dankmemes | Test Drive Meme #40

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!test drive

Test Drive Meme #40

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 24th, 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: SLURP SLURP
[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.

What's that on the ceiling? Who's that skittering along the wall? Why, it's none other than the the Licker, from the Resident Evil series.

The licker crawls around on walls and ceilings and can easily avoid all attacks with their creepy crawly acrobatics. Watch out for those tongues, though- they can whip you with them and catch you off balance. They love waiting in dark corners to jump at you and slash you with their oversized claws, as seen here. Luckily, their brains are exposed and they're quite blind- move quietly and avoid their notice, or attack them in their weak spot to get away safely. Be careful though, they tend to travel in packs...]

T R A N Q U I L I T Y

SCENARIO TWO: CABIN IN THE WOODS
[It's nice outside. There's a heat to the air that permeates through the muggy interior of the cabin, but at night, it's cool enough that you can relax and see all the stars in the sky. The hot tub is a nice contrast to the chilly night air and the possibilities are practically limitless!

So cook something up on the grill, go hunting, or just relax and definitely don't get murdered, because you do happen to have a bit of an odd cabin mate. Why are the two of you sharing this cabin? Well, that's up for you to decide, but whether you're close friends who decided to take a vacation together or random strangers stuck together by circumstances, you're here for awhile so you might as well take the time to relax and get to know one another up here in these mountains!]

R A G E

SCENARIO THREE: MONSTER HOUSE
[It seems like you've just misplaced a few items at first- but after awhile, it becomes apparent that the items are misplacing themselves. Weird, right?

Maybe not that weird, because soon afterward, items of all shames and sizes start to move around, now well within sight. Their intent is clearly to annoy or even harm you, depending on how dangerous the item is... maybe a deathly pair of pants, to a set of keys that keeps running away from you, to a house consumed with the desire to- well, consume you.

Be careful of everything, be suspicious of items that may be trying to lure you in with their stillness, and have fun! This event is based on Hadriel's It's Aliiiive! event this month.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Drake turns from where he was opening a cupboard to see what they have to make for dinner, offering Chyler a smile. She looks calmer now, that's for sure. Like the shower put her a little more at ease both with the situation and their hospitality. Liv's clothes are only a little big on her, which makes sense, they were loose on Liv too but the best they could find on short notice with the high demand that week. ]

Anywhere works for now -- I was just hoping you'd stay for dinner, and we're fine with you crashing here if you wanted to wait until tomorrow to find your own place. There are three other apartment spires, all of them have space and are pre-furnished just like this one. Or there's the houses, or Love's little... what do you even call them? 'Love shack' is just weird but they're like. Bungalows? For just one or two people.

I refuse to call them love shacks, [ Ephemera mutters over his coffee. He has standards. Sometimes. ] But they're not too bad. Got heat, power, the whole package. There's room to train over by the guard post, too, if you want. Pratt got the range all set up.

[ NYOOM: the sound that joke makes as it goes over Chyler's head, but she at least knows enough to assume there is one.

Still, this is all welcome information, and she's comforted to know that her options aren't either continued hospitality or building an outdoor shelter of some kind.

As much as she wants to go out right now and establish herself, make a plan, do something, her parents raised her polite. ]

Dinner would be wonderful, thank you. Pratt--are they one of us?

[ Drake grins at Ephemera shutting down his joke, even if Chyler doesn't seem to get it. That's okay. He turns back to the cupboard, rummaging and pulling down stuff to make them pasta. ]

If by one of us you mean people dragged in by the door, then yeah. Everyone here is except the gods -- Pratt's okay. I like the range, it's well organized especially considering what he's working with.

Not from back home, [ he clarifies. He almost says not with the UNSC, but that's edging onto a lie. ] He's law enforcement, or he used to be. But there are a few here you might wanna know. Washington, he's UNSC. Him and Carolina, they've almost got a full squad.

[ Pls hold. ]

Excuse me, but gods?

[ Chyler has never really believed in gods, either the gods that man carried with him into the stars or the ones they've created since. But somehow, the way Drake says gods seems different. Like they're real, tangible, present.

