sail_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME #8

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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It's okay, you didn't startle me at all. I heard you coming nearer - that's why I thought to question. But you being on the table explains the direction of your voice, since I'm used to them coming from above me."

Only she gets to make the height jokes about herself. And only when proper.

"Sometimes I'll be like that, but right now...here, if you hold your hand out about six inches above the top of the table?"

So he can butt his bunny head against her palm and 'show' her what he is right now.

It's a good thing she met Ylva on the excursion, so people being animals isn't something to ponder over. Rather, when she obliges, and suddenly feels, a look of wonder and delight passes over her features. Oh. How wonderful.

"And that explains the other thing I was curious about. Well, there are no rules against rabbits in the library, I'm sure."

"I could be a person again, if it would be better. I just..." A pause, as he sniffs at her fingers lightly. "Well. If you could take some time off from being a full human, wouldn't you, once in a while?"

"...Actually, I think I might. It'd be nice to shake off the usual responsibilities for a bit...though I'm not sure what I'd be."

Perhaps a bat, like Ava had mentioned? Flying might be nice...but there also seems to be many benefits to being something land based. A cat can get spoiled, after all.

“I didn’t choose this to be. It’s what I am. I can be other things, sometimes, but this fur feels like home, or as close to it as possible. I’m called Bunny, even when I’m up on two legs.”

Unspoken: even when on two legs, he is very much a prey beast.

"It's a pleasure to meet you then, Bunny. I'm called Helena."

A rather direct nickname, if it is one, but not all of them are lofty and obscure. And it may help him that there's not a drop of magic about her - ordinary as they come, really.

"Though I must warn you, if you're a fan of nonfiction, we've got a lack of it here."

“Well, probably for the best. What’s the truth of history or science in one world isn’t guaranteed to be so in another, right?” He sounds amused by the very idea of non-fiction in a place like this. “Fiction is always real, even in the places it’s not true.”

"The assertation of someone who might just be a writer themselves, unless I've really missed the mark."

Or you know, just steeped in magic, but why not?

“Me? A writer? No, no, no. I’ve never really tried. Have a friend who’s written some, science fiction stuff. I don’t. I read a good bit, though. My boss owns a bookstore.”

Though he doesn’t work at the bookstore. It’s a different type of boss, via changeling court politics.

"How wonderful. You'll like it here, then - there are books from any year your heart desires. Even ones you may not have lived yet, which is utterly fascinating to me, but it means the pool for what to peruse next gets even bigger. I'm at the point where I'll have to draw names from a hat to pick one to start with."

Every genre beckons, and there's hardly enough time in the day to read them all with care. But it's a sanctuary as much as it is a place on board, and some days the sheer variety is stunning.

"My boss used to suggest running your hand along the shelf and seeing what it snags on. At least at the library or the quieter corners of his shop. You do that in the Deep Stacks and a book might decide to chew your fingers off." He is absolutely not joking, here, and he pairs the words with the gentlest little play-nibble.

She laughs brightly, setting her hand down on the table proper.

"Oh no! That'd be a terrible fate for me - I wouldn't ever be able to read again!"

Which is a worse fate for her than most things can be.

"Yet I just might try that idea, the next time I need to pick a new book - for all my hours in here, nothing's been particularly toothy. Unless that's reserved for those who can see their selections."

"Doesn't seem all that much that way here, yet. But I haven't gone too-too deep here into the library. I think I'd wanna be two-legged to try that, but I'm still enjoying bunny time."

As he just lounges himself out beside her hand.

Her fingers twitch just the tiniest bit. It is very hard to be right next to soft fluff and not touch, but that is a person and not an animal, so she has to be respectful.

"Yet being the key word. But I'm in here almost every day - so far nothing terrible has made itself known. It's really almost a sanctuary."

“Almost.” He repeats that word quietly, just shy of a question.

"Almost, because you never quite know who will wander in here. There are a few boisterous sorts aboard, after all."

Those who'd make a mess of things. But she'll save anything else for later.

TEST DRIVE MEME #8

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