TEST DRIVE MEME #7

[fairyfoes]

TEST DRIVE MEME

Considering apping to EACHDRAIDH? Why not give the setting a test run here! OPTIONAL SCENARIOS 01. ARRIVING IN THE DRABWURLD. The Seelie and Unseelie courts welcome you not with mirthful revelry, this time around dear friends. There is a seriousness in the air, though the food is still hearty and the imps still mischievous. After you have been briefed on your purpose here, you will find an endless feast and a night filled with entertainment to placate your concerns. Mingle with new arrivals, sneak down the castle halls and make sure your eyes are always on your glass; fairies and imps have no bias when it comes to tricks! 02. THE STATION. Looking for a little slice of home? The Station gives you all that and more. Take advantage of the wifi, have a cup of fairy-brewed coffee (the one they didn't spit in) or sit back and relax on the patio. You can even move your things into one of the available rooms! 03. WILDCARD. Your own scenario! Explore the Drabwurld or simply take advantage of your Locket! Be mindful, though -- the monarchs are watching and cross court communication should be done with the utmost secrecy.

Comments

enkidu | fate/strange fake | seelie

[rougher]

01. [it is a small comfort that such scenes are familiar to him; much more familiar than those of the place he had been summoned to just a few hours before. the Earth was beautiful, even after many years of his absence, but this new, strange place was lovely in its own way as well; if entirely alien to him.

a world alien to him. it bears repeating, as though it seems a natural thing to fixate on for a person borne to a new place with little warning or ceremony, it was fascinating to him in an entirely different way. a child born of a God mother and mud, every step he took upon the earth of his Earth was a comfort, a reminder, a tool he could use to navigate the world. but the ground of this place is not of his mother, and not of himself. he can feel it through the stones of the moot hall, echoing back to him a strange don't he can't repeat or recognize.

he's so intent on this, his bright gaze trained down, he barely registers the people buzzing on either side of him, words passing through one ear and out the other, only really stopping in his movement when he accidentally knocks into another person, blinking a little dazedly as he finally looks up.]

03. [YOU WANNA DO THE THING I WANNA DO THE THING let's be doing. the thing.]

HARPYLIKE SCREECHING also 1

[babbylon]

[Gilgamesh cannot believe what he sees.

Gilgamesh cannot believe what he sees because he can't be seeing it. Enkidu, so stricken down from his own world, so punished by the gods, would never live and breathe again. Yet here this terrible realm would have him think that he's been brought back to life; have him think they were renuited, as was forbidden, as was forsaken.

Gilgamesh stands there in a stupor, and even when the visage of his friend, this ghost—no, no, it isn't him, couldn't be him—brushes against him, he refuses to acknowledge it.

Instead, he weeps, out in the open, dropping his goblet and cursing the Drabwurld anew.]

Please, my friend.

[Please rest. Please be at peace. The great Gilgamesh weeps for this thing he surely he cannot have.]

Please, do not haunt me so. You mustn't torment me with that wicked beast called hope.

[He must look mad. Or perhaps beyond looking, as Gilgamesh went mad so long ago so longing after his dearest friend's death bed.]

SHOOT ME IN THE FACE i don't have the icons i need

[rougher]

Ah!

[it is an exclamation like a breath being knocked out of him, and if you told him someone hadn't squeezed the air from his lungs, he would not believe it. it had been such a strange sensation, to have the promise of a reunion in one world, only to be torn to a new one mere seconds later, his emotions had scarce little time to catch up.

but it is him. how could it not be? every angle of his face, every shade of his skin is burned into his mind. the reason for his birth, the reason he had reason. what strange trickery was it that he hadn't known he was in this place from the moment he took a step forward, as it should be? such things race in his thoughts, but he finds himself focused on an entirely different matter.

his small hands reach up, surprisingly steady as they frame Gilgamesh's face, voice even, though the doll's heart that beats in his chest hammers away like frightened animal.]

