TEST DRIVE MEME #10

[sailmods]

a. that's where we both belong

[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.]

b. and there's plenty of that down by the sea

[it’s strange to think about, isn’t it? how all those new passengers, the ones grumbling or shouting their way through the forced muster drill, have absolutely no idea what happened just last month. no idea about the labyrinth. no concept of why anyone around them would be a bit more hesitant around shadows.

they’ll learn.

sometimes a shadow is darker than it’s supposed to be. very rarely does anything come of that; just a vague sense that someone is watching you, and little more. sometimes, though, the shadows move. sometimes they grab at your ankles as you walk. sometimes they give you a shove as you go down the stairs. sometimes they pull your hair, or pinch your arm.

sometimes you feel something sharp cut into your lower leg.

that’s not a shadow, though. that’s a fiddler crab. you see the crab, sometimes. the cut isn’t from its claws, which don’t look very intimating; it’s not a very large crab. the cut is from the large kitchen knife crudely taped onto its back. it’s probably fine. it's not chasing you. there isn't evil in its heart. probably.]

c. think I'll go back to the Keys

[one day, in the atrium, two pedestals suddenly appear. on each is a large button: one green, and one blue. pressing the blue button gives you a little treat, popping out of thin air next to you. pressing the green button sends a small electric shock through your body. weird, but, hey, pretty avoidable, right?

except, it seems to be spreading. to every other button on board.

in the elevator. on the soda machine. the arcade. your phone. the bell on Friday’s desk.]

Comments

[besixdouze]

[A thoughtful hum, on Voyager's part, and he glances back to the rail behind him. Climbing had seemed like a good idea at the time, and it still doesn't feel like a bad one, but well...]

Hm...I guess so...since, it seems like, you're really preferring I don't... [And, to prove as much, he steps further away from the rail altogether to trail over to Natsuno's side instead.] I was wanting to take a look around. This is a ship, right? Is it really big? Seems really big...

[besixdouze]

[Well. This has gone terribly! Truly a disaster in every way!

Being called an idiot is never fun, but it's a lump that feels rather earned at present with everything considered, and Voyager takes the scolding with dejection as he watches Ody escape to seek out more unwitting stab victims. Rita's question does bring his attention back around to her after a moment; he blinks up at her, and then down to his hand, features scrunching up a bit.]

How deep? Um...I'm not sure...it, stings, a lot...

[Getting jabbed by a knife really is like getting jabbed with a very big thorn, isn't it? Pain is still a rather newer experience than not for him when it happens...but he tries to keep a composed face about it. His eyes are only a little watery! It's fine! (Honestly, over half of it might still be some shame about the crab fiasco anyhow...)

He's been instinctively cradling the stabbed hand to his chest, but now Voyager very gingerly opens his fingers to stare uncertainly at his injured palm, before holding it out for Rita to have a look. It's a moderate cut, there, blood welling up and pooling a bit...]

[besixdouze]

[Her smile back sure is just a bit delayed, isn't it? Just a bit hollow. Credit must be placed where it's due for the effort, of course...and yet a very slight pause follows all the same, in which Voyager peers up thoughtfully at her features for a long moment.

Then, his own smile takes on something just a bit more gentle. A knowing, or perhaps a sort of sympathy, softening at the corners. Even if his words don't seem to address whatever it is he's seeing.]

It's true...you're right! A few feet, that's nothing, next to how far stars are. A drop of water in a sea...a grain of sand in a desert...

[If the sea were endless, if the desert were endless. He nods, and turns, gold scarf fluttering in the still air behind him. A few decisive steps forward are taken, with a peering over a shoulder to ensure Clarke's following.]

Just, being high up is fun. But I haven't been around this whole space yet, either. Let's go all the way around! [He's moving towards one of the deck railings, likely to use it as a guide for the perimeter.] I'm Voyager. What's your name, miss?

