sail_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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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.]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

1. The Steam that Rises from the Water
What scares Johnny Summer the most is not being on a ship--an impressively large ship, decked out in a manner he could hardly imagine, bigger than any cruiseliner on the ocean in 1907 (his native time). It's that he's away from his building--his home and business alike. Anywhere that isn't the Margrave Building is foreign territory these days; the city center would be as panic-inducing as this situation, in some ways.

But Johnny is a man of poise, if nothing else. He arrived in a dinner suit with a white summer jacket, and even found a tin of hair pomade in his pocket (along with the other items that should be). Even before he left his room, he'd paused to slick back his hair, adjust his jacket and try to find his dignity. By the time he arrives at the muster drill, he's managed to almost seem more curious than scared witless.

It's an act. He's curious what acts other people will have, to cover their fear and bewilderment.

2. Tells Me You Are Satan's Daughter
A. Tauva
It took only two confrontations with Gal Friday for Johnny to realize that the local smoking restrictions were inescapable. So, he's retreated to Tauva, where he can get away with lighting up one of the thin black cigarettes he's brought with him and think.

As he notices a stranger approaching, his eyebrows both lift, his lips curl, and he holds out his cigarette case in an invitation. "No offense to whoever's running the humidor, but I'm not sure I trust the local cigars."

B. Pool Bar
The first time he hears the sound of the blender at the pool bar, Johnny is first confused, then intrigued. Such things simply don't exist in his time; he's over 40 years before the invention of the pina colada.

So the sound that comes out of him at the first sip of one (served in a festive pineapple with paper umbrella garnish, of course) is one of delight and surprise. "Well, will wonders never cease. I'm going to need to figure out how to make these, when I get back to my place. They're sure to be a hit."

3. If I Am the Devil's Son
Unfortunately for Johnny, he's in the Stellar dining room, eating a plate of duck a l'orange when the poultrygeist...erm, poltergeist activity begins. The unused place settings begin to dance along the edge of the table, before the forks and knives begin throwing themselves at the hapless diners.

With a yelp, Johnny throws himself out of his chair, trying to take cover under the table. But it too seems to be starting to float.

"What is this madness?!"

X. Then into the Darkness We Should Run
[Wildcards always welcome. Plurk

darkersolstice or Discord darkersolstice#9463 if you want to plot a thing!]

strange chateau

[Right, well. Not the first time he's gotten so absolutely pissed last night that he woke up somewhere unfamiliar with a bit of a blackout and a monstrous hangover. But usually that involves bedhead hair, tousled sheets, warm bodies or cold corpses within reach depending on how the night went - and he's usually on steady ground. The gentle, almost-imperceptible bob of the ship has him on the edge of throwing up over the side of the bed.

This is a new one, but clearly he's taking it in his stride. Somehow, John manages to get his shit together, or at least not shit the bed on his way out the room. The door doesn't open - of course it doesn't - and he didn't so much read the note as he did scan it like front page news before ripping the lifevest out from the closet, putting it on backwards to protect his exposed nipples from the cold, and stumbling out into the narrow corridor.

Without his room key. And wearing absolutely nothing except for the back-to-front lifevest. To be fair, he's being helpful. Nothing would get anyone running to Deck One like some crazy naked blond fella with all his bits hanging out looking pale and nauseous.]

...C'oh, mate, I think I'm gonna be sick.

the devils I knew
[At some point during his stay on the Serena Eterna, he does manage to get some clothes, and he even sobers up a bit, so no one else has to endure all the sights that John Constantine has to offer. In fact, he does a whole 180, and he's that guy with the tie in the trenchcoat standing next to the swimming pool, letting the poltergeists take cheap shots and use him for target practice. Figures, this isn't just a lucky ticket he was gifted by a very magnanimous Nigerian prince. Haunted cruiseships aren't really his specialty, but he's not too bothered by moving objects and gravity-defying gins and tonics.