Ah. Do not do that. I have made you cry too many tears already; I will not be able to bear it if you shed even more.

not enough icons in the world for this t b h

[babbylon]

Of course.

[Deep breath in, deep breath out. As no one else can and no one else ever will, Enkidu calms Gilgamesh to stillness. Tears still slide down his face, and he still suffers in his tyrant's heart, but no longer does he appear ready to collapse. That shall come later, in the arms of some poor whore who would help him forget all this.

Against himself, Gilgamesh rests his hands atop Enkidu's own, and tries to smile. He tries, and tries, and tries, but it's just wrong. He tries anyway, because Enkidu told him do not do that, because Enkidu always speaks wisdom and so he must abide it.]

Of course, I misbehaved. Forgive me.

[He really shouldn't. It's still his fault, thousands of years later. He keeps trying.]

Let me shelter you. Let me show you goodness, great Enkidu, ever my equal, ever my beloved brother.

[rougher]

[he realizes he must have said the wrong thing, from his reaction; words were never his strong suit, being as he is, a creature raised among beasts until civilization came to have need of him. it has been so long, too long for him to remember quickly enough just how sore-hearted this tyrant could be. a boy born a lonely path ... had he been the same, here? from his reaction, Enkidu can only assume so.]

Of course. If that is your wish, it is mine as well. If it will keep such looks from your face, I will gladly comply.

[he says this, though his own expression is hardly one of pleasant thoughts. all Enkidu can think of is the last time they were this close, how he had been the one crying as he thought of his failure towards his friend. to keep him from that lonesome path, to stand with him always ... though for him, it had been but a brief while since then, but how long had it been for Gilgamesh? had he left him to suffer greatly, his friend? judging from these first brief moments, he can only assume so.]

[babbylon]

[He's not as lonely as he once was here. There are those that call him friend, though they are not, those he enjoys the company of and those he looks with some fondness upon, but none he places on so high a pedestal as Enkidu. Selfishly, he takes pride in himself that he has kept his promise. Selfishly, he takes pride in that Enkidu's dying wish has been honored.

It has been forever and a day for Gilgamesh. He has suffered and lost himself but in this moment, some small part has been regained, even if feels like the rest of him breaks in the process.]

I do love you so.

[That's why he embraces him without hesitation, draws him up into his arms and drapes around him. He doesn't care what he sees and now no longer cares if it's all fake. He'll drown in this illusion forever. Such is the fate of the maddened king.]

You never failed me, my friend. Not once. If you should part from this place, never forget it.

[He knows Enkidu too well. He knows this is what plagues him right now.]

Prompt 1

[oathshackledbird]

[When they run into each other, the contact is slight and brief. It would hardly be noticeable to a servant, but it is not that contact that makes Diarmuid pause and causes his face to pale when he looks down to apologize. It's the face. A face he knows. Not from life, but from memory. Memories shared with him over a bond of blood. Memories entrusted with great care from a king to his subject.]

You've come...

[The words slip out of Diarmuid's mouth in a whisper. A very small part of him wonders if Gilgamesh will still need a knight when his only friend has arrived, but that small part is quickly silenced by the rest of Diarmuid. The part that nearly screams with joy. If anyone can stop Gilgamesh's slide into madness it is this boy...this man who is standing before him.]

It's really you, isn't it? The King of Heroes' only friend. The other half of his soul...

[rougher]

Ah?

[he himself had been about to apologize-- though born with a body of clay and raised among wild animals, he had been taught human manners by a most talented teacher. the words fall flat in his mouth as this man speaks before him, causing the natural course of his words to leave him grasping at what he's just been told.

'The King of Heroes' only friend'. did this man know him? he blinks, once, trying to recall if he's met this person before. it seems very unlikely, as he had only met two souls in his brief foray into the grail war, and hadn't been alive for several thousand years prior to that. though he racks his mind, this person is certainly a stranger to him.

how to respond, to someone who obviously knows you, but who you have yet to meet? it is never a situation he has been in before, and finds himself blindly grasping at the proper way to reply to such a man.]

