blame him? After a night like that, it'd be difficult to deny him some peace and quiet. He's been something of a recluse for more than a year now. (Though perhaps a little worrying is that even Gaeta is denied his company, and he's taken a brief leave off of work. Even in his most reclusive days, he never did that; too committed to the work.)

After a day or two of this, though, his sending stone goes mostly radio silent. For those who do manage to get a call out to him, the conversations are short and strained.

Then, one more day of total silence; and then, one day, Zivia and Gaeta both find themselves tracked down by one of his two companions: Peter, jangling frantically at Gaeta, and Connor, stamping and huffing insistently at Zivia, both demanding they follow them back to the Father's home. When they arrive, the door is locked and the curtains are all drawn--but there are sounds coming from inside. Wooden, mostly--of wood being struck, wood creaking, wood splitting, but none of that seems particularly good. Concussive impacts thud out from the upper floor. Once in a while, there's a grunt and labored breathing.
not_a_traitor: (the dream of new caprica)

[personal profile] not_a_traitor 2025-12-27 11:36 pm (UTC)(link)
He presses his lips together, chagrined. Doesn't answer.

But does, after a few seconds, pry his attention from Mulcahy to meet her eyes again.
tehilim127_1: (concern)

[personal profile] tehilim127_1 2025-12-28 05:02 am (UTC)(link)
She meets his gaze steadily. "I think you're gonna do okay. And I'm here to help, either one of you."
not_a_traitor: (officer of the fleet)

[personal profile] not_a_traitor 2026-01-03 12:01 am (UTC)(link)
What -- ?

"Oh," whispers Gaeta, an involuntary sound like someone just squeezed his chest. And here he thought he might actually pull it together in the next few minutes. Visibly overwhelmed by the tenderness behind such a gift, he covers his mouth, then reaches to take the patch from Peter like it's the last scrap of tapestry in the whole universe. "He -- ?"

All this for him. How long has Francis worked on it? He presses it to his chest, struggling not to break down all over again, and looks back to Mulcahy.
tehilim127_1: (tender smile)

[personal profile] tehilim127_1 2026-01-04 01:14 am (UTC)(link)
Zivia can't suppress a tiny, almost soundless oh herself.

It would feel like an interruption to say anything else, in this moment. So it's only in her head that she says Yeah. You're gonna be okay.