At least, not until he gets hit in the head by a flying coconut. He gets knocked away from the pool and loses his balance, crashing into an unfortunate nearby bystander and knocking them off their feet. Hands flailing in all sorts of appropriate and inappropriate places, Constantine tries to regain his balance and put some respectable distance between them. Or at least get to his knees.]

...I'm alright. Cheers. [He thought he'd asked if the other person was alright, but you know, he was... thinking it, at least?]

wildcard
(Up for any shenanigans, hit me up with anything!)

[A faceless woman is not among the oddest things Ebalon has seen in his exponentially long lifespan, so do forgive him if he doesn't react with much horror at the sight of Friday. If people around him are gasping or crying or otherwise expressing abject shock, he's the odd man out, standing there politely with a slight, soft smile on his delicate features. He hardly even reacts when the lei is placed around his neck other than to quizzically run his fingers over the rooster feathers, briefly wondering what kind of fashion statement this is supposed to be before seeming to move on.

...the compulsion that brought him here was a touch annoying, though, he'll admit that much.

Unfortunately, Ebalon can't quite find it in himself to care much about the surroundings. There's work to be done, yes, but by his measure he can simply do it here. Whatever spacetime anomaly that brought him here can be researched and picked apart piece by piece until he has either a workable solution to exiting, or more knowledge than he entered with; at which point, the latter of which should give him enough information to loop back around to workable solution. If he's baffled about the situation at all (and he is — as evidenced by approximately one (1) half-second where his brow creases and he frowns just after Friday bumbles off to go lei someone else), he's doing a damn good job of hiding it.

He doesn't speak, but rather makes unflinching eye contact with you as soon as Friday loops the rooster feather lei around your neck, offering a thin smile as polite formality. If you're concerned about the situation, that's your problem, clearly.]

II.

[When the back-to-back compulsion spells finally end, Ebalon only looks mildly more cross than he was when they began initially — though, if you look in his direction, he's swift to correct his frown into something far more amicable. It wouldn't do to get mad over such a minor spell anyhow, would it?

He'll make his way to the library on deck 3 first in search of answers of any kind, though he finds on the walk there that his magic seems to be working fine. A little supernatural movement in the shadows here, a tiny ball of moonlight in his hand there... everything seems to be in order by Ebalon's measure. If you catch him playing with magic at some point between his journey and the library proper, he'll offer you a smile, like he knows you've been looking. It's all smiles with this man, clearly.

In the library itself, however, he seems perturbed. There's not a single non-fiction book here, and that makes his research rather frustrating. Supposed research, anyway. In most cases, anything would help, except for the fact that colourful children's books and novella for teenagers don't offer much except life advice.

Ebalon doesn't care for life advice.

He'll stay in the library for several hours regardless of that fact, pouring over books in case there's something hidden within the pages. There's a precarious stack of YA novels building next to his right elbow that threatens to topple at any moment, but he's hardly paying it any mind. From where he's seated at the table, facing away from you, he says aloud in a quiet voice,]

I personally wouldn't bother with that section, unless you fancy books for older children.

[...it's like he has eyes in the back of his head. He hasn't looked up from his current choice novel.]

III.

[Today, Ebalon thinks he might as well be living in his shield magic for how much flying objects have caused him to toss them up. By Henir, this is almost more annoying than anything else he's ever dealt with in his life. Almost.

It's fine, he thinks to himself; he'll just gently delete the existence of whoever or whatever has been hurling things in his direction while he's trying to exist in this spacetime anomaly. It'll be quick, no one will know, and he'll be able to get on with his list of things to do.

From where he's seated near the buffet table picking at lunch, a spoon comes flying out of nowhere and thunks uselessly off of a translucent, white-glowing magic shield. Unfortunately, that spoon happens to come at him from an angle awfully close to where you're standing, which means—]

Ah, do you have a moment? I just want to talk.

