sail_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME #5

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TEST DRIVE MEME #5

1. not subtle revealings

[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! I'm very glad to have you aboard!

[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. a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling

[the reflections are missing. all of them. in mirrors. in television screens. on the backs of spoons. nothing looks back at you.

then, figures do show up. not your own, like you'd expect. thin, wispy apparitions, people with pleading eyes and hands, reaching out to place their palms against the surface, from their own end. faces familiar and not, beckoning, mouthing words you just can't quite make out. help me, it might be. get me out, perhaps. just until you're close enough, until your skin warms the surface of whatever it is you're peering into. and then, those same hands wrap, all too real, burning-cold against your flesh, and pull, trying to drag you through the surface, making up for their lack of strength with desperation. any flesh unlucky enough to enter the reflection comes back bone-white and cold, all sensation dead, though it will fade within a few hours.

in retrospect, it looks a bit more like they were saying something different. something more like, better you than me. or maybe it's not even words at all. they look a bit more like they're laughing.]

3. complex mementos

[but, hey. sometimes changes are good! like, today, in Playback, there's a brand-new game available for all the children to play! it's an old-fashioned sort of claw machine, the type that's so large, a particularly dedicated kindergartner could wriggle their way inside. the prizes vary, and sit loose: bags of candy, stuffed toys, firearms, painfully early-00s electronics, actually that one just looks like a dead iguana, tiny ship-branded knickknacks... like all the other games in the arcade, the game starts up automatically upon being touched; lack of quarters shouldn't keep you from having fun! pro tip: they are loaded, and they will go off if you suck at claw games and let it fall.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[His agreeing with her manages to make her laugh. When she pulls away from him, it's with a bright smile. She's not better. Far from it, in fact. But things feel lighter and not as scary when she's with him. Nothing on this cruise ship makes any sense to her, but she thinks that maybe it's okay. They can figure it out.]

Do you know what I think?

[She grabs his hand for a second, just long enough to start pulling him with her toward the door. They don't need to stick around in this room any longer.]

I think we should see if we can find the skeleton.

[And if she can repress some of those memories of what's happened to her by doing something simple like exploring the cruise liner they're on, then that's something she's going to take advantage of trying.]

[It's nice to hear her laugh despite the oddity of the situation. He'd meant what he said before too- making her smile that day in the woods had been a rare sunny spot slicing through a cloud of gloom. His head tilts curiously at the question.]

Tell me.

[Eddie's gaze flicks down when she grabs his hand and he allows her to drag him toward the door. Truthfully, he's more than a little eager to leave this room behind, and if that involves being dragged around a cruise ship in search of a skeleton he might or might not have imagined eaerlier, he's willing to at least humor the idea.]

What do you plan to do if we find him?

[Eddie's not even sure what he'll do if they run into Skullduggery. He'd seemed easy enough to talk to before, so it shouldn't be a problem. Maybe.]

I —

[All of the temporary confidence she had been showing shrinks away, and her shoulders slump a little as her hands tuck up into the sleeves of her sweater. She's still walking forward though, which is better than the panic she had been dealing with a moment ago.]

I'm not sure actually. I've never seen a real skeleton before. But if we find him and I can see him too, wouldn't that mean this isn't some kind of hallucination or a dream?

[Chrissy isn't particularly smart, but she's at least perceptive enough to pick up on that. If they both see something he thought he was hallucinating, then it couldn't be. It would mean it was real. Just as real as the feel of his hand bumping against hers as they walk. Her fingers curl against his briefly before slipping away, taking comfort in the fact he's solid and warm. She is too, she thinks. And for the first time since waking up here, hopes that she's real and alive.]

[It's mostly curiosity that has him asking, so Eddie steals a glance over at her when she hesitates. She looks a little deflated, but otherwise seems fine for now.]

I mean I'd never seen one outside of like. Science class? You do make a pretty solid point, though. If we're both able to see him, I feel like it eliminates the possibility of this being a hallucination- unless we're both hallucinating.

[Which is, as far as Eddie is aware, impossible. But up until very recently, a lot of things seemed impossible.]

You don't feel like a dream.

[She'd felt real enough before in his arms, however brief it had been. She feels real now, walking beside him, hands bumping occasionally as they head out of the room. He manages to make it all the way through the doorway before he finally gives in to the impulse and takes her hand, lacing their fingers together.]

[The softest little gasp escapes her when he takes hold of her hand. It's a surprise that he's doing it, but it's far from unwelcome. In fact, it makes her smile, and her hand squeezes his.]

