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TEST DRIVE MEME #1
1. now it's fun to wake up in a strange chateau
[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! We're so glad to have you!
[you touch the lei. rooster feathers, lotus seeds, and a carved circle of something white and hard, linked onto a silk string.]
2. messing with my mind was fun at the time
[freshly lei'd, your legs are forced to lead out onto the deck and towards your muster station. the same woman is there, carrying a clipboard. this time, she introduces herself as Gal Friday, the cruise director, before immediately going into the muster drill spiel. it is very boring, and you are not allowed to move, except when you are required to show you know how to put your life vest on. you could try to not do this, but Friday will move to stand in front of you very closely and just. look in your direction until such a time that you decide to do it. and I'm sure your fellow passengers want you to just get on with it, too.
but, once it ends? she reiterates her desire to welcome you aboard. and, then, you're free.
well, free to move about the ship at your own leisure, of course. which is a kind of free, and probably the best one you can hope for. you could try to escape, maybe, if you have the means to; Friday certainly won't be one to stop you. that's what the barrier is for, after all.
but, wouldn't you much rather have fun?
the buffet is full. the pool is open. the casino jingles and chimes.
welcome aboard.]
3. lots of mystery in the history of the devils I knew
[you were never alone.
a few days have passed since you first arrived on the Serena Eterna. perhaps you've made yourself a little routine, and settled in a bit. or maybe you haven't done that at all. either way, you're here, and it looks like somebody is pretty pissed off about it.
it starts small. sometimes nearby plates skid off tables, or a pool chair upends while you're walking next to it. and sometimes that chair is aimed right at your head. objects are moving with quickly increasing frequency, and a wide variety of styles: some are dropped, or pushed, and others and others are tossed, but a few of the items are thrown, with great force and odd accuracy. if Friday is around during the lighter moments, she simply titters and cleans up whatever mess is made. if a pot of soup sails off the buffet line and nearly drenches you in boiling minestrone, she simply walks away.
and then there's the voices. hundreds, maybe thousands, calling out. not all are intelligible English, but you seem to understand them anyway. some sound scared, or angry. some are screams, others whispers. some sound entirely strange, while others are achingly familiar. and they're all saying the same exact thing:
Get Out.]
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Zoro eyes the glass, a little surprised that he didn't have to repeat his demand more than once, and then picks it up and slowly sips in case it's not actually booze - keeping a daring level of eye contact the whole time. Only when Sanji mentions that name does he drop his gaze and ease the tension in his shoulders slightly]
'Course I did. Motherfucker was tough, but I managed.
[downplaying his near-death experience and haki, as you do. No big deal.]
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It's only a good time when Sanji wins.Sanji would never use food or drink to harm another person. Consider it Zoro's devilish luck that Sanji is indeed still Sanji, and the drink is not only alcoholic but chosen for its full flavor.]
Ha. Well, no surprise there. [No insults this time. Sanji honestly never had a doubt that Zoro would win. But would he survive his victory? That's always the more concerning question.] Then were you still conscious for what happened next? I was a bit [distracted, emotionally compromised, passed out] busy.
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Busy chasing women. [snort] Nah, I just sorta woke up here right after that, so if anything else happened, I dunno. I mean, this could all be a dream and I'll wake up again with Chopper next to me or something.
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Hm, so even marimos engage in wishful thinking from time to time. [He exhales a wispy column of smoke.] It may not have been a pinch, but those swords of yours packed a serious punch. Hate to break it to ya, but this shit's real.
Someone's picked us up and shipped us off during the fray.
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Yeah, and how'd they manage that? Were you out cold, too?
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Not before I finished the job. [He clarifies through clenched teeth.] Then I woke up here, same as you.
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[not that it helps the situation but he's not...wrong? S H R U G]
You saw the weird lady with no face, right? What's up with that?
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She might... be a problem for us though. [His brow furrows as he grimaces, emphasizing the bizarre flip the swirl has undergone.] Never heard of a no-face tribe, and her voice is coming from somewhere else. Someone might've done something to her.
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It's creepy, either way. Once I've had my fill I should have plenty of energy to go looking around. [or use haki, which suddenly reminds him...] D'you sense anything?
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Bunch'a freaks just as confused as we are, mostly. [Sanji, that's worse than "weird" too.] Don't see much of anything outside the ship.
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[curiouser and curiouser. Excuse him while he just. Drinks, for a bit. It doesn't help the thinking but it gives him time to do some.]
Right. Well. Gonna have to start sniffing around, then. See if there's a way to turn around or find land or something.
[and he'll totally get right on that, after he's eaten, drunk, napped, drunk some more...]
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[That acknowledgement leaves him gritting his teeth. No Sunny. No Polar Tang. Nobody is following them.]
On the plus side, a ship as big as this? It's gotta have escape vessels or supply boats attached somewhere. All-you-can-eat buffets don't just magically poof into existence.
[He's going to be so very pissed when he finds out.]
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No, they don't. We'll have to keep an eye out for crew if we're gonna steal a life boat.
[already 'we,' because like it or not crewmates stick together and that's the only way out.]
At night, maybe. Less of a watch, then.
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Right?]
We meet at dusk then. By the pool. [There are two pools. There's no way this can end badly.] 'Til then, we scope out what we're up against. You interrogate the male staff. I'll handle the ladies.
[BRB, straightening out his bloody tie.]
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Like hell! You're gonna get distracted the instant you see one that has eyes and forget all about me out there doing the dirty work.
[although Friday's lack of eyes probably wouldn't stop Sanji anyway. Still. It must be said, and with all fuss and irritation!]
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[He says like his gross swooning wouldn't be even worse.]
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[none of this makes any sense on either side but at least it's familiar and that's better than freaking out in a weird place they can't escape. Zoro goes back to that casual sip he was about to enjoy like he just won the argument]
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The pointless rage boiling in his belly is familiar indeed, and so is the way he immediately abandons his wit when he can't let go of a stupid marimo insult. He shoves his glaring face into Zoro's personal space and snarls.]
You say something, shithead?!
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Dart. Board. Eyebrow.
[as if he has anything better in his repertoire right now]
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At least blocking for a bit keeps him from breaking anything that will get them both thrown out or worse, sprized by Friday]
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He's not stopping until they're both properly spritzed like the bad dogs they are.]