sail_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME #7

1. before she hung up, she said she was a skeleton

[there is no note in your cabin. no forces stall your legs if you decide to walk anywhere but the atrium. in fact, for the first time in hundreds of years, newly arrived passengers on the Serena Eterna are waking up with absolutely no guidance. nothing but your fellow passengers in the halls - or maybe in your bed.

perhaps you end up in the atrium eventually anyway. it is where guest services is, and where Gal Friday… actually hasn’t been in a few days. until today. and she is visibly frazzled, her hair uncoiffed, her suit rumpled, something a bit like a bruise blossoming down from her hairline and over her smooth features. more papers than ever cover her desk, and when she turns to face you, her voice is as cheerful as ever, but audibly strained.]

Welcome aboard the Serene Eterna! [a pause] You know how to work a life vest, right? Everyone knows that! You don’t need me to teach you that!

[a light bulb burns out behind her head.]

… I’ll get right on that!

[freedom includes the freedom to not know what the fuck is happening. maybe you should reflect on that.]

2. grandma went and can't stop screaming

[it’s something about the lighting fixtures, this month. has the Bellona always had a massive chandelier? maybe. who knows. don’t ask questions. either way, in the stillness of the night, or day, or late afternoon, there is a noise like a cord being cut, and the chandelier plunges into the audience below.

it hits nothing, of course. no one is ever in the theater. and that, perhaps, is what the trouble is.

so, the chandelier starts to… travel, one could say. it starts to hang in various rooms: the dining halls, the bars, the clubs… sometimes, if you’re out on the pool deck and suddenly realized you’re under a shadow, you can glance up and see it suspended 20 feet above your head, securely fastened to nothing in particular and yet remaining perfectly in place.

until it isn’t. until it falls, crystal shattering on whatever surface it lands on: floor, table, person… and, wherever the chandelier goes, a lilting childish voice follows it, singing without any obvious source.]

Ring-a-ring of roses, a pocket full of posies… ashes, ashes, we all…

3. jeff bezos murdered the infinite tommy bahama

[the lights of the Infinite Tommy Bahama go out three days into October.

barely an hour after its closure, the lights go on again, and a new banner is unfurled.

physically, it is the same store. you can even see the old signs hidden behind the new ones. however, long gone are the tropical prints and khaki dress shorts. now, one can purchase any number of officially licensed or legally distinct Halloween costumes, decorations, and various other haunted accoutrements, leading back as far as the eye can see, and then farther still. is that a Gal Friday mask? spooky! well, at least you’ll be good and ready for the Halloween party at the end of the month, which is absolutely just a normal party and in no way whatsoever anything even remotely resembling a trick. there are only treats at The Infinite Spirit Halloween!

note: bahamanuel is still here! somewhere! it kinda looks like dan bongino.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's a little hard to wrap her head around being here when she's supposed to be dead. It'd felt easier earlier, when she hadn't been certain, but there's a difference between assuming something to be true and actually having it confirmed.

It's ironic, too, to think about the number of times she'd wished for some nameless, faceless fairy tale savior to come and steal her away to someplace less terrible. Chrissy's old enough to realize that that isn't what this is, but it's still kind of amusing to think about.

"Feeling better now?" Better is relative, she realizes, but she also realizes that having a good cry is the only thing that helps, sometimes. She generally does feel better afterward, so she's hoping it's the same for him. "I don't know. You can be mean and scary and still need to cry it out sometimes." He's smiling at least, so that's a good sign, right? The question earns him a smile and a nod. "I guess we should!"

At least Chrissy isn't alone in that confusion. Even though Eddie had known about his own death (how could he not, when he remembers Henderson clutching him tightly as he let go?) it doesn't make it any easier to swallow.

On the one hand, he's grateful that he's not just gone gone. If Chrissy is here, then maybe other people he knows will be here? Which isn't as much of a comfort as he wants to believe, because this place doesn't feel like a heaven or an afterlife. There's a sinister aura, but maybe their being here, able to face this place together, will make them stronger in a way.

"Kind of. I'm sure I've still got more in me, but." He shrugs, wiping away the last remnants of his breakdown. He glances around the place, and points in the direction of what looks like some costume pieces more Eddie's style. "Guess I'll see you around, Cunningham." And with one last wink he lets his face and posture go neutral when he turns around and starts poking around for potential costume ideas.

As confusing as this place seems now, it does help to think that there are other people here in a similar position. Having Eddie and Steve here helps, too, even if they weren't exactly running in the same social circles at home. It's comforting, at least, to know that it's not just her and a boat full of strangers.

"I get it," she tells him. Sometimes it takes longer than others. There's not much else to say about it, and she doesn't want to make him feel bad about it so she figures the best thing to do is let it drop for now. If he ends up needing another cry later, well, that's none of her business.

Chrissy grins and waves when he speaks up again. "Yea. See you later, Eddie!" He's already moved on, but she still feels the need to say something. And now that she has, she can feel less guilty about immediately turning on her heel and stalking off to another part of the store in search of that perfect costume.

TEST DRIVE MEME #7

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fin?

fin!