Really? Because you do to me.

[It's soft, but flirtatious. Something playful to try and make him smile again like he had before. It's ridiculous and cheesy, and she knows it. But she chuckles after saying it, ducking her head to try and hide the smile on her face. Obviously he feels just as real as she does. But it's hard to deny the fact that her hand in his feels right somehow. It feels safe. And it feels very much like an extension of the last night she had been in his company in Hawkins.

Natural. At ease. It's funny how one little gesture can make everything feel right in the world again.]

[Eddie notices that little gasp and glances over in time for her to squeeze his hand. And then he's chuckling when she speaks up.]

Yea? Maybe you should feel more just to be sure.

[It might be the dumbest thing he's ever said to her, or anyone, but he's in a fairly decent mood all things considered. She's fortunately not looking at him, so it's easy to hide the dorky grin her comment slid onto his face. And sure, the fact that she's not pulling her hand away is only helping that mood. It almost feels like that day in the woods might have, if he'd had the guts to reach for her then.]

[That just might be the dumbest thing anyone's ever said to her ever. But it's cute, and it's sweet, and it's funny. She laughs again, this time warmer and louder. And while they walk, she doesn't pull her hand away. Not unless he tries to pull his back first.]

Eddie Munson, are you flirting with me?

[She teases, the easy back and forth of talking with him making her feel like it's okay to give even a playful accusation. It's hard to think he'll mind. If anything, he probably won't be expecting it from her. But when she glances at him and steals a glance at his smile, she thinks that maybe she likes surprising him. It helps further distance her mind from the heavy talk they just had, makes her think that maybe she can be something other than just the dead girl he feels like he failed.]

What if I am?

[Does she even want him to be flirting with her? Eddie's usually pretty good at reading people, but this is entirely new territory for him. Eddie Munson doesn't flirt. And he especially doesn't flirt with cute head cheerleaders just because they were nice to him once. That would be kind of ridiculous, wouldn't it?

Maybe he hadn't initially intended it that way, but with the question hanging there, he realizes that maybe he wanted to after all.

Either way, he gives her hand another squeeze and turns away, using the pretense of trying to spot their bony friend. Where would a skeleton be the most likely to hang out, anyway?]

[What if I am?

Maybe he's the one surprising her now. She glances back up at him right as he turns away, and her smile becomes a little more confident as she decides to take the lead. She's pretty sure a skeleton will stand out, but even with the pretense of looking for him giving them an excuse to look around, Chrissy's simply enjoying exploring the Eterna.]

If you were, then I'd be okay with that.

[The elevators are up ahead, but Chrissy doesn't pick up the pace to get to them. She keeps her pace steady, letting her answer to him hang in the air between them. It's all innocent, she thinks. There was something there that day in the clearing. It's why she had felt safe enough to go back to his place with him. She never would have if there hadn't been a little spark. It's that same spark that has her smile growing, until she's looking back up at him.]

[The odds of overlooking a skeleton in a place like this are pretty slim to none. Still, Eddie's glad to have an excuse to hide behind for the time being. He's in the process of scanning the room for a familiar face when she speaks up again.]

Oh. Cool.

[It's a bit of a lackluster answer, he's sure. And Eddie feels a little bad about how dorky it probably sounds after the teasing. It's just an odd position to be in. They've fallen back into the same easy back-and-forth he remembers from before, but there's something else, too. He'd felt it that day in the clearing, and he feels it now. And honestly, it scares him a little.

When he turns back to ask her something and catches her smiling up at him, Eddie's breath hitches. The question is almost immediately forgotten in favor of flashing her a sheepish smile.]

So uh... where to now?

Maybe we could forget the skeleton.

[She suggests, no longer feeling like she needs to use it as an excuse to explore things with him. He's holding her hand, he's just joked about flirting with her. The mood is lightened a little, even if she can still feel the tension there.

They approach the elevators just then, and she digs in her heels a little to get him to stop.]

Someone showed me where an arcade is. [It's not really her thing, but maybe he likes to play games. It's the one familiar spot to her on the entire boat, so she feels certain that she knows how to get there on her own.]

Have you seen it yet?

I'm sure he'll turn up again eventually if he's real.

[He might also turn up again if he was just a hallucination. Eddie's still not entirely sure how these things work.

It was admittedly a flimsy excuse to stick together, and he feels like they're probably past that now. She hasn't pulled her hand away and the oddness of the situation seems less real when she's so close.

