dankmemes | test drive meme #28

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!test drive

test drive meme #28

Welcome to Hadriel's test drive, and thank you again for your interest in the game! As always, our reserves page is here, and our applications page is here! Reserves open January 25th, and apps are open February 1st. Please remember that there is an app cap of 20 apps.

Two quick points here as well:
1. Any thread made in Hadriel's test drive will be accepted as the sole Action Log sample in the application.
2. All threads made in the test drive can be considered game canon, either through handwaving or through a shared mental experience while coming through the Door!

Test drives will be broken up into specific god mini-events, during which your characters can see how well they fare under the watchful eye of one of the gods. Choose wisely or just simply pick 'em all, and have fun!

F E A R

SCENARIO ONE: GOT ANY BREATH MINTS?
[The Door brings in all that is chaotic and evil in the world. This may include you, may include the person next to you... and may include the monster behind you.

It looks like this time the Door is going for a little variety. You get to enjoy a couple kinds of chaos serpents, from the video game Hexen.

Chaos serpents are bipedal reptilian creatures with three horns, in two different colors. They can bite, as with most monsters, but the real threat is their breath weapons. The green ones spit powerful fireballs, while the brown ones spit clouds of poisonous gas. If you're lucky, they'll fight each other instead of you - but who ever gets lucky here?]

L O V E

SCENARIO TWO: ONE MINUTE IN HEAVEN
[Remember that first rush of infatuation, when your heart beats fast and your cheeks get red and you feel like you could do anything - anything - to get your crush's attention? Maybe you don't. Maybe you're too level-headed for that. Well, not anymore.

Now, whenever you meet a new person, you feel one solid minute of the most intense crush you've ever had. Their hair! Those eyes! Those incredibly attractive arm muscles! That tinkling laugh! Maybe you're the type to get nervous, maybe you'll swallow seven packets of hot sauce to show how cool you are, maybe you'll just lay down your very best pickup lines. Maybe more than one of the above - there are so many ways to embarrass yourself in 60 seconds!

But then time's up, and your insta-crush is gone, and now you get to deal with the consequences. What did you say? What did you do? That laugh you thought was beautiful and tinkling turns out to be obnoxious and honking. Also, you're pretty sure you just hit on your neighbor. But hey... maybe they actually are pretty hot, and you just made the first move. It's possible!]

C O N F U S I O N

SCENARIO THREE: THE PITTER PATTER OF LITTLE FEET
[There you were, minding your own business, when you suddenly fell into a deep sleep. Not that you remember that - now all you remember is being a child, as your consciousness has taken the form of your younger self. Here's your opportunity to run around and get into all the trouble you could hope for!

Or maybe you didn't become a child - maybe someone else did. Did some random kid just run up to you, confused and a little scared, or possibly just obnoxious? It'd be nice of you to help them out. Unless you hate kids, and hey, who can blame you? They're loud and somehow their little hands always seem to be sticky. Still. Make sure they don't run straight into the monsters outside the city, all right?

This is a mini version of our Hope of a Child event this month.]

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[His lopsided smile widened shyly. He'd only ever seen Alfred once outside of a very muddy and chaotic battle. He hadn't seen how blue his eyes were or how nice his hair looked, the shape of his lips.]

Um. You are the Saxon? I don't remember your name. [He was surprised he could understand him just fine.] Hvitserk. Ragnarsson. We met... before.

You look... nice. Today. [He wrinkled his nose slightly as he fumbled for something to say, not at all impressed with what had ended up coming out of his mouth.]

[ This son of Ragnar is behaving strangely but Alfred doesn't mind it, too much. It's curious and maybe a little worrisome is all. ]

I am Alfred. [ He adds no titles, no need to mention that he had been a Prince then and he is now King. ]

Today? I did not look nice before? [ He smiles at Hvitserk, his question clearly meant to tease. ]

Right. Alfred. [He smiled softly. He was pretty sure he hadn't gotten his name before, but it might've been mixed in with all the Saxon, which he hadn't understood.

His ears turned a little red at Alfred's question and he gave him a sheepish look.]

Ehh. Well. It... was dark. [He caught the teasing gleam to Alfred's smile after stumbling over the excuse, which just had him smiling and looking even more sheepish than before.]

