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

Bobby Drake | Marvel Comics | Seelie

[chilledout]

01: the feast

[Enough weird things have happened to Bobby Drake that a fairy coming and requesting that he follows it to a different world isn't that unusual. In truth, he assumes it's going to be a brief trip, and when he hears about a war, he starts to get a strange sense of déjà vu. Hadn't Hank said something like that before they followed him to the future? Sure, it sounded a lot more dire, buuuuut ...

War is war. He's learned that mutants get up in all kinds of wars, and none of them are good. His time in space has taught him that war is a common place thing, and none of it is good. But when he tries to turn back, when he tries to back out—he can't.

No, it's not as simple as that. But he's here now, and before long, there's a lot of food and no angry Mole Man trying to eat him. In terms of alternate universe experiences, the Drabwurld is currently beating the Mole Man and the Terror of Atlanta.

Not one to sit down and be still ever, Bobby finds himself bouncing around before long, heading from person to person to tap on their shoulder. Of course, Bobby is rather unique looking, as he looks like a living, breathing ... Iceman. As he is rather appropriately named, after all.]

Hey—I've got some questions. Important ones, and not just "how do you get that sweet fairy gig." Though that seems pretty great, too, if you ask me. Look at how much they can do ... and how much power they have! Anyway—you up for chatting? I guess I should know something about all that stuff they mentioned. [From that babble, one thing is clear: Bobby isn't keen to shut up.

In fact, it takes about ten seconds for him to be impatient to start speaking again ...]

02: the station

Technology! Coffee! Things I never thought I'd miss, but I did miss them. Hey, you—do you like lattes? Or cappuccinos? [At this, the ice-covered teenager pauses and makes a rather animated expression of drawing his hand to his chin to think it through.] What is the difference between those two, anyway?

[Naturally, his trip to the Station hadn't taken long. Bobby had heard of it having many of the commodities that he had gotten used to ... even if he had gotten used to them at their very scary prison like school. But still, he likes TVs. He likes fridges. And when he really needs to be hyped up, he likes ice coffee.

Not that Bobby Drake ever requires the extra energy ... ever.]

1

[yugo]

[It's possibly Bobby had approached someone behind Yugo, seeing as he's barely four and a half feet tall, but who knows. He's talking back anyway.]

I know about as much as you do.

[A slow headtilt.]

Wait, shouldn't you be outside? You might melt in here.

[chilledout]

Yeaaaah, that seems to be a lot of people here. [Bobby waves a hand around, and after a beat of consideration, switches from ice to his more "human" form. He flashes a smile.] And it's all good. It could be waaay worse in here, trust me. No melting. It's kind of my secret power.

[Or less secret. And also, they're probably in a location that temperature wise is north of the equator. He's not too sure.]

[yugo]

Whoa! [He's surprised by the shift, but also kind of delighted because-- seriously that's awesome.] That's so cool!

Do you use the ice like armor? I have powers, too, but I can't do anything like that.

[chilledout]

A little ... but it makes it easier to channel my powers when I'm like that. It's supposed to double as a costume, too, beyond the costume I have. Do you know about secret identities? [Back home, they were a big deal. That is, in his home in the past. No one was supposed to know that Bobby Drake was a mutant. But times changed. Everyone knows who he is in the future, and now that he actually has to discuss it, he kind of has to go back to the base of reasoning.]

02

[ofmyth]

[Thor is standing stoically nearby as Bobby browses the menu, his own drink already in hand.]

The amount of frothed milk in each drink varies, as does the country of origin. One is Italian, the other from the States United of America. [He takes a sip. Doesn't everyone know this?]

[chilledout]

I didn't take you for a coffee guy, [Bobby says slowly, eyebrows raising at Thor. It's been a while since he met him not long after he came to the present (though this world is decidedly not that), though he's seen him on TV from time to time. Plus, he's an Avenger. He's a great guy!

And it makes total sense that he's here.]

Cappuccino ... that's definitely Italian, [he goes on proudly, bobbing his head.]

Sooo, which one do you like, oh God of Thunder?

[ofmyth]

[Thor nods, confirming his guess.]

I have a passing fondness for the Latte. [He takes another sip. The Lattes here are apparently Worthy.]

What of yourself, Robert Drake? Are you well?

[chilledout]

Not bad, just ... new? Getting a feel for the place. [He pauses. An Avenger would totally get his predicament, right? An Avenger has to get his predicament. They're a team. They're the World's Mightiest Heroes for a reason.]

But no one really came with me here, so ...

1

[akisazame]

[Despite the circumstances that's brought them here, Guy displays a somewhat upbeat attitude. He chats up other shardbearers whenever he has the chance, asks questions, goes about trying to find out where exactly they stood so he could get a better picture of what they were up against. He's about to get himself some more drinks when Bobby comes up to him.

Guy can't help staring. This is the first time he's seen someone who's practically an ice cube and it takes him a moment to register the other man's talking. With a blink, he tries his best to string together his scattered thoughts.]

Uh... [So far, so... not so good. He's still kind of looking him over.] I don't know a lot since I'm a recent arrival. But if you want someone to talk with, I'm game. What's your question?