Some else to make no sense! Why not! ]

[ Oh. Drake's yet to come up with a good explanation for the gods besides aliens with magic powers, and he doesn't think that'll go over too well with Chyler. He glances to Ephemera for backup on this one. ]

That's sort of just what we call them -- they've got abilities like gods, I guess, but we definitely don't worship them. There are seven that run the city.

[ Ephemera winces. ]

They're responsible for most of the weird shit that happens around here.

[ And there's no easy way to say this. So, he's just going for it. ]

They feed off emotion. The ones they're named for. Hope, Love, Sorrow, and so on. They'll engineer situations when they get hungry enough.

There are things you call gods here, and they feed off of us.

[ THIS PLACE GETS WORSE AND WORSE.

She sits down slowly on their couch. The only thing she can think is that these creatures need to die. They need to die, she needs to get home, the gods are responsible for the weird shit, which means they're probably responsible for whatever brought her here, which means they can't die until she figures out how to get back.

How many people are here? How many people are already trying to figure it out? Has anyone already tried to fight the things that call themselves gods? Chyler pinches the bridge of her nose, trying to sort out her thoughts. She should be able to handle this. It's just another sitrep, it's all just part of the same bundle of information, just presented out of order and in pieces.

She should be able to handle this.

Chyler covers her face with both hands to try and hide the fact that she's starting to cry. ]

[ Oh. Shit. Drake closes the cupboard and turns to Chyler again, though his eyes are on Ephemera. He's not sure how much weakness a soldier's comfortable showing -- should he go to her, or let Ephemera handle this one? For now he hangs back, just in case his partner would rather take the lead, but his voice is gentle and encouraging. ]

It's nothing you can't handle, Chyler, promise.

[ Okay. That was clearly a mistake.

Ephemera exhales slowly, setting his mug down. He doesn't know how to do this. He's only met Chyler last night and she's both a kid and not, a soldier with a killer aim and probably what, all of sixteen?

Isn't fair to put this shit on somebody that young. But here they are.

Silently, he moves and sits down on the floor with his back pressed against the couch. Close to her, but not touching. Not looking at her, either. It's better if no one sees when you cry. He always hated it. Even in front of Drake, it's a lot. In front of a stranger?

That's worse. ]

Take a minute. Do what you've gotta do.

[ He tips his head back. Exhales slow. ]

I'm going to do an armor check. When you're ready, you're going to help me check for weather damage. Okay?

[ It might not be the right thing. It might be a very bad idea. But it's what he would do with the twins, when they were having a bad day. Give them some time to work their shit out on their own, then give them a task. Something tactile, something they either knew by heart or could learn, and then just be there. Eventually, they'd come back on their own. If it worked on soldiers with PTSD so severe they'd both decided to just stop talking, then maybe, maybe it'll work on Chyler. ]

[ She nods, face still covered. She doesn't cry much, but when she does, it's softly. She learned it on Cygnus, had it driven home when she lived with her aunt and uncle, who had so much more reason to cry. She had the desire to cry practically beaten out of her at Corbulo, where tears were a good reason for your drill sergeant or squad leader to make an example of you.

She can't stop herself now.

It's too much. It's all too much. From the invasion at Corbulo to the monsters in the in the dark to this, all of this. It rolls over her like a riptide, dragging her into the grip of an ocean, deep enough that she can't see the shore.

Chyler hugs herself and folds up, pressing her forehead against her knees and sobbing until she can barely breathe. ]

[ ...well, Drake was going to just let Ephemera handle it, but uh. That's not 'I need a minute to compose myself' crying, that's a teenage girl curled up sobbing in front of them and Drake's not really someone who can just stoically ignore someone in pain. Even if it's what they'd prefer. Hopefully this doesn't scare her off, but he's coming over to the couch too, claiming the seat on Chyler's other side and cautiously reaching out, stroking a hand between her shoulder blades.

He doesn't say anything, but if she wants someone to actually cry on, well. He's there. ]

[ It's not working. It's really, really not. If anything, she's crying harder.

Ephemera puts a hand over his good eye. Tips his head back and exhales. There's nothing to say. He doesn't know how to offer comfort to her. What would have worked with the twins isn't with her.

At least Drake is trying. Sitting down next to her and reaching out cautiously. Drake was always better at this part, he thinks.