[—that he thinks you're the cause of the hellishly annoying day he's been having. The hostility in his voice, while not obvious, is certainly present.]

wildcard
[Feel free to toss anything at me or poke me at

wolfchan to discuss!]

1]

[Falling falling falling...

And then she wasn't anymore. Nell laid there, still as a stone, like she was having one of her episodes. Her body refusing to listen to her for a minute...three... Slowly she clenches her fist, her muscles finally returning to her, and her hand goes to her throat. There's nothing there...?

Nothing there.

She lets out a breathless laugh and sits up, pausing again to see herself still wearing the dress from the 'dream'. Breath stilling in her throat, she picks at the skirt of it, trying to make sense of reality. Lifting her eyes she sees no dark figure waiting for her, but a note.

Eleanor reads it and laughs again, this time it's louder and sort of bitter. Maybe this is a result of her siblings finding her and putting her in 'professional care' like they'd threatened to a time or two. Always after one of her bad nights, always when she was just a little too emotional for them. Always seemed to bother them at just the wrong time...

Still, it was worth following the directions to at least see about getting out of here. What she needed to do, what mask she needed to wear. After washing her face, Eleanor gathers the jacket and makes her way out of her room. Having never really been on a ship it takes her a few tries to find 'deck one', legs locking up here or there. The paralysis is nothing new to her, still leaves her staggering slightly (bending at the waist, really) as she tries to continue walking.

Eventually she makes it there, the shoulders of the jacket gripped in both hands and gathered together at her stomach. She looks around nervously, hoping...maybe to see a familiar face in the crowd. (Maybe Luke?)]

2]

[The whole life jacket demonstration leaves Eleanor with a taste in her mouth that she can't describe. Not quite like bitter tea, more sour...like a lemon candy. The vest begins to feel more like a stone the longer she leaves it on.]

Off.

[Talking mostly to herself, she looks down at the ties/clips that are keeping her bound in it. Her fingers fumble at them, refusing to work properly just like she'd just 'woken' up after her sleep paralysis.

Nell bites her bottom lip to keep from whimpering and making a scene, but still, there's going to be an audible gasp of relief when she gets the first one undone.]

3]

[Whispers she's dealt with. Shadowed figures looming in front of her she's more familiar with.

This...?

Eleanor is clinging to the walled side of the staircase, having barely moved out of the way of the laundry cart that she swore moments ago was halfway down the empty hall she just left. Eyes wide she checks again to see if there's anyone down the hall, then down at the foot of the stairs.]

Did... Did that hit anyone?

[She doesn't see anyone right away under the pile of sheets or around corners/pillars, prompting her to make her way hurriedly down the stairs to at least right the thing. No reason for anyone to trip over it! But as she bends to pull it upright there's a loud, raspy whisper, audible to anyone within the area of the landing there that's right in your ear:

GET OUT

[Eleanor jerks up straight, looking around wildly.]

I...

Wildcard

[Make your own adventure or we can plot something! Message the journal or gloryfalling on plurk!]

Edited (lmao been so long i forgot about wildcards) 2022-02-11 06:05 (UTC)

time for an unplanned vacation.

[ 'Who the fuck names their kid `Gal Friday`,' levi wonders to himself as he sits up in his bed and discards the note he'd found on the nightstand. 'And where the fuck is this??'

his old bones creak to life as he rubs the sleep out of his eyes, muscles protesting against going into motion. despite not having a clue which direction he's supposed to be going his legs seem to take him along with only a slight hitch in his weak ankle. it's an eerie feeling, not unlike an instinct but it's an instinct he shouldn't have.

not before long he finds himself meeting this `gal friday` and immediately takes a disliking to her and her voice. he blinks tiredly as she places the veil around his neck. levi doesn't know why he can't quite focus on her face but chocks it up to his screwy vision, having lost it completely in his right eye. he sighs in exasperation. ]

Great.

