fairynuff | TEST DRIVE MEME #4

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TEST DRIVE MEME #4

TEST DRIVE MEME

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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!

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He doesn't even have time to brace himself and it's only thanks to his natural grace and balance that the two of them don't completely end up on their asses. It's pure instinct that moves his arms to pull her in tight and keep her still for a few seconds.

Two months. It's been nearly two months since he's seen the girl and when you're so used to being in someone's space every single day, it's a little traumatizing.

(He's not even going to touch the issues he's still wrestling with about being separated from Sharpay. Or about that weird period of time where he thinks he left and came back a few months into his future.)

This? This is exactly what he needs at the moment and he pulls them apart just enough so he can look down at her. (God, if he ever wants to feel like a giant all he has to do is find Kelsi.) It's pretty obvious though judging by his grip that he's never been so glad to see him in his life.

"Excited to see me or something?"

"I didn't know what I was going to do," She's blurting it out, it's all coming down in an excited (but mostly terrified) way and she sort of flaps her left arm awkwardly, right hand still holding her dead and inoperable iPhone, "so I just sort of heard that song and I remembered when we were in the music room and there was tea and I just really hoped it would be you because everything is so upside down here--"

She's talking. Too much. She tapers off and does her best to lift her eyebrows to say 'I'm done,' and winds up giving a little 'hnnn' in the back of her throat, forcing a smile.

"I mean yes, I'm excited to see you."

He's patiently waiting for her to get all of that out of her system, arms folding across his chest as he listens to her freak out. If the roles had been reversed, surely he would have the same reaction she was having and even though his eyes drift to the iPhone in her hand he's paying attention. When she finally stops though he just lifts his lips into a grin of his own.

"Trust me, you're probably not as excited as I am." All things considered. He thinks about what she's just said though. Tea. The music room. East High. "...we...weren't just in the music room at East before the fairies led you here, were we?"

She really does smile at that. And, just for good measure? She's going to hug you again, Ryan, because this is all too messed up. It's all too messed up and at least she has Ryan. Right? Right.

"No, no no no, that was ages ago--I was going to meet you at Starbucks before Colloquium." A pause. "Pumpkin Spice latte?"

Good Kelsi, best friend. He can't really object to that because let's be honest, in the last several months in New York they've clung to each other even more than usual. But it brings up the other thing that's bother him...

...he definitely, definitely left this place, went home, sped up through time by several months and came back to Drabwurld. The first time he was here he was focused on getting back to finish preparing for the musical. This time, it was the middle of the fall semester at Juilliard and Kelsi? Kelsi's right. They were supposed to get coffee and he was going to bitch at her about this awful girl in one of his classes and she would probably show him something new she wrote while he traded scarves with her because hers matched his outfit better.

Lucky for him, he's a great actor. That look disappears off his face immediately as he nods in response. "No whip." Then came another pause. "I don't know if I'd call it ages ago though. Time's...there's something wrong with time here, Kels. I don't know how to explain it and I don't know if you're going to believe it anyway."

"Ryan."

It's quiet, soft but stern. Kelsi knows when her best friend is lying to her, and now is no different. Fairy world or not, she's not going to force him to say it but she is going to let him know she's aware of whatever that flicker was. Something's on his mind.

...ah.

Right. He'd almost been used to getting away with his little flashes of emotion that he could easily warp into something else. The problem was now there's someone around who knows him like he knows the back of his own hand. Sharpay and Kelsi tend to rival for the spot of knowing him best, but the way Ryan sees it is that they know him in different ways. Sharpay always will know things instinctually because they're twins, etcetera etcetera. Kelsi on the other hand processes his moods and his emotions much faster and more clearly often times.

Like now, for instance.

"...it's not Starbucks, but they make some decent coffee here." It's all he says as he seamlessly grabs her by the hand, already turning to lead her off. "I'm pretty sure we can find you an outlet, too. There's a Cybercafe."

He doesn't let go of her hand. In fact, he tightens the grip for all of two seconds but he's pretty sure those two seconds are all she needs. 'I need to talk to you, just not out in the open like this.'

"Okay, okay. Only if they have pumpkin spice." Kelsi smiles and squeezes his hand, nodding.

'I understand.'

"Oh--I don't have any money. Do they take money here? What do they take? Good deeds? Karma?"

"Don't even worry about it." It's said with a brief wave of his other hand. "I'll cover it."