Silently, Ephemera shifts so he can lean against Drake's legs. There's nothing he can think to say, so he doesn't. He waits. ]

[ Chyler turns toward the comfort without thinking about it, pressing her face against Drake's shirt and crying until she's left a wet spot, crying until her sobbing turns to a kind of exhausted shuddering.

She needs to get control of herself. It's a background thought, a desperate whisper, one that reminds her that these are people she doesn't know, that she's bawling in front of a soldier like some kind of civilian. There's no way either one of them will have any respect for her now.

Finally, it stops. She stays with her forehead against Drake's chest for a moment, too humiliated to look either one of them in the face.

Quietly: ]

I don't do this. I don't know what's wrong with me.

Nothing's wrong with you. You're working through it.

[ Drake's voice is low and even, his hand still stroking Chyler's back as he answers. He's unmoving, unhurried, just letting her take her time to calm down. Not pushing her away, not getting up like he's got better things to do, because he doesn't. Ephemera's weight is solid and warm against his legs, the fact that he's down on the floor instead of up here hugging their guest a reminder that soldiers don't do this. Don't let themselves show emotion even though they have them. Drake used to think like that. Used to bottle everything up, not let the pain show. Then one day it exploded, and he learned he had to change his ways. ]

It just means you're human, Chyler. Happens to all of us, sometimes.

[ Drake is better at this part. Better at seeing behind all the bullshit, to the truth of people. And he's never been cruel about it. People like Drake, they care about everybody else. No matter how hard it gets.

Silently, Ephemera reaches back and offers Chyler his hand. He's not wearing any armor, or his survival suit. There are several black rings tattooed across his fingers, one for each squad member he lost, and a smattering of old scars.

He's not good at this. But he wants to try. Maybe he can't say the right things like Drake, but he can be there. ]

[ It takes her a moment, looking at Ephemera, to realize what he's doing. She slides her own hand into his, squeezing a little. It's reassuring, that he would reach out instead of scorning her. It reminds her of Tom, asking her if she was okay, not judging her when she said she didn't know.

Between Drake and Ephemera, she feels a little more solid. A little more real. She's felt out of place in her own mind since before Ephemera found her, since before the invasion, even. Since she saw that ONI footage of Innies and UNSC fighting side by side.

She closes her eyes, still a little embarrassed, still not wanting to look either one of them in the eyes quite yet. She feels oddly like she's been assigned a new squad--if she thinks of it that way, being here can't be as awful, right? ]

Thank you.

[ They don't rush her. Drake settles his arm around her lightly -- she can pull away when she's ready but if she wants to hide a little longer that's okay too. Ephemera offering her a hand has the corner of his mouth tugging up, and he relaxes a little when she takes it and holds on. Okay. She's coming down from it, and not afraid to accept the comfort now. That's better. ]

Anytime. [ He sounds a little lighter now, too, less wary of how the things he says will be received. As Chyler gets more comfortable, so does he, it seems. ] You gonna help Ephemera with his armor while I make dinner?

[ Okay. That's something. Ephemera feels his shoulders drop a little, and exhales slowly. It's not quite like being back with his squad. Drake and Chyler are different. But they're here, and he wants to be here with them. Offer support if he can. More than that, he wants to be kind the way Drake is.

Not everything has to hurt. ]

You don't have to. Just thought I'd offer.

[ His armor is more advanced than what she was wearing. Might've been a good distraction. But if she doesn't want to do work right now, that's okay, too. ]

I do want to.

[ She takes a deep breath, drawing away from them both on the exhale. She doesn't entirely want to, but she needs to be able to stand on her own in this, too. And helping with Ephemera's armor--it's something to do, something to keep her mind busy so she doesn't fall apart again. Never mind the fact that she's curious. ]

[ Chyler will find her balance, Drake thinks. Somewhere between needing to lean on others and stand by herself. Where she's able to accept just the help she needs. She's young, she'd never had to navigate that before, but he has faith. And when she pulls back he lets her, straightening up to stand. ]

Okay. You guys do your thing, I'm gonna start cooking. Hopefully it'll be better than the mess stuff you're used to.

[ It feels a bit better now. Less fraught. Ephemera nods slowly, though he doesn't stand up just yet. ]

All right.

[ He gives Drake a grateful nod. ]

Always is. I can't cook for shit.

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Test Drive Meme #40

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