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

[wipedclean]

[It's pretty simple. In his world, either you're a threat, a target, or irrelevant. At least, that's the way it was. But old, deeply ingrained and conditioned habits die hard.

His hand stays ready around his knife, but his shoulders lose a little bit of their tension as the attack continues to... not happen.

And she keeps smiling. It's strange.

Something in the back of his mind mutters show off, but it doesn't mean anything to him.]

No.

[...well. If that exhibit was trustworthy, he was at one point, but he doesn't think he can associate with that. Not yet. Who he is now is not what he was then.]

[bokator]

[ She masks her surprise, not at his terseness - but that flat tone. Sometimes, you see combat in a man: Vietnam was etched into her father and it blazed like a forest fire, consuming everything in its path regardless of friend or foe. She doesn't need to glance at his metal arm to confirm. Somebody hurt him, or he hurt them, and bad. ]

Are you always this friendly, or am I just that special girl?

[wipedclean]

[His brow furrows. Is that... was that a joke? It sounded like maybe it was meant to be.

Regardless, he doesn't know how he should answer. He never needed to be "friendly." It was irrelevant.

But now... is it a failing? Is he lacking somehow, now that he's on his own?]

...sorry.

[bokator]

[ Gently, firm, ] Don't be.

[ She takes a few steps closer to him. To an outsider it looks like a merely curious approach, but Rose is cautiously navigating his personal space, judging how close he'll let her come, or what he'll do. She makes sure he can always see her hands. ]

I'm Rose. Did you just get here?

[ She doesn't ask for his name. It's not important to her beyond having something to call him. ]

[wipedclean]

[He doesn't like how she approaches him, so he takes a step back. It doesn't make logical sense, he could probably crush her, but he doesn't want to.

It's not that he's afraid he'll attack against his own will, he has more control than that, but she's a stranger, he doesn't know what she wants, and she's blocking his exit path.]

Yes. I did.

[bokator]

[ The moment he does, she stops, studies him for a second, and returns to her original position without fuss, and keeps talking like nothing happened. ]

Have you tried the coffee yet? I'm telling you they put special sugar or milk in it or whatever, it tastes pretty good. Way better than anything you can get in San Francisco.

[wipedclean]

No, I haven't.

[He wonders if he's had coffee before. He must have, sometime, in the past he can't remember.

He does appreciate how she's stepped back, though. He relaxes a little, and slowly puts his knife away, knowing he could quickly and easily retrieve it again if needed.]

[bokator]

[ She smiles brightly at him. ]

You know, a gentleman usually gets a lady coffee when she says she likes it.

[ She doesn't expect anything of him, she just can't help the joke. ]

[wipedclean]

[Something about that comment strikes him with a sense of familiarity, though he can't say what or why.]

I'm... not a gentleman.

[He's not sure he could say what being a gentleman entails, but he knows he isn't one. He's a weapon.]

[bokator]

[ Her smile softens, becomes patchwork. ]

It's your lucky day. I'm not a lady.

[ She's many things - most of them terrible - she'll wear those like armour so the world never forgets who it's messing with. ]

[ A few moments of silence, then, curiously, ] What would you say you are?

[wipedclean]

[That's the million-dollar question, isn't it. And he doesn't have an answer for it. Yet.

He shakes his head.]

I don't know.

[bokator]

[ It's just three words, and it feels like a knife to the throat - she's had cause to experience that particular sensation. ]

[ The only indication he gets that it's affected her emotionally is the brief tension when he speaks, before she pushes it back down. ]

What do you want to be?

[wipedclean]

[He notices, but he doesn't interpret it as an emotional reaction, because he's too busy with his own racing thoughts and emotions that he doesn't understand and can't control.]

I don't know.

[He doesn't like this conversation. What does she want from him?]

[bokator]

Hey, easy, big guy, easy.

[ She raises her hands, palms facing him, and takes a step back, very slowly. ]

Sorry.

[wipedclean]

[He's upset, but he's not sure if he's angry at himself or her, and he doesn't know what to do about it.]

What do you want?

[bokator]

I want to talk to you.

[ For once, there's no bells and whistles. It's brutally, flatly honest. ]

It doesn't seem like many people have.

[wipedclean]

[He shakes his head. Plenty of people have talked to him, given him orders, told him what to do and how to act.]

Why?

[bokator]

You're familiar.

[ He's about the same height and weight class as her father, he moves with echoes of the man she knows. It's a taste of home in this weird place, even an unwanted one - the last person she wants to think about is that gene donor, or to be reminded that she misses him. But there it is. ]

[wipedclean]

[His first thought is that he may have done something to her, or someone she knew, and doesn't remember it. It's possible. He can't remember every mission he's completed, they wiped him too much.

He doesn't know how to respond, if she does remember him from something like that, she should've attacked him already, but she still hasn't made any moves like that.

So he stays silent, confused at her statement, not knowing what to make of it.]

[bokator]

Not in a bad way, I promise.

[ She adds that gently, quietly, watching him. Someone telling her she's familiar is cause for alarm, if she doesn't recognise them they come from that period of her life she's tried to lock away - the days she was most definitely a murderer. ]

[wipedclean]

[He's a little taken aback by that. How else could he be familiar? The only other person who recognized him as something other than The Winter Soldier was Steve, and that was... an anomaly.

So her answer just confuses him more.]

[bokator]

[ And that's even more familiar, but she says and does nothing to indicate it. Instead, she just grins at him again. ]

Want to get coffee?

[wipedclean]

[He really can't understand what she wants.]

Why are you doing this?

[It doesn't make any sense. Familiarity isn't reason enough to be doing this, it can't be. What does she want from him?

Everyone wants something from him.]

[bokator]

[ She draws herself up, like he's just hit her with a brick, and exhales, slowly. This is familiarity of a different kind: everyone wants something, nobody is nice just because. She's seen it in her own reflection too many times to think it's something else. ]

[ And that can't be explained, it has to be experienced for it to be internalised. She had to. ]

Jeez, ask the tough questions, why don't you?

[ She sighs. ]

I don't think you'd believe me if I told you the truth, and that's okay, but I'd really rather not have to lie to you.

[wipedclean]

[He frowns. Either she's going to tell him or not. He should just walk away, but his curiosity and the look in her eyes keeps him where he is.

He wants to know.]

Tell me.