[besixdouze]

Hmm, not a friend, but still someone regarded well. There's probably other words for that, then. ("Associate"? "Co-worker", maybe? He thinks he's heard Erice use terms like that in the past...)

Either way. An energetic and enthusiastic boy, with a sack of mice for a head, who touches lots of things. Ah, Voyager does that a lot too, though maybe with a bit less fixation upon flare guns...it'd be nice to find such a kindred spirit here.

"I'll keep an eye out for him! Robbie sounds like he would stand out, so, I'll let you know right away when I see him."

The resolution is already accompanied with a smile, but he perks up further at Grace's offer. Honestly, she didn't even need to ask...but since she does--!

"Oh! Yes, you can be my friend. And I can be your friend too! I wouldn't mind that...not at all..." A warmly decisive nod--so it's settled! Here, a new thought occurs to him. "Huh...yeah, and since we're friends now. I can show you something! If you'd like to hear it?"

[moonlesstides]

Grace nods several times with enthusiasm. What is it? What is it? Don't leave her in suspense Voyager!

[aurthor]

"Piledriver is a terrible name. I can't make my mind up on Thunderball." On the hand, interesting, on the other hand, "Why ball? Was everything else taken by Thor?"

As for the blood, "No no. I used to be a Doctor too. A bad one," he winces, but he lost so many patients and his sarcastic little license to kill wound up all too true and nearly broke him. "It's ethically sourced. Which means you make sure it comes the healthiest of volunteers, or even patients who need it drawn, because they produce too much, and you pay them adequately for time and service. We're not in the dark ages anymore. That's why I have to find out where it's coming from here. It tastes better if you have chemistry with someone, but I said it's a secret, and it is. I don't drink from anyone or else they'd know."

As for no superhero teams: "Completely reasonable. But we won't be a team. And I'm no hero. Just a pair of boxers using our eyes, and ears, and fists to get us out of trouble, wouldn't you say?"

"Goth?" Is Arthur goth? "I could sparkle." If he gets glitter. Or fairies. Not the fucking fairies. Stop it with the fairies. -- mini shoulder Theo growls at him. "The more I hear about movies, the more dreadful it sounds." Holmes, dwarf porn, cannibalistic babysitters. One of these things is not like the others. "Aren't there ever real work done? Showing off sports, and the natural world, exploring the oceans' depths, or inspiring people to action?"

8 hours of research later and all I have to show for it

[aurthor]

Dwarf porn.

He's not surprised.

"Did you watch that?" He's not judging. He's a Doctor, so... you know. Everyone has their own kicks.

[besixdouze]

His own smile widens at the clear enthusiasm.

"Okay! I haven't done this very often...but, your bubble voice reminded me about it. I can send something a bit like that too! Listen..."

A moment's slight concentration passes across his features, as Voyager focuses on a point just over one of Grace's shoulders, and reaches...for the recording. A certain part.

They don't emerge quite like bubbles to Grace's own mind. Rather, as if playing at her ears and yet not, there's a very soft crackle of some sort of static feedback...and then voices. Dozens and dozens of voices, of all manner of human demographics (and not one of them Voyager's own), welling up over each other in a gentle overlaying murmur of sound. The overall tone seems to range between neutral and pleasant. The translator of the ship also doesn't seem to touch any of the words at all--dozens and dozens of myriad tongues for the dozens and dozens of people speaking--though if Grace hails from any iteration of the planet Earth, she might still recognize one or two of the languages.

The words are friendly greetings, of all kinds. Though even magically beamed as the voices might be, the recorded quality is clear, because the fidelity is still somehow poor and somewhat fuzzy...

[mollificent]

"You know Thor?" She doesn't, but he was an Avenger, so she's not sure she trusts him fully.

There's a beat. "Maybe you shouldn't tell people that. Cause you'll never be able to impress anyone like that." Duh. That just sounds...weird. "So you like...do blood draws and keep it for yourself? What if someone needs blood cause they lost blood? Like...not vampires." Not that she's ever had experience with that. But this is all sounding weird. "It's a secret? So why are you telling me? I could tell everyone."