[chilledout]

[The fact that Guy can't answer his question means that Bobby has to switch gears. Thinking fast, he grabs a bit of food off his plate and stuffs it into his mouth. For him, that's definitely some time waster while he tries to think up something better. Questions about the war, questions about all of this—they loom over him.

Once he finishes, he drops into a seat beside Guy and sets his plate down as he spins to face the table.]

I'm kind of trying to get a hold on all of this. [He waves a hand around.]

Do you have anyone like the Avengers where you come from? Or, hey—something more near and dear to my icy heart—the X-Men?

2

[dicktionary]

Lattes are mostly milk, caps are a third froth.

[ He glances up from where he'd been typing on his wrist-computer to offer Bobby a grin. ]

And yeah, I definitely feel you about missing technology. Except, y'know, I'd always known I'd miss it if I lost it. I just wish I'd known I'd lose it in advance so I could've prepared better.

[chilledout]

I don't think any of us could have prepared for this. And if we had, I would've come with all my friends. They're, uh, better at this stuff. [Bobby gives a brief, casual shrug. While he's done his part and even graduated into full X-Men status, he knows that he doesn't have the problem solving knack that basically every other member of the team has (except Laura, she's still a major enigma to him.]

But here I am, learning coffee here, in another world. [He pauses.] It beats my last trip to another world. Ever heard of mole people? Veeeeery scary.

[dicktionary]

[ That makes Dick laugh, shaking his head. ]

Not mole people specifically, but I wouldn't exactly be surprised. I know plant-people, though. Person really, er--hm. They're all mostly persons. Plant-person, clay-person, sort-of-penguin-person? Also, aliens and meta-humans.

[ With a tap of his finger, the holographic display he was going over vanishes. ]

But yeah, I feel you about the friends-thing. One of them is here, at least, but it'd be nice to have more of the team.

[chilledout]

Team, huh? What kind of team are you on? [All that business he just alluded to sounded like something that Bobby is familiar with, but he just isn't sure. He'll wait and see what this guy says. In the past, everyone was very hush hush about secret identities, but in the future, no one even tries.

He doesn't really get it yet, but he figures some discretion would be good. For once.]

1

[theincredibleherc]

[Being approached by someone and feeling a tap on his shoulder is pretty ordinary. But there's something about that tap that tells Herc he either really wants to turn around...or really, really doesn't. Maybe it's the chill? Maybe it's the odd familiarity to the voice, maybe it's the whole newcomers feast, or maybe it's just just a hunch that something strange is going to happen. It doesn't matter he supposes, not really.

Herc turns around and is promptly struck dumb. Because that's a young man. Covered in ice. And there is only one person in the whole world he knows like that. (Okay, well, that isn't a frost giant.)]

...Robert?

[chilledout]

... You must know the other me. [The response comes with a flip of his head to the side and an emphatic sigh. Bobby assumes that has to be it, at any rate. While he does stand out, he's had fairly ... limited contact with the outside world. Of course, there were those space adventures, but he's fairly certain this guy wasn't one of the Starjammers or running around with Star-Lord's really screwed up evil dad.

Though he kind of looks like Star-Lord's evil dad ... if you squint. Which he does.]

That's it, right? This will be embarrassing if I should know you otherwise. But I'm busy busy. [It's a pretty bald-faced lie.]

[theincredibleherc]

The other you? [Okay, no, he shakes his head and rubs his cheeks a bit before turning around fully to face the much younger Iceman. Definitely younger. Definitely not quite the Champion he'd remembered. And this is definitely embarrassing for him, which means that this isn't an uncommon occurrence for the boy.

Huh. Well...look at that.]

This is one of those...dimensional time travel things isn't it? [Sigh. Herc stands up.]

I am Hercules, Son of Zeus, Lion of Olympus and Prince of Power. One of the Avengers most mighty, and...a former teammate of a Robert Drake of the Champions of Los Angeles. Has that not happened for you yet? Or are you from another timeline?

[He stops himself short of clones, though. That was pushing the boundaries just a bit too far.]

[chilledout]

[That's ... impressive. He was on a team with Hercules? Bobby may not be the most well-read of individuals, but of course he knows who Hercules is. Or was. Now that he's here, he finds himself wishing that he had done the kind of homework that Hank was wont to do. That would certainly help him right now.

The idea of leaving for another team is odd to him. Bobby can't imagine himself being with another group. That's helped along by the fact that his older self is very much aligned with the X-Men—the mostly less sketchy X-Men at that. They may have chosen to go to older Scott's base, but facts are facts. (Wolverine almost trumped those facts, but he's ... gone now.)

As it is, he tries not to weigh it too long in his mind, even if it does make him a little uncomfortable to think about. Other Bobbys always make him squirm a little. But hey, explanation. He can give that, even if it's usually someone like Professor Kitty who's giving the explanation. He really wishes she was here right now. Or even Professor Illyana, who is also pretty good at taking care of things.]