He knows Kelsi would need answers for herself later, but he doesn't want to talk about the details right then and there. He doesn't want to try and explain about finances and how everything works when he has other things on his mind. "I'm sure if I ask them they'll give me something close to pumpkin spice."

They arrive at the web cafe shortly after and he pauses at a small booth, letting go of Kelsi's hand and giving a short mock bow. "Your table awaits." Just as quickly, he drops the act and gestures back to the coffee bar. "I'll be right back. Just...stay here."

'Please don't disappear.'

"I'm not going anywhere." She grins widely and brightly, giving him a teeny wave. And she won't. If anything, the least she'll do is lean down to finally plug in her phone. Satisfied at the little device charging, she leans back and waits.

When Ryan returns, Kelsi's smile is a little smaller and softer, waving him over. A gentle command to sit.

"So? How's this whole thing been treating you?"

By the time he returns he's got two cups of coffee in his hands and he's sliding into the booth across from her. The coffee's not exactly a pumpkin spice latte, but he certainly tried his best. He pushes the cup across the table to her and it says something in the way he's actually sitting across from her instead of at her side.

He has a lot to tell her and he knows he won't if he gets too comfortable. He doesn't immediately drink from his own cup, rather choosing to spin it in circles on the table top out of nervous habit.

"Well," he starts off, tone light and trying not to make a huge deal out of everything. "It's definitely not New York, but I think I'm starting to get used to it. It's been a couple of months now. You won't believe how many different worlds are out there though."

There's an audible sigh of relief as Kelsi takes the cup. It doesn't taste quite right but it tastes good, mostly because Ryan's the one that gave it to her. He's right across from her, just like how it should be, and she feels the warmth in her hands from the porcelain and if she closes her eyes just long enough she feels like she's back home, safe and happy.

She opens them, though, and flashes a small, slightly worried smile. "You've been here for a while."

Cup-spinning, cup-spinning, cup-spinning. He looks up though and to anybody else it'd appear as though he's looking straight at her. To Kelsi though, it's a look that's looking just a fraction past her so he can't meet her eyes entirely. There's a similar grin though as he nods slowly.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's been...." Weird? Hard? Terrifying? All of the above, but...but he's made friends here. He's sort of fallen into a strange sense of comfort. The smile's a little less tense when he thinks of it that way. "...I've missed you like crazy."

The words are very quiet and he's already trying to brush it off. "Guess this confirms what I was wondering about time back on Earth though."

Kelsi knows. She'll know and she'll wait until Ryan's ready. She's been very good at that, just like Ryan seems to know when he needs to wrench Kelsi out of whatever hermit-like introverted hole she's put herself in.

"How long?"

He's grateful that she's letting him do this though and that she's never been one to push when things are too complicated to explain immediately. He rolls his eyes up to the ceiling then like he's counting time.

"A little over two months, I think. But it's really weird...when I first got here we were still in the middle of putting the senior show together. You and me and the prom number and everything. But then it was like...it was like I lost a chunk of time here but when I came to the last thing I remembered was Juilliard and heading out to meet you at Starbucks. That's what doesn't make sense."

There's a pause...and a frown. "That was just a few days ago...and...I'm wondering if maybe that's why you're here."

'I'm wondering if maybe it really is my fault because I wished you were here with me.'

"I think they brought the wrong person. Maybe they were going for Troy?" It's a (bad) attempt at humour, but Kelsis' eyebrows lift and she gives the warmest smile she can manage during these circumstances. She takes a few moments to bury her face in her cup, sipping while she thinks.

"I don't think it's your fault."

She can see right through you, Ryan.

"But now that I'm here? We'll make it work. We're Wildcats, right?" It's odd, saying words she'd normally picture Troy saying, but this isn't just a friend. Hell, it isn't even her best friend. It's something more than that. It's Ryan.

"No offense to Troy, but I'm pretty sure they brought exactly who they needed here." It's only because it's Kelsi that he feels free to say that, feels free to finally relax a bit and take a drink of his own coffee to slow down his thoughts for a moment.

He can't help but grin around the rim of the mug though. Right. He's sure that Kelsi can hear Troy's words almost as clearly as he can. 'We're all in this together.'

"We'll be all right." He nods, more self-assured now as he sets the mug down. "We've got a lot to catch you up on, though. Hope you're ready."

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TEST DRIVE MEME #4

I wouldn't have objected to Reg's face :P

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