Molly looks unimpressed and unconvinced. "Yeah...but that still sounds similar enough."

She's glad that she doesn't need to know about dwarf porn because that would truly be suffering. "I don't really watch sports a lot, but I play soccer! Only I have to be really careful at school cause they can't know I have superpowers. And so I have to not kick too hard. Also cause it's cheating, which is bad. Like Discovery? They do those deep ocean things and like the uhh...other things with animals. We don't watch a lot of that either. It's hard to like...get cable without people noticing because like...we're hiding...somewhere I won't tell you about." From the Pride and the Avengers and the X-Men...but somehow the X-Men can still find them. The worst. Unless Kitty Pride came!

"I dunno about aspiring to action? Is that like those sad commercials with the really sad songs that tell you to donate to pets while really sad, hurt animals are shown? Those are the saddest." Nico won't let them donate, but sometimes Karolina lets them visit one of the cat cafes or donate to the shelters.

[andrieski]

Marina laughs. It's probably one of the more genuine laughs she's ever had. "No. Dwarf porn's not my thing. And I'm not telling you what is."

[myagic]

[She sighs in exasperation--of course it's going to sting when he gets jabbed with a knife! And now he looks about ready to cry, just staring at it... Looks like there's no helping it, then... With another sigh, Rita steps forward, gives the injury a cursory glance--yeah, it sure is bleeding, like any cut will--and motions with her head towards the cabin hallways.]

Alright, come on, follow me.

--Oh, you're not gonna die or anything.

[You know, in case he was worried. Anyway, she needs to deposit this box and then take him down to the infirmary, she supposes...]

[not_the_last]

She smiles. "Having information is always a benefit. I would be quite interested to hear more about those."

Her phrasing is careful, giving room for him to elaborate now or put it off for another time.

[guildmastermind]

He's liked talking to her this long, but this is when he decides that even if they end up on opposite sides of the politics, she's always going to be one of his favorite people to dance talk about matters with. The delicacy on display is a quality of merit, in his books, and he agrees with the idea that 'having information is always a benefit'.

Is this what having a crush feels like?

"The Round Table Conference is a representative body for the group of adventurers from Earth who became trapped in the world of Theldesia and who settled in the city of Akiba. We're trying to work with the people of the land, to make sure we're able to survive without disrupting the society the landers have more than is necessary. Log Horizon, my guild, is made up of such adventurers, primarily. Both experienced ones and those who are younger and in need of experience and training."

[not_the_last]

Cassandra echoes the momentary dry laughter. "By all means, yes. There are several places here one can get a drink, off the Promenade -- if fruity cocktails are to your taste, our best option is most likely Hurikane. No, I beg your pardon, Stan the Man. It's been renamed recently."

[not_the_last]

Her eyebrows rise, as she listens.

"Adventurers from Earth?" is what she finally says. "That's fascinating. Everything I've heard of Earth suggests that it doesn't offer much opportunity for that way of life."

[guildmastermind]

"You're absolutely right, it doesn't."

His expression shifts a little distant. "Those of us who ended up in Theldesia first encountered it in a game. A fantasy game that let us take on the personas of adventurers. I was Shiroe the Enchanter-Scribe, instead of just a lonely engineering grad student without many friends in real life. It was an escape--until it was our reality. Tens of thousands of us were trapped, all at the same time. An event that came to be known as the Apocalypse."

Two fucking nickels.

[skaikru]

( there is something perceiving about that smile returned in full. it is uncomfortable and makes the lowest level of her skin, the hypodermis, crawl. but clarke is currently in the business of tapering down her baser instincts, and that includes ignoring the way her stomach twists and she immediately wants to break eye contact. it's fine, he's just a kid with a penchant for defying gravity and an adoration of the stars, real or otherwise.

he goes, he checks over his shoulder, she is indeed following. and will even draw up level in a moment or two. those analogies he's drawing sure do a great job of marking just how insignificant a single person — or two people, even — are in comparison to the larger things in life. space, distance, the sea, and the sand; that last one a little too close to recent, as it still feels like the remnants of the hour glasses live in her hair, and the skin over the cut on her arm is barely healed over. but — to the railings they go, and )

Voyager?