[ levi's voice is thick and absolutely unamused. but honestly, he can't complain - yet. he's only needed a vacation since the day he was born. it's just this eerie feeling that he's still asleep dreaming up some weird bullshit that he can't shake. last he remembers he was in his own bed in his own house...

he turns away from this creepy gal lady and approaches someone else - another passenger - and hopes they're just as fucking lost as he is. having suffered so much the years before, his appearance is quite grisly at this point; old scars with messy field-stitching mark his face and cut through his right eye and across his lips. his right eye's gone a milky white undoubtedly from the damage. but despite it all, and despite his cold aura, levi isn't entirely unfriendly. ]

You bring yourself on this ship or did you just find yourself here like I did?

this devil isn't the one i dreamed of.

[ it's been some time now and each day is the same. it's a monotony that levi absolutely craves, comfortably boring after the hell he experienced for nearly 40 years. he wakes, heads to the bistro, the gym or maybe even the pool and he might harrass one of the other passengers along the way. it's... good to get some self care in. a lesson levi's learning, if slowly.

but things aren't as simple as they seem.

levi had always thought ghost stories were just tales for children. things mothers would tell them to keep them in line, out of places they weren't supposed to go, teach them some sort of storied moral. that sort of thing. and with the amount of dead friends levi has in his past it sure would be nice to think that some of them were still around in some way. he's never had any evidence towards that and failed to allow himself to believe any of it. but this ship sure has him second guessing these thoughts.

the suicidal dishware is sketchy enough but when levi starts hearing sounds and voices of people that aren't there it sets him on edge. he heads down to his new favorite cafe for a soothing cup of tea. unafraid to be comfortable around strangers, levi settles into the bar stool right next to someone else and defaults to his favorite flavor of crude humor. ]

Watch out if you go to take a shit on the toilets. They might shit back.

wildcard.
( ooc; feel free to throw anything at me. you can also find me at

dzintars or bludhavens#3208! )

[Johnny is polite enough not to stare at Levi's face, but the way his gaze flickers away from it, instead of meeting his eyes (eye?) shows that he clearly notices if all.]

I woke up here. At least it's not just me--not that that's reassuring, that they could bring all of us here.

[Helpfully(?), Johnny shoves at Constantine as his hand lands on his chest, scrambling backwards at the same time to create some distance.]

Glad you are, chum. Did you see who threw that thing, though? Because there's no one over where it came from.

...do you- need help, miss? [He's just as confused and disoriented as anyone else here, but so far he's complied with every instruction given, mostly waiting for the other shoe to drop. Gal Friday is unnerving in ways that don't show on his face, he wears the garishly bright lei on top of his dark clothes and jacket like a shock collar, and he's a little more tightly wound than usual, checking out anyone else who might look like crew with a long, hard stare and studying the other passengers with a quiet but intense sort of scrutiny over their behaviour, their attire, the things they say and don't say.

But he's fairly satisfied that no one else really knows what the hell is going on, and he's a sucker when it comes to helping out people who might look like they need a hand.]

May I? [He slowly lifts and shows her his empty gloved hands, turning his right hand to point at one of the clasps where the strap got twisted around and snagged in the clip, on her side towards her back where she can't get a good look at it.]

i. good morning starshine, the sun says hello.

( sakura nanamine is not a girl who shows her emotions easily. and yet, when she awakens in an unfamiliar place, anyone would be scared. the note is... less than helpful, or at least not as helpful as she wanted. she's on a ship, and knows it's name. she certainly hasn't made any choice lately, let alone about a cruise vacation- especially during the school year, are you crazy?- and there's... some sort of orientation.

well, not drowning is good. if they can even go overboard- the first assumption is that it's a boundary, and there are limits to how far anything and anyone can go. but she's not about to test it. ... maybe she can look around on her way. except she can't move to the left when she tries in one of the hallways. she can't move her legs at all. ... disturbing. when sakura spots someone, she glances over to them. )

Do you know what's happening here?

