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

[midnightroads]

"We haven't met...yet." There's a twinkle in Bash's dark eyes as he stands up, prowls over to Ash's chair. That's the only word for it, prowl. The man is wiry and limber and as clearly self-possessed as anyone on the ship. "Maybe I help you with the chair, and you introduce yourself, or something."

[professionalriot]

"No, we haven't." But when he sees him move and gets a good look at his face he can't but help to think of Klaus. Well, something Klaus said. "I'm going to guess who you are because I think I know. Klaus told me there had been someone he was mistaken for....but prettier, goth...would make me swoon." He grins. "You're Bash. I'm Ashley. Will you still help me?"

[midnightroads]

"Have I actually managed to make you swoon already?" There's a warm chuckle behind the words. Bash comes right over to Ash and sits in his lap before reaching down to fiddle with the chair's controls. Shameless, he is.

[professionalriot]

When he sits on his lap Ash laughs. "Maybe I'm swooning now, yeah." He leans to the side so he can look around at what he's doing. "You smell like coffee."

[midnightroads]

"Do you want to find out if I taste like coffee, too?"

It's bold, brash, confident. Bash knows how to proposition someone with absolutely no feelings involved. Duplicity taught him well. He can fuck his funk away and pretend to be content with it. Jeff's not here.

Jeff's not here, and Bash almost isn't sure who he is alone, anymore.

[professionalriot]

"Yes." He states just as boldly.

Bash's emotions are loud. Ashley isn't an empath, but he has a gift to manipulate emotion which means he has to feel what others are feeling in order to change it.

"How about I make a shitty attempt at painting your toes and you tell me who you are?"

[midnightroads]

"I'd love to have a sweet thing like you at my feet." His dark eyes twinkle with amusement. "But it sounded like you've been told the important bits already. I'm Bash, you're Ashley. What more is there to know?"

[professionalriot]

"I'll kneel but you have to earn it."

He's in trouble with this one. How was he already in trouble? He should have listened to Klaus about the swooning. He wasn't kidding.

"Whatever those dark eyes are hiding. C'mon. What's the harm in telling a stranger your deep, dark secrets?"

[midnightroads]

"Aw, none of it's really secret. Most of the ship knows already: I'm divine. Give me a chance, and I'll prove it to you." One hand lifts so fingertips can brush against Ash's cheek, gently. His skin is cool to the touch. Not corpse-cold, but cooler than it really ought to be.

[professionalriot]

"Sweetheart," He says gently as he takes Bash's hand in his. "Explain divine. As it pertains to you."

[midnightroads]

"I'm a demigod. My father is of the lwa, and I am too. Except he's important and I'm an errand boy. But comparatively on this ship? I'm one of the ones Erin considers a heavy. I don't wave my dick about it most of the time, it doesn't get in the way of me being who I am. But if you want to know, now you know."

And then he smiles at Ash. "What the fuck's your story, now that you've got mine?"

[professionalriot]

"Nah, no...not that story. I mean...it's fascinating. But I want your story. You. Why do you feel so fucking sad?"

He chuckles and shakes his head. "Nothing special. Just a fucking puppy."

[midnightroads]

"You're feeling me? Shit, I'm sorry." It's harder to keep up the playful act when you know it's not working. He lets out a sigh, his hand squeezing gently against Ash's. "It's not a big deal or nothing, really. No one can do nothing to fix it, so I'm gonna just ignore it."

[professionalriot]

"Don't be sorry. Please." He squeezes back, goes further and laces their fingers together. "It's a big deal. It's your life. I know we just met but...is there anything I can do?"

[midnightroads]

"Mm, a distraction, maybe?"

It's a light, teasing pass rather than seriously pushing in on anything.

[professionalriot]

He flexes his fingers against Bash's again, a soft boyish smirk on his lips. "What color should I paint your toes?"

[midnightroads]

"Black's traditional for goths. But I wouldn't say no if you found a nice sparkly purple instead. Or dark green with glitter? Something suitable to my everything. I trust you, darling." Or at least he's willing to extend trust to him. Close enough.

[professionalriot]

Ash is learning not only how to care for himself here but about caring for others. He doesn't have an assistant here or an entourage. It's kind of intimidating.

Using our from under Bash he finds the polish and digs around until he finds a suitable color. The dark, glittery green catches his eye.

"Talk to me."

Shaking the bottle he pats the edge for him to place his foot.

[midnightroads]

"I don't got much to say. How long have you been on the ship? Got a roommate? Who's your best friend, so far?"

Still trying to distract from the hole in his heart that is missing Jeff.

[professionalriot]

"Been here a few months." He opens the bottle and examines the little brush, wiping the excess paint off before it can drip. "Pratt is my roommate. Good guy. My best friend? Shit. Valdis. I talk to her the most."

[midnightroads]

"Valdis is good people. I'm not sure she liked me, but I respected her. Pratt...fuck, what happened to his other roommate?"

[professionalriot]

"Toes or fingers first?" This won't be pretty Bash but he's going to give it a try. "He hasn't said and I don't want to bring up something that will upset him. He's been through a lot of dark shit that I don't understand."

[midnightroads]

"Okay, sure, but find me someone on this hellship that isn't true of." There's almost a laugh there, but not quite.

"And start on the toes. If those turn out real shitty, I can always hide them in shoes."

[professionalriot]

"You make a good point. Everyone here is more then a little fucked up."

Sitting in front of him he hunches over so he can work on his toes.

"Or you'll just have to let me try again."

When his big toe is done Ash smirks at himself, it isn't horrible.

"So you were here. Then you were gone. What happened?"

[midnightroads]

"I think I took a vampire to hell, but he's not there anymore and I'm not, either." But that's just one fucked up interpretation of how all of that went. And it still leaves out why his heart's bleeding. But it's also not entirely untrue, so.