When she stops just short of the elevators, Eddie turns to look at her. He's already seen the arcade- and wasn't all that impressed, honestly, but she seems so excited about it that he can't bring himself to admit it. Or maybe he's looking for a less flimsy excuse to be with her for a little longer.]

Not yet. Think they have Pac-Man?

They might. [She doesn't really want to go to the Playback. It's not necessarily her thing even though she's sure they could have some fun there. She wants to go because she thinks he'll like it. But she sounds like she hopes the arcade might hold any game he'll be interested in playing. And really, she does. If there's something he likes there, maybe he'll hang out a little longer.]

Wait. [The elevator dings and arrives, and Chrissy guides them both inside. The button for the fifth floor is pressed and she waits until the doors shut to look up at him.]

You like Pac-Man? [Joking around with him feels easy. There isn't much thought or hesitation in it, her confidence showing more as she teases him.]

Isn't that a little conformist for you?

Hell yea!

[He could think of better ways to spend his time, but the fact that they're stuck on a cruise ship in the middle of nowhere doesn't leave them with a lot of options. The arcade isn't going to have Pac-Man and he doesn't particularly want to subject her to that weird ass crane game, but he figures that's a problem for future Eddie.

As it is, he's content enough to let her take the lead. He follows her into the elevator and leans against the wall while she fiddles with the controls. The question earns her a snort and a nudge.]

Nah. Pac-Man is metal as fuck.

[The game is also genuinely fun to play, but he's going to choose to go with what sounds more like him.]

I really don't think Pac-Man is supposed to be metal as fuck.

[She says it as seriously as she can possibly manage. But her smile betrays her, as she tips her head enough to look up at him and watch him with great interest. It's interesting to her to watch how he reacts to her, to see what will make him smile and what might cause him to pull away.]

He's just a little guy, you know. He's cute!

[Like her, she almost adds on. But there's flirting and then there's flirting, and she's not sure either of them are really ready for the second just yet.]

But we don't have to go there. Not if you don't want to. There's places to eat.

[But eating isn't ever her favorite thing to try and get through. So that might end in disaster too. Chrissy makes a quick decision that quiet is better than trying to distract themselves with loud noises in an arcade she doesn't even want to go to.]

Or you can walk me back to my cabin.

[There's just something about Chrissy Cunningham throwing the phrase metal as fuck at him with that serious little expression on her face that makes his heart race and his stomach do a little flip. He's staring when she turns to look at him and it takes him a solid thirty seconds to snap himself out of it enough to find his voice.]

Hey, you can be cute and metal as fuck. I don't make the rules.

[He's not big on following them, either. It occurs to him, suddenly, that he's not entirely sure if he's still talking about Pac-Man or not.]

I don't mind. Though I feel like the lack of quarters might make the arcade experience a little awkward. Might make trying to eat a bit difficult too- unless you feel like spotting me.

[Money might eventually be a thing he has to worry about here, if only because it always seems to be a thing to worry about. In the meantime, it's back to managing on whatever he can get for free. He's in the process of asking if she'd woken up with any money or any indication of how they'd even gotten here when she speaks up again.]

I could do that.

[He actually has to stop himself from adding if you want because it seems pretty clear that she does want. Otherwise, she probably wouldn't have made the suggestion.]

[Chrissy goes a little quiet as she thinks all that over, biting at the inside of her cheek. There's something she wants to tell him, but she worries that explaining it to him might seem weird. Or make him worry, which she doesn't want to do after...well, everything.]

When I was first on deck, I met a girl. She showed me where the arcade was, and it's just about the only thing I know how to find. But she also took me by one of the stores. And we didn't actually use money to get anything. She got a lot of junk food and just ran it across the scanner. I did the same thing for my bottle of pills, and we were able to take it. I don't think we need money here.

[So maybe they don't need actual money to get anything to eat, she's hinting at. It almost feels like a silly point to make, since he's said he'll walk her back to her room. She cancels the fifth floor and presses the floor her room is on instead.]

Oh.

[It's a little surprising to hear, but Eddie can't deny that not actually needing money here would make things so much simpler. One less thing to worry about, at least. He appreciates the honesty, though it does make him feel a bit bad for keeping the truth from her before.]

Since we're sharing... I feel like I should admit that I've already seen the arcade. And uh, I've gotta say. It's less than impressive.

[Eddie pauses to let that sink in and steals a glance at her. Is she going to be mad at him for not being honest? He certainly hopes not, but he wouldn't blame her for it.]

