TEST DRIVE MEME #8

[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

Nux | Mad Max: Fury Road | Seelie

[livedielive]

OPTION ONE

This kid stinks. You probably smelled him coming from half a table down. But he's next to you now, whether you like it or not: shirtless, grinning with a mouth full of rotten teeth, and clinking his glass into yours. Wine spills onto the table.

"To the wars of the next world!" He shouts as he raises his glass high.

OPTION TWO [Content Warning: emetophobia]

There's more to eat and drink here than Nux has ever seen in his life — and that comes with an inherent danger. Even too much water can cause trouble for a person who spent their life on the verge of dehydration.

At least he made it away from the crowd and out of the main hall before it really hit him. Nux rounds a corner before he has to brace himself against the wall, doubles over and spills his guts onto the floor.

When it's over, he spits, trying to get the foul taste out of his mouth, wipes the back of a hand across his lips, and stays bent over to catch his breath. So much for the generosity of his new patrons. Hopefully no one saw that.

1

[chilledout]

"What about the showers of the next world? Can you embrace the showers of the next world?" Never one to be anything but transparent as possible, Bobby's nose has wrinkled up and he's looking at Nux as if he's the smelliest person he's ever smelled.

This may be true (for the moment), but Bobby is a teenage boy. He's probably had his moments.

[livedielive]

Nux has never heard of a shower. And he's used to worse goading from other war boys. And he's still riding high from his near-death (or it might have been actual-death, for all he knows) experience. So he's going to pretend he didn't hear a word Bobby said. Or see that look on his face.

He tosses back a swallow of mead and gives Bobby another rotten smile. "Are you fresh oil as well? One of the new recruits? Have you ever seen something as shine as all this?"

[chilledout]

"What?" Bobby doesn't put a whole lot of thought into his question. Someone could actually debate whether he even tried to process any of those words. Then again, he's stuck on the first question. "Fresh oil"? Does he look oily? Bobby glances down at his hands and turns them over, looking at the back of his knuckles.

Definitely no oil.

"No, seriously, what? Shine? Oil? Where does oil come into this at all?" The second question would be easiest to answer, but would it even make sense with the other questions hanging in the air?

Bobby decides that it wouldn't.

[livedielive]

Heh. Right. He keeps forgetting this world's all primitive. Nux gives Bobby a good-natured nudge on the arm.

"I'm asking if you're new, man."

[flashcraft]

Dancer's escaped the main hall mostly to avoid all the people, but he doesn't have the heart to flee elsewhere upon turning the corner to find a guy losing his dinner all over the floor. Caution makes his pause of at the mouth of the hallways, but concern and decency win out fairly quickly and he goes to the stranger's side, angling wide so he doesn't surprise him from behind.

"Are you alright?" he asks, a hand going to the guy's back lightly, like he's fully expecting to be shrugged off and he's already accepted that fact.

[livedielive]

The touch in itself isn't as odd as how gentle it is; Nux is more accustomed to the rough camaraderie of the Citadel. So instead of flinching away, his shoulder flexes up instinctively, into the touch instead of away from it.

He lets out another huff of breath, spits one more time before he stands, still steadying himself against the wall. He looks down at the puddle on the floor with disgust and regret.

"What a waste." Ooh. Standing up straight isn't the best idea right now. He bends back over to lean on one of his knees. "Spitting up their generosity."

[flashcraft]

Dancer's accustomed to being flinched away from by everyone who isn't clan themselves or close enough. No one decent wants to deal that closely with a copperhead, after all. He's mildly surprised by the returned pressure, but not put off.

"No one should ask you to make yourself sick over their generosity." The word comes out pointedly, just short short of sarcasm. He still isn't sure what to call all this, but given what he's been hearing about why they're here, generosity might not be the right word for it.

Bending slightly himself and taking more of a proper grip on the guy's arm, Dancer suggests gingerly, "Maybe you should sit."

[livedielive]

"Good idea." Don't have to tell him twice. Nux lowers himself to the floor, back against the wall, careful to avoid the vomit. If Dancer insists on holding onto his arm after that, then he'll shrug him off.

Which doesn't mean he doesn't appreciate the help. Once he gets relatively comfortable — as comfortable as he can while his guts are still tying themselves in knots — he gives a nod.