I am friend to the King of Uruk, Gilgamesh. Hello.

[well, he didn't have much time to think of it, without lapsing into an especially long and uncomfortable silence.]

[oathshackledbird]

Hello.

[Something about the tone of Enkidu's voice seems to break through to Diarmuid and his expression sudden softens. A moment later, he drops to one knee, arm folding across his chest--making it very obvious his other arm is missing--and bows his head respectfully.]

Forgive me. He would have my head for greeting you in such a fashion. My name is Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. Gilgamesh and I were summoned into the same war before we were brought here. There we were enemies. Here I sworn myself to him. He...has had much difficultly in this place. They have taken much from him and limited him in ways he is not used to.

[Finally, Diarmuid looks up and smiles.]

But having you here, I think, will go a long way to making up for that.

[rougher]

[though it isn't a particularly long introduction, it's still a lot to take in for him. this man is a Servant, but also a servant to Gilgamesh, who is in this place? he had not sensed him when he entered, but then ... he hasn't really been able to sense much at all, now that he thinks of it.

this situation is familiar enough, in a way; Gilgamesh had many men under his command while Enkidu was with him, servants and soldiers and innumerable others. but he can already tell that there's something more here, the way Diarmuid speaks. many under Gilgamesh's command thought him an unstoppable god; some days, they would be close to correct. but there's clear concern in the words he hears, speaking of things that would most certainly cause grief to the Gilgamesh he knows.]

It ... is good to meet you, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. I introduce myself, but it seems there is no need to.

[though Enkidu doesn't yet feel comfortable enough with the man to disclose the entirety of what thoughts his words have brought to him, he seems a noble enough person from his initial actions. a good person for Gilgamesh to know, should what he says be the truth.]

[oathshackledbird]

No, though you may if you wish. I only know you from the memories my king was kind enough to share with me and memories are hardly a substitute for getting to know someone in person.

[Diarmuid looks up from his kneeling position, noticing the crowd of people who mill around them. While it might be known to many how Gilgamesh's power was limited, there are also many new people here and Diarmuid is not comfortable speaking of such things in detail when there are so many around.]

Would you care to walk with me for a while? There are so beautiful gardens I should show you and I can answer all the questions you would like to ask.

[It is an open invitation for Enkidu to ask all that might be on his mind about this place, about Diarmuid himself, and about Gilgamesh, for he suspects that some of the changes that have come over the golden king will be very surprising. Diarmuid still can't believe them all himself...]

1. im just gonna go ahead and apologize for everything in advance

[excalipoor]

[The guy Enkidu's managed to stumble into is huge. We're talking eight feet tall at the least with the musculature of a brick wall, yet even so he seems to notice the bump he feels as he's walked into.]

Huh? Hey, c'mon kid, you gotta watch where you're goin'!

GREG!!!!!!!

[rougher]

Excuse me, I was not looking in front of me as I walked.

[he steps back, giving the strange looking man the appropriate amount of space after he's rudely invaded it at the fault of his own lack of awareness. it is a very strange looking fellow he's met with, as far as humans go, but Enkidu doesn't seem to react to his rather garish appearance. you can't really beat hanging out with a guy who likes to wear golden tea kettles on his shoulders.]

[excalipoor]

Well, you should! If it was someone who ain't as nice as me, they mighta got real mean at'cha.

[Gosh that green hair sure reminds him of someone he knew who was.

Well.

Super Green.

And also a wolf, sometimes a demon, never a chicken.]

But I guess if you're on your way somewhere, I could clear the way.

[rougher]

I was not walking with a destination in mind. I simply wanted to fully experience the sensation of walking on foreign ground.

[that is definitely a normal and not weird thing to do, right.]

[depicted]

[Before the accident can happen, a hand catches Enkidu by the shoulder.]

Be careful there. [He sounds more amused than chiding.] You wouldn't want the earth you're so admiring to greet you with too much affection.

[rougher]

It means no harm to me, I am very sure.

