TEST DRIVE MEME #5

[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

[depicted]

[Dorian's brows crease in lack of understanding.] What? But mine is broken.

[prioritise]

Yours was broken. But now you will have a fully repaired - [searching for the right word to use for the device, as she urges Dorian to take it] thing. [Mary loosens her grip on her own device that she's pushing on to Dorian] You won't let another break, will you? [And she lets it fully slip from her grip as she pushes it into Dorian's arms. He can either take it or let it fall and break]

[depicted]

[He has to catch it, and none too gracefully. He looks up at the woman in that mix of surprised shock and disagreement that makes for a bad refutation.] I couldn't possibly—I mean, I couldn't possibly take this, although I couldn't possibly let another break—I won't have you take responsibility for my errors. It wouldn't be right.

[prioritise]

They must call you Gawain or Lancelot in your homeland. If only you were Arthur. Instead of being confronted with such chivalry I could appeal to the power of alliances. Then you might understand how this is all perfectly right and noble. In allowing me to help you here, you would be providing me the assurances of future protection. There are few ways I could ever save someone like you. Please say you won't deprive me of this rare opportunity.

[depicted]

[It actually serves to remind him that he hasn't introduced himself, which is horrifically rude. He needs to do that. Flushing, he answers,] They call me Dorian Gray, and while I am no medieval figure, I can assure you of my future protection without any need for the offer of a debt.

[prioritise]

[a nod of her head] Mary.

And while I am touched by your chivalry and generosity, Dorian Gray, I have no interest in playing the damsel today or tomorrow or the next day. I would much rather have a partner than a hero.

[depicted]

O-oh. Is that so? [He seems genuinely a little flustered and surprised. Dweeb.] I thought all women wanted a hero.

[prioritise]

Only sometimes. Everyone wants a hero sometimes. Even the bravest men appreciate a rescue here or there.

[depicted]

[...Oh. Is that directed at him?] I . . . suppose that's true.

[Then he finds his strength.] But not at a cost to another! That would be unendurable.

[prioritise]

What cost?

[she looks at Dorian with pitiful eyes]

I - I was merely bewildered by this foreign object. In my clumsiness and uncertainty I must have dropped the thing. I will beg and plead for mercy, and only hope that the maker of this object can somehow forgive me for my natural weaknesses.

[Mary drops the act and smiles softly at Dorian] Or something to that effect. It's a case by case scenario.

[depicted]

[There is a brief pause, and he actually has to laugh. It's a pretty, charming thing, like bells pealing, fitted to his youth and innocence.]

You have a talent. I imagine you were able to get away with any misdeed as a child.

[He immediately ducks his head because whoops he might have mistepped. BUT HE THINKS SHE'S CHARMING OKAY.]

[prioritise]

[Mary laughs in return. Dorian's laughter is charming and infectious]

Only if my partner didn't give us away.

[Mary pauses, then gives a defeated sigh]

Which is why I won't force you to do anything against your personal code. You can reclaim your broken trinket, or you can let me help you. I leave the choice entirely to you. But please, don't mistake accepting help for weakness.

[depicted]

[Pretty, charming girl sure is charismatic. His cheeks are red again, but more gently; it's just the blush of his youth.] Would a compromise suit you? I shall return it, and you may choose to accompany me for—support.

[prioritise]

Fair enough. [Mary looks around them, then back at Dorian] Do you have any idea where we should be going?

[depicted]

There was a clerk at one of the counters here who offered me this to try. It was, I believe, to the west end of the place.

[prioritise]

Then west we will go. [Mary links her arm through Dorian's.] And thank you, for letting me come along - [a beat, and then she hides a smile behind a fake serious expression] for support, of course.

[Mary points to the broken device] How exactly was this damaged in the first place?

[depicted]

[The physical contact brings another rise to those poetically described cheeks of his, but one does get tired of going on in the manner of Oscar Wilde about attractive youthful beauty. Anyway, he ducks his head again, which is so common with him that it doesn't really reveal that he's flushed again.

Stupid baby.]

I—I am afraid I must not know my own strength, or at least its own delicate quality. I held it a little too hard.

[So it must be made of chalk layers, how could this kid possibly have enough grip to crack something stronger?]

[prioritise]

[laughs, because, well, that is funny] Forget Lancelot and Gawain, you must be Hercules reborn.

Or it could have been damaged already, like a crack in glass: one soft tap and the whole thing shatters.

[depicted]

[Her laugh evokes his, so charming he finds it.] That would seem to excuse me, but I have no proof.



[Story of his life, he thinks, unaware that actually there is a different story for his stupid life.]

[prioritise]

The thing was so fragile it broke in your grip. And while I haven't known you very long, I can still vouch for your honest and careful character. What more proof would you need?

[depicted]

[This time, when Dorian ducks his head, the smile is more forced.] In the eyes of the world, the suspicion of wrongdoing provides better material for gossiping mouths than even the truth. One's real character often seems to have very little to do with it.

[prioritise]

[she can't argue with that truth...] Then it's good we are away from our own worlds. Perhaps this one will be less cruel.

Before I woke up here, I discovered someone was posing as me, trying to destroy my name. It was a scheme by my cousin to discredit me. Cheaper and easier than the alternative, or so I was told.

[depicted]

[Dorian is shocked and offended on her behalf. He mutes it as much as he can, having been somewhat tempered by experience in society, but it is still a terrible thing.] It is a bitter thing when family itself betrays the blood. I wonder sometimes if—if perhaps—[Here, he is a frightened game animal. He doesn't know if he has a right to continue.] Don't you think at times that perhaps it . . . it is one's found bonds, more than one's familial bonds, that you can rely on yo support you?

[He rushes to retraction once his moment of bravery is over.] Not, of course, that one can't rely on family to see one through to the end, merely that—that is, family cannot be overvalued. Only that even royal bloodlines have dissent between veins. If you understand what I mean.

[prioritise]

[Mary hides a smile] I understand very well. My friends are often my greatest source of strength and support.

[She doesn't hide her smile as she squeezes his arm gently] It's why I know I will be able to count on you in the future.

[depicted]

[That brings a proper smile back to him, as small and breakable as it is.] Are we to be friends? I should like that very much.