"Yeah." It's almost thanks.

2

[akisazame]

A feast as big as this is bound to have its drunkards and the like. The young man doesn't look too good by himself. All that puke isn't exactly helping his image, either. Though everyone in this hall was practically a stranger, he's not the sort to shy away from lending a helping hand. Guy touches Nux's shoulder lightly before giving it a quick squeeze.

"Easy, now. You okay there?"

[livedielive]

Nux spits again, for good measure, almost feeling well enough to move again.

"Couldn't keep it down," he admits before bobbing his head — carefully — in the direction of the hall. "They feast something glorious around here."

2

[dicktionary]

"Careful," Dick says, stopping a safe distance away. "Did you eat too fast? That sometimes happens. I can get you some water to rinse out your mouth if you want?"

He looks like he's from a rough sort of place, ribs visible through his skin and layers of grime rubbed in deep. Dick wouldn't be surprised if the feast had more available food than he's used to seeing--it was overwhelming for Dick, and he's never really wanted for anything, not at the circus and not with Bruce.

[livedielive]

Water. To wash his mouth with. To rinse and spit on the floor. The idea seems laughable, but then, people have already been looking at him odd whenever he asks for Mothers' Milk.

So Nux only nods silent, giving another wipe of his bottom lip with his thumb. By the time Dick comes back, he'll have moved to sit with his back against the wall, knees curled up to his chest.

[dicktionary]

Dick is gone and back quickly, holding a goblet half-full of water in one hand, and an empty one in the other. "Here," he says, crouching down to Nux's level and offering the water. "You can spit it out in this one. You doin' okay?"

[livedielive]

Even knowing how much it's in abundance here, Nux is conservative with the water. It's weird for him: thin, cold, tasting of nothing. He sips just enough to swish around his mouth properly before spitting it out again.

"I'll be right soon as my guts stop clenching." He's still queasy, lightheaded, although it seems to be dying down. He lets out a frustrated huff of breath, leaning his head back against the stones. "Thought I'd be done with all that."

2!

[sugegasa]

Shunsui was more than accustomed to seeing people in various states of disarray, so the stink and the dirt didn't bother him at all. Nor did the sick, really, although as he got closer the kid didn't look like he'd had too much to drink. Rather, he looked similar to a wretch with reiatsu from the Rukongai after their first good meal at the Academy.

He'd never been there himself, but had seen it often enough to feel bad for the kid, so he approached slowly with one of the handkerchief cloth things he'd found in the hall to wipe one's face with, and wet it a bit with some of the water he'd managed to bring from the table.

"There, now, you're all right! Too much at once will do that, but you'll feel better when you have a little water and a good rest."

With that a smile, he offered the cloth to the young man along with the skin of water to rinse his mouth with.

[livedielive]

He would accept the cloth to wipe off his scarred lips. The water skin he took more carefully, fingers curling around it with some skepticism.

"It's water?" Given confirmation, he'd take just a little into his mouth, enough to wash down the last of the taste.

"Is it always like this?" he asked, then, with a nod back toward the hall. He has no idea how long the other man has been here, but he at least looks like he belongs.

annnnd then i tag back a million years later, sorry!

[sugegasa]

"It is." And seeing the way the young man handled the skin, Shunsui smiled a little sadly. "There's plenty more where that came from in the hall. I imagine this place is close to a source, a large river or something that can support an army. You need it, after being sick. Lots of water leaves your body that way."

He held up a finger to indicate he'd be right back, and walked quickly back to the hall to grab a hunk of dark bread and a bit of the peach nectar he'd seen earlier. He brought them back to the young and held them out, trying to be encouraging without pressing too much. While the young man was polite, Shunsui was a stranger to him and it was only natural for him to be a bit wary.

"Here, if you mix some of the water into the goblet with this fruit nectar, you can get some water and sugar back into your system. That will help you feel a little better. And the bread if you can handle it, but you'll need to take it slow. Come on."

He moved a bit away from the sick still on the floor, to where the smell of it wouldn't upset the man's stomach any more than it was, and took a welcomed seat against the wall, tearing off a bit of the bread for himself. When he was joined, he grinned.

