TEST DRIVE #6

[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 with mirthful revelry and hearty food. 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!

Comments

[zerotohiro]

Your brother must be some kind of genius. Maybe if he shows up he'll find a way to make some robots anyway. [The tone's pretty dry though there's a little self-satisfied grin because…well. It's Hiro. Hiro's often times convinced that he can pretty much work around anything and after what he's seen and what he's been through with his friends? Taking down Callaghan? He's pretty sure he can figure out how to outsmart a couple of fairies.

However, as an engineer Hiro's whole MO is paying attention to details. He pays attention to the design of all projects thrown in front of him, every little thing down to the last tiny mark.

It's for that reason that he immediately spots something new to Tadashi's design. That burn mark wasn't there before and immediately he feels sort of sick. That grin's gone. Actually his whole expression is pretty much wiped clean as that confirmation sets in, and he doesn't even realize that he's saying Tadashi's name to himself in a quiet mumble over and over again.

Shock, meet Hiro. Hiro, meet shock.]

No way.

[nerdlad]

Graduated high school when he was fourteen, so yeah. I guess you could say he's some kind of genius.

[Tadashi's own expression softens when he notices Hiro staring a bit at the burn marks on his arm, once he realizes that the cuff of his sleeve fell. His brow furrows, a small smile curling. He's honestly been a little worried about the moment they got to the actual reaction of his being alive, having realized Hiro might have been in disbelief and simply speaking the way he was because of denial.

One of his hands reaches to wrap around his wrist. The burn mark doesn't sting or anything. When the faeries brought him here, they must have healed it or something, because at worst it feels like wrinkled skin and a little numb around the flesh.

Still, he smiles sheepishly.]

Hey, little bro.

[zerotohiro]

[Nope.

N O P E this is still not entirely processing with him. It was much easier to talk when he thought Tadashi was just another robot or an apparition but...this is Tadashi. This is his older brother, this is the one that Hiro's always relied on, this is the one that he honestly thought he'd never be able to cope without. He's better now. He's healing and everything's better but that was also in a case where Tadashi was never coming back.

'Tadashi is here.'

He brings a hand up to scrub at his eyes a little, still perturbed by what he's seeing. Even with as advanced as science is back home, they haven't figured out how to bring back the dead.]

...Tadashi? [Yes, Hiro, we've established that. Go on. Say something else.

Oh god he's going to throw up--okay no he's fine. Just act natural. This isn't weird. You've known him your whole life and this isn't weird even if the last distinctive memory is watching him disappear into a burning building.]

Thirteen. If you're going to tell people about me at least give me some credit.

[Nailed it.]

[nerdlad]

[The least the faeries could have done was drop him off near Hiro. His brow furrows, wanting to reach through the screen and give him a hug, though he's not sure if Hiro would have welcomed that. He did do a pretty stupid thing after all. His smile turns a little sad when he watches Hiro scrub at his eyes, remembering how he used to do that whenever he scraped a knee or hurt himself.

That's right. Baymax probably wouldn't work outside that Station place I was told about.

Hiro looked healthy at least, even if his voice carries over that kind of choked noise when he says his name. Damnit, it's taking everything Tadashi has in him not to storm out of the room and demand a court change. He laughs a bit when Hiro corrects him, waving a hand.]

Right, right. Sorry. Thirteen. We wouldn't want fourteen on your resume here, that might make people underestimate you.

[Joking, talking like he never ran into the building. If he can somehow ease Hiro back into that kind of thinking...only he's probably moved on by now. Tadashi opens his mouth to almost ask how long it's been, but he stops himself before he can do so, clearing his suddenly clogged throat and inclining his head to Hiro's hoodie.]

I see you started school. How're you finding it?

[zerotohiro]

[When Tadashi laughs it relaxes him a little more. He's still freaked out (who wouldn't be at this point) but at least he knows it's really Tadashi and not someone redesigned just to be used against him. He looks down at the sleeve of his SFIT hood before he actually gives him a real grin.]

I love it. [And it's true. He loves everything from his classes to his projects. There's a proud look that follows though as a thought occurs to him.] They even gave me my own lab already.

[And he's determined to make good use of it like Tadashi did, but he won't say that just yet.]

[nerdlad]

[See that look on Tadashi's face? That's pride in his eyes, which seems to be just about equal to Hiro's when he tells him that news. That's good. At least Hiro had something he could throw himself into afterwards. Still, he can't help but raise an eyebrow teasingly.]

Oh have they? Now that's what I call privilege, I had to wait at least five months for mine.

[His tone sounds like he's lamenting that, but in reality he isn't. He's proud of Hiro, right down to the core.]

Honey and the others been looking after you?

[zerotohiro]

[Truth be told, one of the things that Hiro really worried about in recent times was whether Tadashi would be proud of him if he saw everything that happened. He's still a little ashamed of himself for what happened with Baymax, but he tries to look past that and look at what he and the rest of his friends are doing for the city. Tadashi wanted to help people and now that he's on the right path? Hiro's doing the same. So really, that look basically breaks the ice and Hiro's growing more excited to tell him everything.

Save for a few details, of course. Let's not overload Tadashi yet.]

Yeah! Yeah, we actually see each other a lot these days. We're working on something really big together when we're not in class. [He brings a hand up to rub at the back of his neck, the proud look growing a little more humbled this time. He reflects for a moment because yeah. He remembers how excited Tadashi was when he received access to his own lab and maybe he's cheating but Hiro's not about to give up something that was handed to him.]

You know. When I'm also not spending a lot of time in your lab. [Subtle, Hiro. Very subtle.]