[ Alfred doesn't really expect Hvitserk to have been able to remember his name. He had gotten the feeling even at the time that he hadn't spoke Saxon. Ubbe's had been barely passable and Hvitserk hadn't looked like he absorbed much of what was said at the time, at least from what Alfred had surmised. ]

It was a bit dark. [ Alfred agreed and there's a smile after. It's odd, though, that speaking of that particular instance doesn't bring more malice. He's not sure what is going on with this Viking. ]

Are you sure you're alright?

Mmhmm. [His response is almost automatic, a distracted smile and a nod thrown in for good measure.]

Have you ever thought of braiding your hair? [Hvitserk seems unable to keep himself from reaching out to run his fingers through it.] Not that it doesn't look good like it is! [His face fell a little.] And... you Saxons do not often do that, do you? [He smiles again softly.] Still.

[His eyes suddenly lit up.] I could braid it for you.

[ Alfred is even further confused by Hvitserk's hand pushing through his hair. The action is one that has him distracted enough not to ask exactly why he's doing that really. His hair is soft, freshly cleaned and all in preparation for the coronation and all.

He shakes his head in a slight movement, looking perplexed. The talk of braiding his hair and thinking of Viking hairstyles has him thinking about his father -- had Athelstan ever braided his hair? What would he think of such a thing. It makes him curious.

Curious enough that despite how strange Hvitserk is behaving he nods. ]

Alright. I am curious how it would look.

[Hvitserk looks like he's trying his hardest not to look as excited as he feels when he gets permission to, basically, play with the handsome young Saxon's hair. Of course, now he's met with the dilemma of having to figure out how he should braid Alfred's hair. It's long, but not really long enough for just one single braid. As he thinks, he happily combs his fingers through Alfred's soft hair.

He decides on something like his brother, Sigurd's, hair had been, a small braid that went down from the side of his temple and behind each ear and a third small braid that went down the center of his head. Of course, he didn't really have anything to tie them off with, so Alfred might not get the chance to actually see them unless they found a mirror relatively quickly.

He leaned in a little, closer than he needed to, using one of he braids as an excuse as if he were inspecting or smoothing it out.] All done.

They look good on you.

[ There's a lot of things that go through his head when the other is working on braiding his hair. His fingers feel nice and there's a sort of relaxing affect that having his hair braided by another has on him. He hasn't really had anyone touch his hair in a long time, certainly not in this way. Again, he can't help but wonder about his father and there's questions on the tip of his tongue. He holds them in until the other is finished, smiling kindly at Hvitserk as the other leans a bit too far into his personal bubble.

He doesn't lean away, though. It's not too bothersome and again he seems quite harmless -- at least for the moment. He vaguely wishes that he had his sword with him, but all he had had when he showed up was his crown and scepter. ]

Thank you. [ He reaches up to feel the braids even though he can't see them. Maybe they won't fall out before he finds a way to see himself. ]

Hvitserk, did you know a man named Athelstan? He was a friend of your father's.

[Hvitserk stepped back around in front of Alfred to get a better look at his handiwork, tucking a few strands back here and there; it just another excuse to touch and pet Alfred's hair, honestly.]

A friend of my father's? [His brow furrowed slightly.] I'm not sure if I remember him, or if I just remember hearing about him. The Saxon priest, right? [He nodded, unable to actually picture what he'd looked like.] I remember my father talking about him a lot when we were outside of Paris. [He more clearly recalled how much Bjorn had tried to take care of Ubbe and himself, trying to keep them from seeing too much they shouldn't. Such a good older brother. Half-brother.]

Why? Did you know him as well?

[ Alfred is really not used to being touched like this. His grandfather and mother were not the sort to be physically affectionate, especially for what feels like no particular reason. He feels awkward and yet it's not exactly unwanted if he's being honest which... Perhaps he's just always wanted affection. Its not as if there were moments like this to be shared even with his older brother either. ]

He was a monk. [ Although, the differentiation might not mean very much to the Viking. ]

I didn't know him. I knew of him. Ragnar Lothbrok gave me his cross. [ That might indeed be more than he should really disclose. ]

[Since Alfred didn't seem to object to him preening his hair, he moved on to his clothes, straightening his collar and toying with his shirt idly as he tried to force himself to stay focused on the conversation and not on dwelling on how nice Alfred's voice was to listen to or how soft his hair was or wondering if he smelled good. He probably did. Maybe like an herb or a spice. Something subtle.