"Couldn't tell you for certain, I just arrived myself! But I'd imagine they have enough supplies to keep their soldiers fed and fit, at the least. This is probably just to entice us new arrivals to fight for them."

And it wasn't a bad way to go, all things considered, although the fairies darting around did take some getting used to. They'd been put off by the sickness and were giving the pair a rather wide berth for now, though, so they sat in peace.

1

[accidentalqueen]

Medusa's life has changed in certain small but dramatic ways, since she came here. Accustomed to any space she cared to take up, as is the privilege of a queen, suddenly everyone feels they can step on her hair (it is everywhere, and it does move) and be much closer than she would like. And this one, evidently, thinks he can assault her nose and nearly dump wine all over her while he does it.

It is hard to maintain something approaching dignity or classiness in this face of this, but the habits of a lifetime are very, very difficult to break. Even if her hair moves automatically, retracting the billowing waves and clouds to add a little bit of a barrier around her person.

"The war of this one is more than enough, young man."

And, since she's now sans a lot of wine in her glass, one long tendril of hair snakes away to grab her a fresh one.

[livedielive]

He opens his mouth to reply, only to be stopped by the sight of her hair moving on its own. Woah. That has gotta be some serious hardware — or real magic. He's quickly adjusting to the idea that such things exist (after all, how else did he get here?).

Right. He can try that talking thing again.

"This is my next world," he points out. "What is this place, if not the afterlife?"

[accidentalqueen]

"The afterlife?"

Her hair stops for a second, her hand just on the fresh glass. That's a thing she hadn't fully considered; she hadn't thought he'd meant it seriously. Truthfully, Medusa doesn't give much thought for what comes after. Living presents enough challenges without worrying what comes next.

"There are many worlds." The movement resumes, curious curling ribbons. Very definitely not coming close enough to touch. He does smell. "Other dimensions, other universes. They are not always common, but one does not have to die to find them."

She pauses, and can't help adding, somewhat sourly:

"Though one may die upon finding them, I suppose."

[livedielive]

"Yeah, well." He laughs a bit nervously as he lifts his cup, still trying to play it cool even with how much she's unnerving him. "Hoping not too soon."

He's still watching her hair. He can't tell whether it's under her control or if she's moving it herself.

"Are you doing that?"

I don't know what I'm doing

[herwords]

The crowd had been too much. The noise had driven her out and the promise of green things out the window had lured her away from the feast and out into the cool night.

The damp in the air was delicious on her skin, and for long hours Capable sat in silence in a dark window and looked and listened and just breathed. Tomorrow when the sun rose, she'd go down there among the Green.

But soon she feels the pangs of hunger begin to stir in her belly, not willing to be ignored when she knows there enough food to feed all the Wretched in the world within this very fortress. It's easy to return to the feast- she follows the sounds of revelry.

...and the sound of someone wretching. That's an all too familiar sound, and she goes out of her way to see if there's anything she can do to help. The corridors are dark, and she even make out if it's a man or a woman emptying themselves onto the floor.

"Shall I fetch you some water?" She soothes a hand over their back, gentle so as not to startle them. "This is no way to enjoy a feast."

[livedielive]

It's still strange, feeling a soft hand on his skin, but he isn't truly surprised until he recognizes her voice. He turns his head, subconsciously wiping at his lip again in case there are any more remnants.

It is her. Nux straightens up, still with one hand on the wall, and takes a step away, looking at her with wide-eyed trepidation.

He doesn't know what happened after he closed off the pass. How could he? All he does know is that he was taken from the moment his death, or something close to it. And if she's here, too...

Nux shakes his head.

"No." No to what he's thinking, to what he's hoping isn't true. "You're here?"

[herwords]

"Nux." Even in the dim light, she can see that it's him. The scars across his face, the shaved head and lanky frame. The War Boy whose death she had witnessed so that she and the others might be free.

She can't breathe. If he's here, is she dead? He had spoken of Valhalla, a place where he was awaited, but this didn't feel like a paradise for War Boys. Will there be others be here? Angharad, The Keeper of the Seeds- Joe?

"I'm here," she echoes, kneeling on the ground beside him. Her hand is still on his shoulder; steadying herself. Reassuring herself that this isn't just a dream. "Are we dead?"