rubycity_ooc | NOVEMBER TEST DRIVE

Entry tags:

NOVEMBER TEST DRIVE

Thinking of apping a character but not sure they'll fit in the city walls?

Have no fear, a meme for you is here.

Directions:

Use an RNG to choose a location and prompt, or wait for someone else to tag.

Post with your character with their name and canon on top!

If you'd like, leave contact info for people to get in contact for plotting and other such shenans.

Tag around! Make friends. Don't be afraid to chat OOC while tagging.

Locations

1.TRAIN STATION - The place where everyone gets dumped off at. Your first view of Ruby City, complete with informational posters telling you all about where you've ended up.
2. THE BEACH - Lovely year-round, though in the winter months, you're probably not likely to dip your toes in.
3. THE BLACK STALLION - A rather quaint bar. Supposedly, the burgers are great, but you don't see anyone immediately who's willing to serve you. Maybe you're meant to get it yourself.
4. THE OBELISK - The tall monolith in the center of the city marks the gathering place of many events, though right now it seems to be cold and dark.
5. THE CLOCKTOWER - Offering an impressive view of the city, several residents come here to clear their heads, if they don't mind braving the narrow staircase.
6. THE COFFEE JOINT - the front windows are warm and welcoming, and it seems there's always someone friendly enough to fix you a cup when you wander through.
7. THE CATACOMBS - Intrepid, aren't you? Those weird holes may beg exploring, but go too deep and you're going to be in a lot of trouble, considering the viciousness of the creatures held within.
8. THE CITY STREETS - All told, Ruby City is a lovely place, once you get past the fact that several of the buildings look derelict and on the verge of falling down. There's no harm in doing a little sightseeing.
9. THE PARK - You thought it'd be a lovely stroll, but the park is anything but friendly, if those approaching wolf-like creatures are any indication.
10. CHOOSE YOUR OWN - Don't like what we've come up with? Feel like picking your own place? There's a whole host of lovely locations to choose from in the City.

Scenarios

1. NEW ARRIVAL - Step off that train, walk down the street. People usually latch on to newcomers to try and help them out. Even if you look shy, the other residents probably won't be!
2. WATCH TALK - Feeling lost? Disoriented? Don't worry, everyone feels that way on their first day. Fortunately - if the signs at the station are to believed - the watch in your pocket can be used to talk to whoever else might be here.
3. BAD WEATHER - Aw, man. Whether it's snow, or rain, or just plain cold, today was definitely the wrong day to get dumped off in a City in the middle of nowhere.
4. A RUN-IN - Maybe you weren't watching. Maybe they weren't. Either way, you just bumped into someone. Perhaps apologies are in order?
5. HELP, IT HURTS - Clumsy, aren't you? Perhaps wherever the train brought you from wasn't so friendly, or you just tripped and twisted your ankle. Either way, you're in a bit of pain. Hopefully someone will notice your booboos and help patch you up.
6. HUNGRY - It isn't very obvious sometimes that restaurants are what they are, especially in a place like Ruby City. Where can a person go to get a bite to eat around here?
7. MISTAKEN IDENTITY - Hey, there's someone you know! --Or maybe not.
8. BEING FOLLOWED - Maybe you're just being paranoid, or maybe you've got a reason to be afraid. Whatever it is, it feels like there's eyes on you...
9. EVENTS - Feel free to look through our event tag!
10. CHOOSE YOUR OWN - Don't like any of these ideas? Feel free to come up with your own!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Dave peers dubiously up at the obelisk.]

Yeah, well, Lumiose's tower is a little less... that. What's that even supposed to be, the Washington Monument?

[It's amazing how much more secure and attentive he is, with Meridiana here. He can take in more than a blur of threats and exits. With his free hand, Dave ruffles snow out of his hair, then nods in the direction whence Meridiana arrived.]

Coffee shop's that way?

[She's quiet a second, mouthing the words "Washington Monument" while she tries to put the reference together with the view, and truth be told she doesn't have a lot of luck with it all around but presumably if Dave's saying it then it does, in fact, look like the Washington Monument.

