![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
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.]
no subject
He almost wants to laugh at "maybe there's a reason you're being targeted". Oh yes. There are several reasons, actually, but he offers a saccharine smile instead of drawing attention to it.]
I wonder what it could possibly be?
[Ha ha! Ha.
Ebalon cannot count the number of people on one hand that want his head on a pike. He can name a handful of names, though; everyone else is about as inconsequential in threat level to him as a child is. Actually... he does have to wonder if all of his "old friends" still think Solace is entirely to blame for the El Explosion, or if they've woken up from their almost-permanent slumbers and put two and two together.
The whole-ass tomato ending up on Robin's plate draws him from his idle musings.]
My, I wonder if you are being targeted as well?
[Granted, a whole extra tomato doesn't seem that hostile. Unless Robin is allergic, and then maybe.]
I hope whatever's given you that bothered to wash it first.
no subject
If I am... I don't think I've done anything wrong.
[ brows furrowed, robin goes over the events of the day thus far. waking up, taking a shower, doing some light stretches and vocal warm ups, and then now he's here. as he raises his hand up to his neck and shoulder, touching a particularly sensitive spot, before bringing it back down. ]
I'm not going to eat this!
[ and he pushes it aside. ]
What... is that thing you've been protecting yourself with?
no subject
[Ebalon reaches out perhaps a touch dramatically and pokes the inside of his shield with his finger; the thin, white moon magic it's formed from ripples like water.]
It's a magic barrier. More specifically, it's moon magic.
[Despite it being broad daylight outside, Ebalon can sort of just do that, though the shield could be much stronger if it were nighttime.]
The technique is not well-documented, but I'm known as a "Master" of it. Are you able to use magic, boy?
no subject
[ his eyes are as wide as the moon right about now. of course, his relationship with the moon isn't exactly with the normal one. no, it's of the crimson moon; the one that listens to the vampire's songs and rewards them with accordingly.
yep. ]
... no, not magical. Not at all. [ robin squints at where the shield seems to be and carefully reaches out. very carefully. ] Just a student. Oh, and a singer.
[ he furrows his brows, expecting to eventually find that point of resistance. that or he'll end up touching ebalon's chest. or face. or wherever. ]
no subject
[The corners of his lips quirk into a smile.
Robin's hand will collide with the shield, a dull thunk like what you'd get if you were to reach out and poke a glass pane. The whorls of magic ripple under his touch, but other than that, the shield remains mostly translucent. It's cold, though not unpleasantly so, especially given that the weather aboard the ship proper is nice and summery.]
no subject
[ something about this man is... well, robin feels like he could probably tell him anything and everything as long as it doesn't lead to his own demise--- which is only one thing, actually! he seems oddly pleasant, but also coolly so. it almost feels fake.
and that's when robin hums to himself, a gentle noise. ]
Night is when I sing. That's when our shows are.
[ tapping the shield, robin hums again. ]
How do you hold hands if you hide behind this barrier?
no subject
Other languages? Shows? You seem to be quite the busybody, huhu...
[He props his cheek against his curled fist, elbow on the table in quite the improper fashion, if lunchtime etiquette means a thing to Robin anyhow.
The latter question is what makes Ebalon's expression shift from mild amusement to mild surprise.]
...hold hands? I would say I don't necessarily have a hand to hold, so it isn't a concern.
no subject
You have a hand right there.
[ yes. robin can try. after all, vampires can turn into mist--- into smoke. if he focuses hard enough, maybe he can make his hand faze through? with his tongue peeking out from between his lips and brows furrowed inward with as much determination and focus he can muster, all he accomplishes is making his limb appear a little translucent. that's it. ]
no subject
...turn his hand translucent?
Momentarily, he looks thoughtful, and then finally puts two and two together. A laugh, thin and airy, breaks through his lips.]
My, if you wished to hold hands, you could be more direct. Shall we strike a deal?
[It's always deals with Ebalon, see.]
Tell me how you did that magic, if you can, [he gestures to Robin's translucent hand, wondering what that was supposed to accomplish exactly,] and I'll agree to letting you hold onto me for a spell.
no subject
... I'm not quite sure. I've never done it before.
[ he holds his one hand with the other, frowning slightly. ]
But if I told you why, then I might... this is supposed to be a vacation, right? No one's supposed to die on a vacation.
[ pout. ]
no subject
["No one's supposed to die on a vacation"... Ebalon supposes that's true. Still, what an interesting thing to just say aloud! Chin-in-hand, he fixes Robin with a look that says he's terribly curious, if it wasn't obvious enough as it is already.]
Are you saying that your magic has you under some kind of contract where you'll die if you talk about it? That won't do at all... How curious. Is there anything you can tell me? The deal is negotiable. I'm somewhat of a scholar, you see — information interests me.
no subject
Um... kind of! What if I just said that I'm not human? Or that I was, but not anymore?
[ that should be enough. right? it's bending the rules but not breaking them. still, the thought of accidentally putting his life in danger when none of his bandmates or friends are here...]
no subject
A shift from something human into something nonhuman... such phenomena exist, of course, but they're quite rare. [The Scientific Babble has Activated.] The fact that you retained sentience through it is rarer still.
[Thoughtfully, he gazes off into the distance before inquiring,]
I don't imagine this phenomena has anything to do with Henir, does it? You show no obvious signs of His touch, though I reason asking does no harm.
[Unless it does, and then Robin can just not answer the question. He'll stop interrogating shortly, promise.]
no subject
I don't know who Henir is, but whoever he is? I've never met him. Unless he's a fan...
[ but robin shrugs and goes back to smiling. ]
Is that the kind of information you've been looking for?
[ gibe hand. ]
no subject
A deal is a deal. Ebalon waves a hand about and his barrier of moon energy extends to encompass Robin, that way neither of them are subject to flying plates, knives, tomatoes, other such objects. That same hand he extends with a flourish, an offer, in case Robin suddenly wants to back out.
Honestly... he doesn't quite understand the appeal, but whatever.]
You must forgive me for my prying. I went to a college for mages, so you could say research into magic is something that interests me greatly. The unknown is rather vast, so I enjoy accruing all of the knowledge I can.
no subject
[ because hey, he's only known traditional colleges and universities and schools! so honestly, that sounds much better than sitting around and taking notes or trying to speak another language. as the barrier covers him as well, robin wonders if he'll need to take one final breath as if he's plunging into water... but finds that he can still breathe easily even within the confines of ebalon's shield.
and then he takes that hand. fingers interlocking, palms against each other. ]
Well, I hope... you know something that you didn't know before.
[ the unknown may be vast, but right now robin knows one thing--- this man is a little odd but kind. right? no one unkind would EVER hold hands like this. c: ]