ii. from deck to deck

( well. that was... enlightening. sakura does not remove the lei, but she's... unnerved, and doesn't really know why. maybe she should get rid of it, but really, the girl just wants to get away from there. so she does, and when she comes to a stop outside of the dining room, she realizes she'd been running.

she's been in control for so long. to be powerless again... its an uncomfortable feeling. ... she'll hold on. for as long as she can. so sakura inhales, drops the lei on the floor and walks. she needs information.

the first stop is photos at sea, where she finds information, all right- too much, and none of it makes sense. there's photos of her already. of other passengers too. when were these taken? she doesn't remember any of these events- eventually, she waves someone she shares a photo with over, somewhat relieved to have caught them. )

What do you make of this?

( when she ends up in the kid's lounge playback, it's... ... look, she's not for it. she doesn't like a lot of loud noises, and someone keeps laughing and it's making her skin crawl. sometimes she thinks she sees something out of the corner of her eye, but there's nothing there. an arcade box blares loudly and she sort of... just stares at it. maybe she'll just leave.

which is how she finds herself at sand dollars, eventually. it's a decent little cafe, she supposes- and... well, she's tired, and she won't admit it but she's scared. a little treat has been more than earned. with a chamomile latte in hand and a madeline on a plate, she sits down and looks out the window. she's not sure where they are. if they're on earth, or the far shore or what. ...

oh wait someone just sat down beside her- )

... Are you a new passenger too?

iii. god i wish i could

( sakura barely manages to duck when a plate flies and nearly beams her right in the head. ... tsukasa was a capricious child, but at least she never had to worry about this. but she can see the ghosts- its more than some others can say. get out they say. well, fine. quietly, sakura calls out- )

There's one on your left. Be careful.

( is she going to elaborate? no. ... not right now, anyways. )

iv. wildcard!

( feel free to throw anything at me! if you've got any questions or ideas, hit me up in a pm! )

Strange Chateau

There was a time in his life when waking up in a strange bed on a cruise ship he doesn't remember boarding would send him into an immediate anxiety spiral. Hunk likes to believe he's grown since then. All things considered, this isn't even the oddest situation he's found himself in. On a scale of one to ten, he'd probably rate this one a solid five or six.

Hunk can be spotted, eventually, holding his life jacket and spinning his wheels near a group of similarly agitated passengers. Safety's important, no matter who you are, and he's going to guess that this is a briefing he's better off hearing in its entirety. If nothing else, maybe a little more information will make this seem less panic-inducing.

Messing With My Mind

The reality of the safety briefing is a lot drier than initially anticipated, but it's still all good info to have. The most concerning part of all of the entire ordeal is that he's somehow unable to move until the speech is concluded. Hunk is just going to file that away for future reference.

Once they're released to their own devices, Hunk is quick to turn to the nearest person to get their take on all this. "Hey, uh. This is probably going to sound completely crazy, but do you remember actually boarding this ship?" Because he doesn't. No amount of thinking back is going to change that, either, apparently.

Devils I knew

It'll be a few days before things take a turn for the weird and unusual. In the meantime, Hunk manages to settle into something that almost resembles a routine. It's odd being here without the others. That's one of the first things that pop into his mind, once he's begun to process everything else. Would he find all of this less odd if his friends were here? Hunk has no idea. He's not even sure if he'd like to find out.

What should have been a nice lunch is quickly derailed when a nearby chair decides to levitate. It hovers there for a few seconds and then goes crashing into the far wall. Eyes wide, Hunk abandons his sandwich and dives under the table.

"Oh man. What is even happening right now?" Who is he talking to? Nobody specifically. Himself, perhaps.

Choose Your Own

[The obligatory wildcard option! Feel free to run into Hunk at any point during any of the above prompts, or someplace else on the ship. I'm easy to get along with and Hunk is wide open. Feel free to hit me up at

doodlebuginette or CornyFlake#7375 (or via PM) to work something out!]

The man Hunk's just turned to is in a nice dinner suit--white jacked, black bowtie, slicked back hair. His eyes are an odd light golden brown that somehow still manages to feel cold, sharp.