He blinked a little upon hearing his father's full name, brow furrowing slightly.] Alright... [Now he was confused. Alfred hadn't known him, but his father had given Alfred the priest's, or monk's, or whatever's cross.] Why did he give it to you? And... why do you ask about him?

I know he is-[He stops himself, eyes jumping to Alfred's face nervously, unsure if he's breaking some kind of terrible news to him, or not.]- dead... But you knew that, right?

What are you doing...? [ Alfred does ask when the other started to mess with his clothes. It's odd, even more so than messing with his hair. It's just hard to really concentrate on what he's trying to talk about when he's trying to understand the Vikings behavior. All the same, it isn't as if he is trying to stop the other from doing as he pleases either, he's not harming Alfred. ]

I'm just...curious. [ Alfred says and he flushes a little. He's never really told anyone that Athelstan is his father, the words had always almost slipped out like he was just dying to tell the truth. ]

I knew that. [ He agrees and then reluctantly circles back to the first question. ] He thought I should have it. [ He thinks that that is the truth in any case. ]

[Hvitserk eyes widened a little as he froze and then slowly pulled his hands away before shrugging like he hadn't been doing anything at all. No big deal. At. All.]

Just- Your shirt was a little... -It was just folded strange. [He cleared his throat, offering Alfred a soft smile. He really doesn't feel embarrassed, or apologetic, mostly just thinking about how nice and soft Alfred's hair was.

And this strange business with the Christian priest. He had a distinct feeling that there was a lot Alfred wasn't saying about this, which made the whole thing a little confusing.]

Alright?

Oh. [ Alfred still looks a bit perplexed but he doesn't further question the Viking about it. He's not sure if perhaps it's just a normal thing to start preening strangers where he's from. ]

So you don't really remember anything else? [ Alfred questions softly and it's clear it certainly means a lot to him and there is a lot that he keeps to himself. It probably wouldn't matter much if he told Hvitserk but something still holds him back. ]

Nothing... useful. I remember he and my father spoke a lot. I remember them talking about Paris. They made this... sand castle of it. I think the priest was showing my father what it looked like, the river that the city is on. I remember they let us play with it when they were done. And I remember Athelstan... he had his own house a little ways from Kattegat. Not far. Just outside the city. A short walk. Where he could pray to his god.

I don't think my mother liked him much. [He wasn't sure what had given him that impression. She'd always been quietly polite to the priest, but cold as well. It was more of a feeling Hvitserk had than anything close to a tangible fact.]

[ It's not a lot of information but it's more information about his father than he's had. He knew the things his grandfather and his mother had said, the inferences he can make from the monastary but those only were a small part of his father, of his life. This is the other side, a peek behind the curtain.

He smiles, grateful for the information even though many would think Hvitserk hasn't really told him much of anything. ]

Thank you.

[Hvitserk tilts his head a little to the side, brow furrowing ever so slightly. This whole thing felt so strange like Alfred was asking about a good friend who he never actually got to meet. He obviously hadn't wanted to tell him much more about how he'd known Athelstan though.]

... Sure. [He said with an awkward shrug.

His face lit up suddenly as he remembered something else about the Christian priest.] His drawings! He had a... a... uh... a book! Oh. Right. You... know what that is, probably, yes? But, he had a book with him. I remember because it was the only one I had ever seen. And inside he had his drawings. Writing too, I think. They were very good. He drew me and my brothers one time. And some animals.

[ Alfred's eyes widen when the other's face lite up and then he gave him even more information. He smiles maybe it's a little sad. ]

I didn't know that. [ It makes him wish that he could see that book, if it had drawings and then writing? What things would he be able to learn about his father from his writing, from what he chose to draw. ]

It does not surprise me, though. [ His father would have known how to write and draw from his time in the monastery. ]

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test drive meme #28

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