[it's a rather strange thing to say, isn't it? that's what he chooses to focus on, the casual touch seeming not out of place in the slightest to him. perhaps the man had mistaken him for a friend, or was just simply a person who liked to touch. neither were things that Enkidu took any offense to.]

[depicted]

[The voice. An unconscious smile slips onto Dorian's lips, his eyes turn to the boy's face. That voice. He has heard that voice. He has dreamed that he loves that voice more than any other, lived for it, delighted in each of its utterances. He has dreamed that its wordless singing made a world complete

He has dreamed that this voice went away, and all sound was only cacophony.

Dorian's eyes sting. He draws back from Enkidu, fingers flinching inwards.

He knows that voice so well.] You . . .

[Like a dying thing, he reaches for Enkidu's wrist.]

Let me hear your voice again.

[rougher]

... are you all right?

[it's clear like a bell, almost feminine; a sound unlike any other, but unnerving in that way. like the voice of something made to resemble a human, but made too pure, too perfect to be real.

Enkidu himself doesn't flinch at the touch, despite this boy's strange behavior. he has witnessed stranger behavior humans, in the years he lived among them. he isn't one to frighten so easily.]

[brainiest]

[ The dazed look is a little familiar to her and Hermione watches the stranger with a careful, wondering gaze, hesitating before she pushes herself away from the table. She remembers when she first arrived in the Drabwurld, when she first woke up here and how strange she found it all. Since then (two years, it still overwhelms her) she's tried hard to make herself as welcoming as possible, as much as she can be given the fact that she's dressed in glittering golds, a cloak of red decorated with lions around her shoulders and a scar along her face.

She walks over, brushes against the stranger before she reaches out, resting a hand on his arm, gentle and careful, just in case he'd be startled or uncomfortable with a stranger getting so close. Her smile, though, is soft, and she leans closer, as if she's going to share a secret. ]

Hi. Are you okay?

[rougher]

[if the touch bothers him, he certainly doesn't show it; doesn't even turn to see who it is until she speaks first, head lifting in her direction, seemingly broken out of his intent stupor. his expression is far from alarmed, or even daunted by her regal appearance, smiling openly at her like a friend who just happened to greet him in the fray of festivities.]

I am fine, yes, but your concern is appreciated.

[brainiest]

[ Hermione's eyes trail over the stranger for a moment before she smiles, softening a little and nodding her head. Her hand lifts, drawing back, and she is nothing but soft and polite as she settles back. Regal she might appear, but Hermione is nothing more than a kind and friendly face. ]

That's good. You're new, right?

[rougher]

[his body language is oddly relaxed for someone who's just been stolen to another world, looking at her straight-on and steady as he replies. perhaps the more jovial nature of party is really having the intended effect on him, but it seems more likely that he's just not the very easily flustered sort.]

I have just arrived to this place, if that is what you mean.

['new' is not really a word he'd use to describe himself in any other situation; he certainly wasn't created yesterday.]

01 Enkiduuuuu

[notyetlegend]

[Meirda's hand shoots out with a swiftness like she was reaching for another quiver in her bow, keeping him steady while balancing her plate in her other hand. Honestly, she hadn't been watching where she was going either, which is all the more reason why to stop him from falling. She looks a little sheepish that she bumped into him in the first place, which is why she gives a small grin.

Placing her plate on a nearby table, Merida helps him back to his feet with both of her hands before glancing him up and down, looking to see if anything was out of place. She could understand being a bit distracted around the feast - there had been a lot of people at her first Unseelie feast, and there was even more here in Glaem.]

You looked a bit glassy eyed there. I didn't hurt you or anythin', did I?

[rougher]

Oh, no, I am quite all right.

[if he didn't notice her when they initially crashed into each other, he certainly takes better stock of her when she helps him up. his expression is a cheerful, good-natured one, hardly looking upset about the collision. there are a few strands of his immeasurably long, glossy hair out of place, though it doesn't seem to bother him, and he makes no move to brush them back.]