( one does not grow up on the amalgamation of several national space stations without knowing at least a little about the voyager program. missions one and two, american interstellar probes. it strikes as an incredibly odd name, but in being named after arthur c. clarke, she's got no room to judge. beats down any follow up questions like a tent spike into the earth, and fights the urge to cross her arms across her chest to offset the slight chill that comes with sundown, even in the most tropical of manufactured environments. )

My name's Clarke. Griffin. It's nice to meet you, I'm guessing you just got here?

[light_mischief]

"I'll be honest, I've never seen him in my life." Well. He has, but not as a cougar. And he didn't bother to ask for a name, either! "But I know he only hunts people in the Tommy Bahama. And even then, I think you need to be wearing an armband."

He has absolutely no idea if that's still true, but he's assuming it is!

[allhonourablemen]

"Eh, don't feel too bad about that. I didn't get my ground-vehicles license until my thirties, 'cus nobody would let me drive 'em. Wasn't allowed to pilot any of the interplanetary vehicles either- mostly they navigate using a comp/con but you can't have ones without controls," for reasons that should be obvious.

He huffs an amused noise as her grumpiness- definitely some sort of spooky business in her job history, they always do hate getting caught unawares. Ava, huh.

"I like Spooky better. But no, I got the nickname well before I got Adder. It's a story and a half."

And he's making absolutely no moves to tell it just yet. She'll ask, of course, but he's not offering something for nothing.

[not_the_last]

"A fantasy game that --" A startled huff that isn't quite a laugh escapes her, but before she can ask if this game was by any chance called Dungeons and Dragons, he's telling the rest of it.

"Tens of thousands? All from the same world, all trapped in another one?"

[guildmastermind]

He nods quietly, and awaits her next question--he's sure in her position, there'd be many he would want to ask.

[decohere]

"To be fair, most of the vehicles I've stolen have ended up wrecked. Even crashed a car right into the side of my fiancé's while trying to impress him with my maneuvers. Clearly it worked." She looks that dopey kind of in love for a brief moment. "But what's a comp con?" She can make half-guesses at what the words stand for, especially with the context of controls. But it sounds like a very specific kind of system.

And yes, she picks up on that amusement, and is more grateful for it than offended. Thing to watch out for is how quickly trying to feel out somebody's potential threat levels turns into an accidental challenge.

She crosses her arms, shakes her head. "Ugh, that's almost as obnoxiously serendipitous as Skulduggery naming himself such before he turned into a literal walking skull."

She circles a bit closer. "Well if your Adder is anywhere around here, unfortunately no vehicles are accessible until offshore. I hope you survive until then, I'd like to see it."

Slightly nsfw

[aurthor]

"Brilliant, that means it's a mystery to solve!" Truthfully he's just loving her laugh, and wants to make it happen again.

"Legs," no that's Arthur. What would hedgewitches be into? "Using fireworks at the point of orgasm." Again, that's Arthur specifically using his ecstasy bites fore foreplay.

"No wait, for visuals, hmmmmmm." A dramatic head shake, "Alas, I'll need to wait for more clues, but you know I'll be trying. Not fairies."

[andrieski]

She's just letting him go on and on, but his choices are all very...uh...interesting. Not what she's into...but interesting. "I don't intend to help you out with that either." Which means don't mention owning and running a BDSM club in Texas. Ever. To anyone.

[lordoftheozarks]

"At last, you've said something intelligent." No, he very much does not want any other vampire near his pet.

"What exactly is your opinion of humans? At one moment you seem to be defensive of them and the next you are calling them weak. Which is it? For that matter, Why do you care to involve yourself at all?"