[nerdlad]

[People messed up. Tadashi understood that. It had taken him eighty four tries to get Baymax to function properly. He'd watched so many of his classmates screw things up before he told them that they could try again. Hell, he'd been thinking since waking up in Caer Glaem that he'd messed up pretty badly himself, running into the building while it was on fire. As long as people learned from their mistakes, he'd always said.

His eyes widen a bit when Hiro says 'your lab'. Of course that'd be how Hiro got settled into one so quickly. Tadashi gapes for a moment before he smiles a bit in relief, reaching to rub the back of his neck.]

That's...that's great! Man, just think. A few weeks ago I was rescuing you from bot fights gone wrong and now you're a proper nerd.

[His voice is teasing, though there's still underlying worries. Something really big?]

So you're working on a project together, huh? I bet whatever it is, it's going to be great.

[zerotohiro]

[There's a lot of things little bro isn't telling you, Tadashi, but he can at least give you that. The last few weeks had been bumpy for him and he'd made plenty of mistakes and there were some things he kept to himself that the others probably didn't know about. For the most part though he's been doing better about opening up and allowing his friends to help him. Allowing himself to follow a different path and challenge himself in new ways.

He rolls his eyes almost fondly at that though.]

Yup. A proper nerd with proper nerd classes and proper nerd projects. [He's grinning anyway though, eyes lighting up as he thinks about SFIT.] Humanoid Construction, Aerial Robotics...you know, the basics.

And it is great. We've already done a few test runs and things seem to be working out just fine. [If you count destroying an entire building in order to stop Callaghan from destroying everything.] Even Baymax was helping us out.

[...was. ...aw man, how is he supposed to explain what happened to Baymax?]

[nerdlad]

[He gets that feeling, but he'll be patient. He has all the patience in the world and that's because of practically raising Hiro for the last ten years or so. He had to use his hands and toes to count the amount of time Hiro had gotten himself into trouble.

He doesn't question how much time has passed since what he knows is his death day. He doesn't need to know, or he doesn't want to, he's not sure which yet. So he allows himself to laugh a little at Hiro's reaction to his words. It's great to see his eyes lighting up like they used to at Christmas, not the teenager whose eyes lit up at the money he got hustling at bot fights.]

Oh yeah, I know those basics. You sure you can handle them?

[He's definitely teasing that, because he knows Hiro can handle them. His brow furrows a little when he notices the 'was'. Past tense. What had happened?]

Well, you can tell me all about it later. I'm just glad you're okay, even if you are in the other castle.

[zerotohiro]

[He used to take that for granted. He used to take Tadashi for granted and always relied on his older brother bailing him out of trouble, but when Tadashi left he found out that he couldn't keep going the way he was.

He's not going to tell Tadashi anything Tadashi doesn't ask. There's going to be a time and a place for that and this definitely isn't it.]

Whatever, I'll be getting better marks than you did. [He can deal with Tadashi's teasing though because it means brushing right past the fact that he's messed up. Again, a time and a place.

Tadashi's still in the wrong castle though and that? That's not okay.]

Yeah, I noticed. [He turns the camera so Tadashi can see a pair of imps that's currently going through Hiro's backpack. One of the imps is currently poking the other with a pencil they've found.] So what're we gonna do?

[nerdlad]

[It definitely isn't the time or the place for such a discussion, especially over this...network. It's not secure enough and if this is a war... Tadashi doesn't want to finish that thought. Instead, he lifts his hand to run his fingers through his hair, scratching the back of his neck afterwards.]

From what I've sussed out of this place, there's a neutral area called the Station.

[Ask around, gather information. That was something Tadashi was good at.]

If we meet there, we can talk in person. Supposedly there's these fairy rings that can teleport us so we don't have to travel for weeks at a time.

[zerotohiro]

[That's always been how the Hamada brothers operate (though in the early years it was more like Tadashi would gather information and Hiro would just rush right in, but details.) and it helps that they're on the same page.]

Yeah I heard about it. You really th--[There's a loud thump off-screen and Hiro turns his head sharply. There's a shout of "Hey!" as Hiro drops the locket and lunges out of his chair in the direction of the imps. There are a few more thumps before Hiro seemingly wins his argument, settling in his chair again and dropping Megabot on the table.]

Fairy rings. You think they really work?

[nerdlad]

[He frowned a little, rubbing his neck in thought. Alistair Krei had been working on teleportation but last he knew of it, the project had gone horribly wrong. People were always trying to make things that either got you places faster or delivered packages without needing a mail man. Supposedly these ones ran on magic...Tadashi didn't have much of a say in those kinds of ways. Still.]

It couldn't hurt to try. I know magic seems like an impossible thing, but...well, how am I here?

[It's an innocent enough question. One that he immediately kind of regrets.]

[zerotohiro]

[Yeeeeahhh that wasn't really a great question, Tadashi. It's one Hiro doesn't have an answer to and he doesn't like that he doesn't know.]

You tell me, big brother. [A flippant shrug follows but it's definitely still a delicate subject.] You think that was magic, too?

[nerdlad]

[Yeah, that was a bad question to ask, he figured that. Tadashi gives a small grimace at the flippantness of Hiro's reaction, then shrugs his shoulders a little.]

How else would you explain it? When I woke up in this place I thought I'd been drafted into the Skeleton War.

[zerotohiro]

Yeah, maybe. [He's going to be rebuffing those sort of things for a while Tadashi, sorry. He's definitely thinking about something though.]

Hey, Tadashi. Do you remember how you got here at all?