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TEST DRIVE MEME #2
1. this hotel room got a lot of stuff
[you wake up.
it doesn't matter where you were before. going to bed? dying? opening the door to face a great evil? same result. you wake up in a soft bed with starched sheets in a cool, darkened room, sunlight peeking out from behind thick curtains. maybe you're alone; maybe you aren't. maybe you immediately notice the folded paper on the bedside table near your head. if you don't, you better fix that real quick: you won't be able to even open the door before you read it.
the note itself is written in a neat hand on white card stock; there is a stylized logo of a ship with the words SERENA ETERNA printed underneath. the note reads as follows:
Dear Passenger(s),
As your cruise director, it is my great honor to welcome you aboard the Serena Eterna, your destination for fun and adventure! We know you could have chosen any cruise line for your vacation, and we're very grateful you chose ours! On behalf of the Captain, I would like to assure each and every passenger that will we do whatever it takes to fulfill all your needs and desires during your journey with us.
At your earliest possible convenience, please attend the mandatory lifeboat drill by the end of the day. I'm sure everyone is very eager to get started on all the fun and sun, but safety always comes first! You can find your life jacket in your cabin's closet; carry it to your assigned muster station on deck one, where I will take you through the drill. If you can't find me in the crowd, just look for the gal with the winning smile!
See You Real Soon!
Sincerely,
Gal Friday
you walk to deck one. you have no other choice: every time you try to step in a direction some unseen being considers "not towards deck one," you find your legs no longer move, staying stock still, frozen. whether compelled quickly by curiosity, or delayed by pure stubbornness, the result is the same, and you are left milling around with other similarly curious or stubborn people.
you see someone in uniform near the front of the crowd. she seems to be a gal, but is missing the winning smile, along with most of her other features. she seems to see you, though, rushing to your side and placing a lei around your neck with great formality. a voice, cheery but artificial, sees to come from nowhere and everywhere.]
Welcome aboard! We're so glad to have you!
[you touch the lei. rooster feathers, lotus seeds, and a carved circle of something white and hard, linked onto a silk string.
after the drill is completed, you are seemingly free to go. or, well, your legs work, now. and maybe that's as good as it's gonna get.]
2. and a touch-tone phone
[chatterbox isn't exactly the most popular venue onboard. it probably has something to do with the distinct lack of open liquor bottles. so, nothing personal. except it seems that it's decided to take it that way, suddenly.
anyone enjoying the other amenities of deck five will feel the distinct sensation of being watched while they do so. the kind of feeling a prey animal gets while being stalked on the grasslands. something may slither by their foot, or past their elbow while they rest it on the bar, but nothing appears to be there when they look.
until there is.
a black electrical cord originating from somewhere will, first, wrap around their ankle, tugging in a very clear "follow" instruction. should this instruction be ignored, a second cord will wrap around their other ankle, and, once again, tug. should this clear final warning be ignored... well, now they're being dragged down the promenade, and that's really their own fault, isn't it. don't struggle. struggling means more cords show up. and none of them seem terribly aware that most species need to expand their lungs to live.
their final destination, no matter the journey, is chatterbox's main stage, where the karaoke machine awaits. the cords place a microphone in their hand; the mic's cords bind it tightly to their hand.
they don't have to pick a song. there isn't an actual gun to their head, in any literal sense. it's just, those cords really don't seem that interested in letting go until they do.
and if you were heading to chatterbox anyway? welcome to the weirdest goddamn karaoke night you've ever seen.]
3. and a bucket of ice (cw: cannibalism mention)
[no longer will scoops be bound by the shackles of only having 31 flavors. for this month, and this month only, a sign that very much looks like Friday hand-wrote it announces, they will have 32!
what is that mysterious 32nd flavor? it depends, really: the letters on the display case seem to shift and change with each new pair of eyes that fall upon them, with the contents changing along with it. someone from the capital wasteland might find some Nuka-Cola ™ branded ice cream. twilight town residents will be thrilled to find sea salt on the menu. and a frankly concerning amount of people bring out a flavor that only describes itself as "long pig." it's a weird off-white color. don't think about it too hard.]
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Is she a citizen of his homeland, perhaps? Although there were many who looked upon his illness and desire for peace as a sign of weakness, even among the citizens, his poor state of health was fairly well-known back home; less so upon his departure once he traveled to other lands. Or maybe it's just that sort of frank honesty many children tend to have that makes Fio sound as though she's familiar with him.
Yet somehow, neither of those things seem like the answer. Before he has the chance to dwell on it much longer though, that initial surprise melts away into startled, warm laughter.
Honestly? This might be the first time he's ever received a nickname.]
It's lovely to meet you, Fio, and thank you very much for your concern. I'm glad I'm feeling better too. [He might be a prince, but he's definitely the last higher status person Fio would ever have to feel nervous around.]
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Besides, the details of the memories are far too sad to bring up. She would rather focus on making others happy than shifting to a grim topic. Though the mechanical man isn't around, she can only hope he'll eventually show up one day alongside Levania. ]
You're gonna like the people here. They're really nice!