"No. I don't. I woke up here this morning."

[ just when levi's not sure things can get any more fucking weird than they already are, he turns and nearly bumps into someone clearly having a difficult time. the man's naked for some undecipherable reason and the look on his face has levi wondering if he's right in the head. would it be more or less pitiful looking if he'd been completely naked, or does the life jacket add a certain flair?

levi opens his mouth and takes a breath, about to say something when the man speaks for himself.

oh. oh no. ]

Well, luckily there's a rail right to your left that you can barf over.

Sitting back on his heels, Constantine rubs at the bump on his head, groaning and sighing as he debates just lying on the floor, rolling onto his back, folding his hands over his stomach and trying to figure out what to do with the ship. The responsible thing would be to try an exorcism, but he didn't bring his bag of tricks or any books with him. And what if that's the reason he's here? They'll drop him off at the next port and he'd be giving up all these drinks and the opportunity to sleep with all these beautiful people.

"Course I did. That wee bastard over there," he gestures over his shoulder. Of course, he doesn't know if he's the only one who can sense the otherworldly presence that clings to the ship like a bad stink - multiple presences, in fact - and even if the other man could, whatever threw the coconut at him was long gone by now.

"'ow long has this been happening, love?" Asked as though the other lad has been on board the ship for years.

[ levi's grown used to it with time. it's simply human nature to want to observe what is unusual or different, and the fact that levi came away with as little disfigurement as he did is lucky. he had every expectation to die on the battlefields along with his peers. fate clearly had different ideas. ]

This whole thing's fucking weird. I don't know what to think of it yet. And I don't recognize anyone.

"Ah."

That's... just not the sort of answer he was hoping to hear. Though he supposes it'd make sense for others to have the same sort of experience he's been having, as far as his untimely arrival here. It makes sense, in a way.

Still, Hunk is visibly agitated by the news. "Have you ever woken up someplace random before?"

I. Strange Chateau

It takes him an hour or two to actually poke his head out of the tiny room, because what the hell, what the fuck, is this some HYDRA trick or is he hallucinating or did someone kidnap him from his tiny closet of a hideout, and if so, why? And why the weird note?

If you go knocking on doors, you might find him wedged into a corner of his room with a gun in one hand and the other curled into a metal fist, glaring warily at the door.

When he does finally go out, he tries to start looking around before answering the summons, but he doesn't move. So that's another half hour of just standing there, confused and angry, and increasingly terrified. A little help here maybe?

III. Devils I Knew

Routines are dangerous. He spends most of his time lurking, not trusting anything or anyone, trying to be in unexpected places where he can get the best view of whatever is happening in a given space with as few people as possible able to watch him.

The first time something launches at his head, he blocks it with a metal arm, and the plate shatters all over the floor in front of him. He stares at it in consternation.

When an apple rolls off the table as he's passing, he catches it, and looks between it and the table with a confused little frown.

When he starts hearing voices, he's pretty sure he really is hallucinating this time, but he can't help himself from trying to find them. So he's following whispers and flinching away from shouts, poking his head into various rooms-- not personal cabins, more like maintenance closets and shop doors. At least not at first, not until one of the warning voices sounds like the stupid former target and he can't not check to make sure he's not really there.

Sorry, if that's your room.

Johnny glances over toward where the ghost must be, clearly not seeing shit, before his attention returns to Constantine. "I wouldn't know. I just arrived before the muster drill--three ago, now."

While he's been sleeping odd hours, between exploring the ship and just not being able to relax on the water like this, Johnny knows he's made it to three dinners at the formal dining room. He's made a point of that; dinner's a good time to watch people, to get to know their habits.

Under normal circumstances, part of what he'd be watching is how they treat the waiters, but the unseen staff means he'll have to adjust what he's looiking for, there.

I don't, either. And the clothes everyone's wearing really bring a lot of questions to mind.

