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]

[Like most people who experience a surge of sensation only to come crashing into dullness, Dorian is feeling a little delicate right now. Which is probably why he might start crying.] A miracle? What sort of miracle is it that a person will grow old and ugly and die? What miracle is it that I lose something essential at every passing moment? I'm a human, Toby.

[Wait. Oh no. Oh noooo. Horrified, he steps back.] I'm a human, and I have done what I shouldn't have.

[monstrous]

But you should be dead! Don't you understand? I - what I did, if it didn't turn you it should've killed you. I drank so much...

I don't know what you are Dorian, but I don't think you're human. You're something else entirely. You can't even sustain an injury, let alone death or age or decay. Even I have scars that won't fade, but you, your wounds have faded as if they never existed in the first place.

[Toby steps forward, a hand reaching out for Dorian's face] What are you, Dorian Gray?

[depicted]

[Not drawing away from the contact, Dorian still shakes his head.] Of course I'm human! What else would I be? I've had all kinds of injury before, and you must have—the—whatever you did must have healed me before it faded. I am a human.

[monstrous]

It doesn't work that way, Dorian.

Here, look. [Toby pulls away from Dorian and takes off his shirt quickly and none too gracefully. He takes Dorian's hand and guides it towards the scars from his "mauling" that will never heal, and then moves Dorian's hand towards the wounds from Ivar turning him that are nearly healed] I've got scars, traces, imperfections that will never go away. I don't just magically heal like you did. These are days old, these are from when I turned, and they're still not gone away. But you, you healed in hours.

I'm not like you, Dorian. No one is like you.

[depicted]

[Toby's touch is the only thing that grounds him, stops his fingers trembling and his body from running. But his voice shakes.] How could I be anything but human?

[monstrous]

[Even if his fingers aren't trembling, Toby can still feel that flutter of emotion somewhere deep.] It must be this place. It must've done something to you. That's all. A gift for bringing you here.

[smiling, he tries to think of something reassuring to say] I - I bet that even the forces behind all of this couldn't stand to see you age or bruise.

[depicted]

[Dorian laughs a little like that—his vanity is very easy to flatter—and takes hold of Toby's wrist. He looks Toby in the eyes, really looks at him, as if to make this stranger, this monster, the centre of gravity in a world that has been overturned.]

Toby, you are my friend, aren't you? I can trust you, with my secrets?

[monstrous]

[Toby wonders for a moment just who or what he stumbled upon. Maybe he's not the only monster here, maybe he's not even the scariest one. The thought is terrifying and exhilarating]

Yeah, yeah, course you can, Dorian. We are friends, fast friends, but friends all the same.

[depicted]

[Delicate fingers touch the back of Toby's neck. He draws his new friend towards him, and he whispers what he cannot believe.] I made a wish to stay young and beautiful, today, when I was where I belong. I wished it, and I said I would give up my soul.

[monstrous]

[Toby is at a loss. If it could still race, that's what his heart would be doing. His breathing needs to catch up with him before he can speak] I knew there was something special about you, Dorian. The boy who doesn't die, doesn't age, doesn't scar or blemish.

[depicted]

[Dorian shrinks back. It's too much, too much emotion and revelation and action all at once, and his head is a mess.] Stop! Please, stop. Give me time to think. Or time not to think. This is too much.

[monstrous]

I - I'm sorry, Dorian. Just don't go, please. We can pretend it all away if that's what you want. We can never talk about any of it and just --

[A hopeful, desperate smile, a tad too cheery and forced] We still have to sort out your fie, yeah? Let's go do that!

[depicted]

[He takes Toby's hand and stops him.] Please. Do not say any more. Let me have one moment's peace.

[monstrous]

[He opens his mouth to say something, but stops and just nods. He starts putting his shirt back on again as he waits for Dorian. Toby will just work on the cravat blindly for a while, it's frustrating and distracting enough that he won't focus on how uncertain and humiliated he's feeling right now]

[depicted]

[Dorian takes a long, long moment. He keeps his eyes clothes, but after some time passes, he calls out for the only person who is there.] Toby?

[monstrous]

[that uncertainty and embarrassment have shifted into sulkiness] You had your peace then? Hope it was a peaceful peace.

[depicted]

[His eyes open, slowly, and his voice and expression are at their most vulnerable.] I am not at peace. I feel as if I cannot awaken from some night visit that terrifies and delights me.

You must stay with me. I can't bear to be alone.

[monstrous]

Are you - [he shakes away the first thought, before nodding] Yeah, alright, if it's what you want.

[depicted]

[He takes Toby's hand in his, and he can't help but smile that smile of brilliant youth.] Well. This certainly must qualify as a 'new experience,' mustn't it?

[monstrous]

'Exotic' at the very least.

[depicted]

Exhilarating. [To cure the soul by means of the senses. Does he even still have a soul? He doesn't know. It is a terrifying thought that needs forgetting.

Dorian lifts his palm to Toby's cold cheek and draws him in.] I am grateful that I have such a friend with whom to share the experience.

[monstrous]

[Toby lets Dorian lead him] I didn't think I would - I'm glad I found a friend like you, Dorian.