[ For the most part. Except for the captain, possibly the only downside of it all. Their social standings are worlds apart, but she understands how it feels to be looked upon with scorn. It continues to surprise whenever she's treated with kindness herself. ]
And there's a bunch of stuff I've never seen... or eaten before! Like the ice cream. It's a lot of fun.
[ Allow her to take one of the ice cream cones from your hands. Sure, there's some scary stuff too... but at least it's not depressing all the time! ]
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But honestly? It's something he doesn't mind not questioning too deeply either. Though he wishes his clockwork companion was here with him as well, he's grateful enough to be alive again, and in better condition than when he passed at that. Clearly, there are some strange and mysterious forces at play here... And he has a hunch that the more he tries to understand, the more confused he'll likely become. There's a lot to think about in general with his surprising new lease on life; better to take things one thing at a time, especially when it doesn't seem as though he'll be leaving any time soon.]
This is your first time having ice cream? Then I hope you enjoy it. It's a wonderful treat to have, especially on hot days. [It does seem like there's a lot on this ship he's never seen before... But for now, he doesn't mind keeping Fio company as she takes the ice cream cone. Surely it'll be more fun to share their treat together, right?]
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And now she gets to be friends with a real prince. Much like the kind royalty types that she sees in her books. Perhaps it's too early to claim that they're friends. With each person that she manages to speak with though, she surely hopes that she's on the path to making another friend. ]
Uh-huh. I've never had many kinds of desserts until I came here. Now I get to eat all kinds of things!
[ She lifts the cone to her lips, to have a quick taste test at first. Wow, it's freezing cold! Maybe that was a bit too much at once that it caused her head to hurt a little. But it tastes good at least? ...She smiles through this brain freeze. ]
I-it's really sweet...! And cold!
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Although perhaps as a friend, he should've thought to warn her about eating too much, too fast and the dangers of brain freeze it entails... Whoops! He laughs gently though, recalling all too easily a time when ice cream was so new to him that he did the same.]
I apologize, I should have told you ahead of time not to take big bites. If you eat too much, too quickly, it's likely to be too cold. [The dreaded brain freeze... Thankfully avoided by taking smaller licks, as he demonstrates. The ice cream is indeed as sweet and cold as Fio described.] But if you like it, there are plenty more flavors for you to try next time as well.
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Taking the advice once her pain subsides, she takes her time by licking the dessert in smaller amounts. It's as tasty as some of the cakes that she's tried at the buffet. And there's more flavors? She had been looking at most of the options earlier. She's eager to try more! But after she finishes this cone, if she's able to stomach more. ]
It's really good! I wanna try all the flavors!
[ She giggles, before taking another taste of her cone. ]
Did you have a lot of ice cream as a prince? What about cakes? I bet you got birthday cakes every year!
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[... Well, maybe not all of the flavors. He's still a little suspicious about the 32nd flavor of the day and whatever "long pig" means, but if it's a limited time special, then hopefully Fio won't ever get the chance to try it anyways.
At Fio's questions though, he hums softly as he thinks. It's admittedly been a long time since he really had a chance to celebrate his birthday, and when he did... Despite his position as a prince, he has a feeling it's probably not quite how Fio is imagining.]
I had ice cream every now and then, the same with cakes. There were occasionally grand parties held at the castle where treats like those would line the tables for all the guests. [Those had been fun in their own way, especially when he was younger, and before his mother had passed on. Things had always been a little more fun before she had to leave him, in all honesty.] It's been a while since I had a birthday cake though. The last few times... I'm afraid everyone had been a little too busy, myself included, to think of celebrating a birthday.
[Those kinds of frivolities were pretty far from his mind when his country was in the midst of waging war, after all. Besides, his father would never have wasted his time on such things, and he didn't really have friends at the castle. There would've been no one for him to celebrate with.]
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Being a very young child, she obviously doesn't have the responsibilities that a prince or princess would have. Plenty of free time, but it was mostly spent on her lonesome. Everyone else being too busy to throw any kind of celebration or at least spend a little time with her, is something that she can relate to.
They'll have to fix that! She continues to beam happily, excited to put her idea in motion which is... to get more sugar. ]
How about we get some cake? The buffet has tons and tons of cake, so we can celebrate your birthday now!
[ Even if today's not exactly his birthday. They can have all the dessert in the world to make up for the missed birthday parties. ]
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In that case, perhaps we should celebrate your birthday, Fio. If the buffet has so much food, surely we don't have to celebrate just mine. [He has no idea what month it is where they are, but his birthday wouldn't have been for quite a while yet anyways. Even if Fio's is also far off though, he thinks it would be more fun to celebrate hers! Although...] But let us save it for after we finish our ice cream. We shouldn't waste food, after all.
[And he doesn't want Fio to make her stomach hurt from consuming too much sugar at once. If she's that excited for them to have a birthday celebration, he's all for it! But hopefully without any tummy aches from too much food and too much sugar...]