TEST DRIVE MEME #8

[sailmods]

1. but times have changed for sailors these days

[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! I'm so happy you could join us!

[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. tried to amend my carnivorous habit

[the space inside John's where the piano normally sits is mysteriously vacant today. as a matter of fact, the entire piano bar is silent, without so much as a muzak-inspired interpretation of Uptown Girl to hum along to.

the piano itself seems to have disappeared... for the most part. unlucky, unsuspecting passengers who enter the cabin hallway, step out onto the lower decks, or find themselves in one of the other narrow corridors of the ship, may find themselves suddenly facing down a silent, unmoving grand piano. it takes up too much space to squeeze by comfortably...

and then, the cover lifts, exposing what looks to be... teeth?

yeah. yeah, those are its teeth. and it's coming right for you.]

3. that American creation on which I feed

[it had been a difficult October for bahamanuel, the bahamanal. its territory had changed utterly, becoming alien and strange. new predators were encroaching on its hunting grounds. its position in the natural order is under threat. and so, nature finds a way.

the old timers know to be wary of large piles of clothes, but even they won’t think to look twice at the tiny lumps of garish kids’ swimsuits and sundresses - until they feel something latch onto their leg, and then several more things, and anywhere from ten to twenty balled up clothes piles try to take down their prey.

the young must learn how to hunt, after all.]

Comments

[saltwaterlungs]

"I wasn't big on ships either, but this is sort of home now," she gestures around broadly, "not like we can go anywhere else."

The observation coaxes a small smile out of her, and she does a 'more or less' head-bob motion from side to side.

"Yeah, you got me. 'm Darcy, I see dead people."

[pissant]

"Darcy? Nice to meet you, I'm Scott." There's a frown at the affirmation of being trapped here. I mean you can't really escape those 'vibes' that this place has, can you? And the talk of Ghosts and such doesn't do much to avoid that conversation.

"I guess thats kinda how it goes. Have you been here a while then?"

[saltwaterlungs]

"Too fucking long," she confirms, "more than six months, by now. You're honestly taking this whole thing pretty well, most people kind of hit the 'there is no escape' or 'the ship is run by ghosts' thing and flip a little. Or I did, anyway. Are you from a weird w- that's going to mean absolutely nothing to you if you actually are from one, okay."

New approach.

"Is magic and shit real in your world?"

[pissant]

[[ooc; sorry for my slow ass!! we had no power for the last few days and i hate, hate, hate doing game tags via mobile! D;]]

"My life has been upheaved so many times... Between jail, and superhero-ing, and just my shit ass luck..." He just laughs and shrugs. You can get knocked around so much and be shocked by it so many times before you just become a little bit numb to it. Give him time, he'll certainly be annoyed by it, but shocked? Naw... Not Scott Lang, god bless his stoner attitude.

"Uh... I think so? Like I've never studied it or anything but guy I kinda, sorta, maybe, work with does it. Why is this supposed to be some magical sort of place?" He's more a man of science himself but that being said he's not entirely unopen to the idea of it, like some people might be.