[Especially some of the women who come from later than 1907 and are bouncing around in jeans or shorts.]

[Well clearly the Village People lost their village idiot, considering John turns to his right and rubs a wall before turning to his other right to find the rail. Look, there are no losers here, but there was always going to be a few weiners.

Unable to hold it in anymore, John throws up a bit - he didn't eat anything last night so there's not much to expunge, if they had to look for some kind of elusive silver lining in all this - and he's left gasping and looking a bit frail from the purging and the smoker's cough. But he's feeling slightly better at least, and he holds up a hand with one finger at the other man, asking for another half minute to catch his breath and let his stomach settle down.]

If you were looking for a magician to perform on your ship. I'm available.

Johnny's in his room with an evening cup of espresso from the promenade and a book from the sundries shop (some fluff romance novel) when the man who was once Bucky Barnes barges into the room. And immediately, he reaches for the revolver that's always under the pillow on the side of the bed he doesn't sleep on.

"Get out, we're not doing this tonight."

How disappointing.

( not that sakura doesn't like fiction- it's enjoyable. but it's not what she was looking for. she holds up the book she'd pried from a shelf- it looks like some sort of moby dick ripoff, actually. ... she'd rather read the original in that case. sighing, she puts it back on the shelf. )

I suppose atlases and star maps would be too easy.

"Never. Up until about a week ago, I hadn't left my building for three whole years, honestly. This is...it's a lot."

He thinks, though, that life on a single ship might be bearable for a bit. For a vacation. It's not like he was dropped in a foreign city or some jungle. His world is still a contained space.

[She's more or less pushed the thoughts of Friday's face (or lack there of) to the back of her mind for now. On one hand it's...deeply frightening but on the other, the Bent-Neck Lady continues to be the worst sort of specter that she's had to deal with. Not that...Friday is a specter. Or at least there's been no lending to that thought. More pressing than that was just getting the life jacket off.

Nell's current outfit is reminiscent of a peignoir, modernly speaking of an old-fashioned nightgown. Perfectly opaque, of course, what is modesty in those times except at a high-point. (He might've seen his mother wear one, possibly.) It's yellowed with age but still in very good condition, if not appropriate 'cruise' attire. She looks up at the voice, not realizing that her frantic state was that noticeable.]

I... [Help. Yes. That's what she needs! Nell nods, making sure to move her hands out of the way.] So-sorry, my hands don't want to work just yet, I guess. [She purses her lips together.] Haven't... Haven't had the need to wear one of these since I was a kid. [A small, awkward laugh.]

"Oh. Must've been when I came onboard, too." Constantine would happily admit he doesn't know much about cruise ships - as long as he gets to be a self-proclaimed expert in a few other domains where he's a tad more useful - but he was expecting at least a thousand staff to keep this ship running. Most of the people he's run into so far are other 'guests'. Or kidnap victims, depending on how you look at it.

"And you are...?" Mostly John's curious to know if there's some kind of pattern about the kind of people on the boat, but sure, he'll settle for a real or fake name, a vague job description, a religious proclamation or anything else that's offered.

The gun comes out of his own holster to train on Johnny, right back. Maybe even before Johnny gets his gun in place.

But he looks more alarmed and afraid than actually aggressive, and though his metal hand is steady, his eyes are flickering around, like he's looking for something.

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TEST DRIVE MEME #1

Johnny Summer | Lavender Jack | OTA

John Constantine | DCTV | OTA

"Master Ebalon" | Elsword

eleanor vance (nee crain) | haunting of hill house

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2]

3]

Wildcard

Levi 》Attack on Titan

Unplanned Vacation

The Devils I Knew

2

Nanamine Sakura | Toilet Bound Hanako-Kun

Hunk Garrett | Voltron: Legendary Defender | OTA

Messing with my Mind

strange chateau

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no subject

Bucky Barnes | MCU | OTA

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Devils I Knew

ii.

no subject

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no subject