Think it's like that for everything here? No money involved, I mean.

[She doesn't look mad. Chrissy looks thoughtful, a little unsure maybe. But not mad. It's pretty hard to make her genuinely angry. She's far more likely to find a way to blame herself for feeling any negativity, not that she's feeling any of that right now. There's too many curious things about the Eterna for her to be mad.]

I'm really not sure what to think. I've never been in a place like this before. But I'm sure we'll find out!

[It's important to her that she at least try to seem like she's optimistic everything will be okay.

The elevator dings and the doors open. They're on her floor now. She grabs hold of his hand and pulls him out after her, glancing back at him as they step out. Her mouth opens like she might say something else, but instead her cheeks pinken a little and she decides to just keep moving forward.]

I'm trying to keep an open mind.

[Eddie's not sure what he'll do if this does turn out to be some kind of elaborate dream or a hallucination or something. He's also not sure how it could be anything else. He'd seen her that night, and it didn't seem like something a person could come back from. She feels real. Alive, even, and Eddie wants that to be true more than he's ever wanted anything else in his life.

She doesn't look mad, at least, and he's relieved. He's certainly given her a big reason to be upset with him recently, so it's nice to see that he hasn't added one more to the pile.

The ding of the elevator derails that train of thought and then she's tugging him through the doors by the hand. Eddie allows her to lead him into the hallway and then it hits him that this is really happening. He opens his mouth to say something, to fill the silence, and realizes he has no words.

For once in his life, Eddie Munson is speechless.]

[They walk in silence for a minute or so before she finally decides to talk. His hand in hers feels real, but she's afraid that he may vanish at any second. And if he does, she wants to make sure she's at least made the most out of the moment.]

I only wanted to go to the arcade because I thought you'd like it.

[It's not important that he knows that. He may not even care that was her logic. She still wants him to know anyway.]

But maybe we could...sit and talk for a while?

[When she comes to a stop, it's obvious they've reached her cabin. Chrissy doesn't want to make him feel obligated to stay. But she's also reluctant to pull away and let him out of her sight.]

[Ultimately, Chrissy is the one to break the silence. The bark of laughter her admission earns her is a little louder than he would have liked, and he flashes her a sheepish smile.]

Sorry! It's just that I only agreed because you sounded so excited to go and I wanted an excuse to spend more time with you.

[At least they're able to admit when they're being ridiculous?]

We can do whatever you want.

[It's admittedly kind of a dangerous statement, but he's not just saying it at this point. He's not ready to part ways just yet, though he's hesitating just a little now because going into her cabin seems like a pretty big step.]

[If this were any other day, she might read more into that comment. But she peers up at him almost owlishly as he says it now, the corner of her mouth curving upward gratefully. She's not entirely unaware of what inviting him in looks like on the outside, and it's with a little awkward fumbling that she gets the door open and tugs him along inside.]

I just want to talk.

[No, that's not entirely right. And she casts him an apologetic look as she shakes her head.]

I need to talk.

[And maybes she's not ready to let him go yet. But she has to, doesn't she? She can't just keep holding his hand now that they're in her room and have a little quiet privacy. So she reluctantly pulls her hand away from his, sighing softly with a frown as her fingertips linger against his for just a little longer.]

[This past month has been such a whirlwind of danger and excitement and intrigue, and Eddie is starting to wonder when it's going to stop. Even now, trapped on a weird cruise ship who knows how far from Hawkins, he's still waiting.

It's still pretty wild to him to think that she's here. Alive. Real-

... Dragging him into her cabin and shutting the door like it's the most natural thing in the world.]

Okay. What's up?

[Eddie supposes it's only fair, considering how he'd taken one look at her before and blurted everything he'd been trying to keep to himself for the entire month. Though, now that he's thinking about it, he can't even begin to imagine what else she'd have to say. There's something final about the way she pulls her hand away, and Eddie fights the urge to frown because of it.]

[Her eyes look down to her hand, and she wishes that she hadn't let go. Especially given the question she wants to ask him is something that could be hard for him to talk about. He had taken so much blame on himself, and it breaks her heart that he'd do that.]

I want to know something.

[She starts, looking up at him with sad eyes that hold sorrow she's not going to let flow out of her in tears. It's one thing to get caught up in the moment and be emotional. But she can't bring herself to cry anymore. Not today.]

How long has it been for you? Since I —

[Here she goes. She can say this. All she has to do is be brave.]

Well, you know.

TEST DRIVE MEME #5

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