Well, [he begins, putting out one hand.] The big furry Hank thought that he needed to bring us to the future to knock some sense into Scott, so he did, insisting that Scott, boring old Scott, was going to cause a mutant genocide. [He lowers his hand and raises the other one, as if he's moving on to another point.] He may have exaggerated a little, but we're stuck in the future, even if we've tried to go back. So, I've met my now-equally-translucent self with all the spikes.

[After another beat, Bobby drops his other hand and slouches his shoulders forward.]

Champions, though! That's a great name.

station;

[zerotohiro]

Lattes don't have to be made with coffee. Cappuccinos always are made with espresso-based coffee but they're both made with milk. [Said in a tone as though this actually isn't the first time he's had to explain this. When one grows up in a cafe, one learns these things and one finds himself answering those questions on and off. If Bobby looks at who he's addressing though he'll find himself looking at a smaller teenager who's curled up in a chair with a tablet in his lap, stylus in hand and quick lines being sketched as he continues to draw. He looks up briefly, lips curling into a tiny smirk.]

I'd be worried about anybody who didn't miss those things though. Just sayin'. [A beat.] Anybody who's from a world where they exist, I mean.

[chilledout]

What about those people who like to get out to the country so they can't watch Netflix or anything? I bet they'd love it here. It's like a trip out to the country every day. [The great thing about being in a very scary prison-like location is that it's less scary because at least there's a nice kitchen and place to watch TV. Bobby misses the couches that were present at the academy, but they weren't exactly missing out on the amenities.

Only now they're here and those things don't ... exist.

Which sucks.]

[zerotohiro]

Those are people I don't ever want to pretend to know. [Seriously, why would you actually actively want to get away from this stuff? It's not that he's dependent on technology, but it definitely makes things easier and it's way too common in 2032. But whatever. This guy seems pretty optimistic for being tossed into a war like this and if he wants to chatter about Netflix of all things, who's Hiro to stop him?]

Trust me though, it gets pretty old pretty fast even for some of the people who prefer it that way.

1

[evenslimmer]

[ All you ever have to do to find Bobby is follow the sound of his never-ending stream of word vomit. Because the one thing that Bobby is always going to do is keep talking, even when it would be better to shut up. Scott thinks this might be one situation where Professor K would tell them it's better to listen than to speak— and his dad would concurr. Assess the situation. Or case the joint. Casing the joint sounds better. Right, so, he's casing the joint, and Bobby is just going to keep talking and keep drawing attention to himself and Scott should probably rescue him before he says something stupid to the wrong person.

They're probably not going to be as forgiving as Professor Kitty.

So Scott lurks (as best as he can lurk while being a guy in a skin-tight suit with a laser visor) and then he waits for Bobby to finally stop and take a breath before Scott covers his mouth— ]

Bobby, it's Scott, don't yell don't make a scene—

[ And hauls him quickly into the nearest dark corner with the least amount of visibility so they can real quick talk this out and pool their knowledge and make a plan. One of them has to try to think strategically. And it isn't going to be Bobby.

Admittedly this wasn't the most subtle move on Scott's part, but you do what you can with what you have. ]

[chilledout]

[Things that are, as it turns out, the opposite of subtle: grabbing one icicle-like guy and dragging him off to a quiet corner for a private conversation after he's been bouncing cheerfully around the room and ignoring every single lesson from Professor Illyana about trying to appear intimidating. Or whatever. Bobby lets himself go limp the moment he hears Scott's very familiar voice, but the moment he's set free, he waves his arms in the air in a rather animated fashion while he tries to find words.

The first thing is that Scott even did that, which is weird? It's totally weird. Is that some space pirate move? Is that what space pirates do? He finally settles down and stops waving his arms around while he's clearly trying to find the right words.

Space pirate stuff aside, Bobby was convinced, utterly convinced, that he was here alone. And he's not. Scott is here. His leader is here. His really good friend is here. While Bobby is closest to Hank, Scott was the one who came and helped him out of his tricky situation when he first revealed his powers to the world. He's strong, dependable, and boring. Boring is ... very good when a war is happening. Bobby is certain of that.]

See, I didn't yell? [Not the best place to start.]

Um, I didn't realize you were here or I would've come and found you sooner. And did you hear that there's apparently a war out there? I know that we've trained and all, but war? Seriously? [Slightly better.

Maybe.]

[evenslimmer]

[ Well, he tried. Jean would be helpful right about now, even though that'd also mean they'd been thrust into an even stranger and harder-to-predict situation without resolving their own personal issues, which is not a good way to resolve your personal issues. But space pirate lessons don't work very well when applied to Bobby, apparently. Not yet. Maybe one day, when they're older and they've grown into this more.

Still, he defaults to his role. Scott is the leader, and he's going to lead. He doesn't know what he's going to do just yet, but he's going to think of something. ]

I heard. [ He's not sure what he thinks about it yet. They've been dragged into something that's not really their business, and last time it happened when it was their business, it wasn't what it seemed. ] I only just got here, but it wasn't hard to pick up. What did they tell you about it? Did they tell you to sign up?

[ Bobby what did you promise people Bobby please have taken at least a second to think about it before you opened your mouth even though he probably didn't— ]