Frankly, she's a little surprised he didn't say it looks like a dick, because she's come to learn over time that most anything that's shaped generally longer than it is wide can be attributed to a dickish appearance, and if there's one thing you catch onto fast in Life With Teenagers, it's that everything that could conceivably be compared to a dick will someday be compared to a dick. Everything comes up dicks sooner or later.

But anyway.]

It is, I passed it on my way through the snow. Shall we walk, or would you rather fly us both? I'll not mind either way, but —

[She hesitates a beat, knowing this will come as no great surprise, but feeling the urge to say it anyway.]

— I only don't want to let go of you, is all, whatever we choose.

[Could he love her any more.]

Let's fly. It's cold.

[Dave was trying to keep a low profile, but suddenly, now that he's found and not lost, that's really not as important as getting the both of them out of the snow. Should anyone--or anything--take issue with a display of power, he can probably take them.

It's good to be a god.]

Hup.

[He bends carefully to pick her up bridal-style. He's put on enough healthy muscle over the last year that lifting her maybe isn't entirely a feat of magic anymore. He's no Washington or Silver, but, finally, with her and their family, he's begun to grow into his own.]

Comfy?

[And naturally, for her part, Meridiana once spent the better part of multiple weeks never actually taking a single step of her own, on account of Silver just carrying her everywhere. So this sort of transportation is old hat, really.

And it shows, in the way she curls in against him and buries her face against his neck, snuggling in for the trip.]

Always. You're nice and warm to curl up against.

[1897 AND ITS SOCIAL STANDARDS ARE SCREAMING THEIR DAMN HEADS OFF RIGHT NOW and look at her not even giving a single solitary shit]

[:>!]

You only love me for my body.

[There is not an ounce of belief in that statement, but it cheers Dave up plenty to say it. He takes off lightly and flies at a reasonably paced glide so they can find this coffee shop.]

Man, these buildings... Hope they've at least got central heating around here. Or kotatsus.

[Five minutes and he's already homesick for their living room.]

Well, you must admit it's a terribly nice one.

[And one that she ogles freely and regularly, because fuckdamn living in the age of liberation is really something else.

It's not particularly difficult to find, the coffee shop; there's a big front window with tables and chairs visible inside, and it seems as though the owner is incredibly fond of mistletoe, because it's hanging inside in a few different places from the ceiling. On the wall, someone's been painting a mural of what looks like Italy; it's only mostly finished, but the craftsmanship is good and the scene it seeks to display is pretty and clear.]

London looked rather like this, you know. Not so rundown — at least, not in the places that proper people ever went. But the look of them, the way they're built...it's a little eerie, really, to be seeing them again after so long.

[The only reason Dave sets her down is so that he can hold the door open for her. Chivalry lives, folks.]

Think this might be a version of it, then? 'Cause I mean, I think I'd remember a big red honkin' obelisk next to the Big Ben, which is definitely a thing that's in London, right. At least our Londons.

[He eyes the mural and the mistletoe, and as tempting as it would be to catch Meridiana under one, his first priority has to be checking out the menu. He's starting to shiver. Because he's a wuss.]

...I hope not, honestly.

[Because of course, if it's a version of London, then it's entirely possible there might be versions of other things here, too. Like society. And manipulative young men. And evil doctors neck-deep in occult sciences.]

Perhaps you can ask the barrister at the counter for some answers?

[IT'S "BARISTA", HONEY]

Anything more that we can find out will certainly be a help.

[Isn't barrister the British word for a lawyer?]

Mm, yeah.

[Dave doesn't like interacting with strangers--at least, not when he's at so much of a disadvantage, asking for help and all--but when Meridiana makes suggestions like that they sound so reasonable. He nods and tilts his head at her.]

Want me to order you anything?

[Because a coffee sounds so good right now.]

If you could? Something warm, please — and I'll find us a table while you're at it. Teamwork, and so on!

[She sounds so delighted. TEAMWORK!, she all but chirps, like a songbird extolling the virtues of efficiency.]

Mm...it'll be colder by the window, but it'd be nice to see out...well, we'll see what seems best.

I'm okay with a window table. [Visibility > warmth RN. He's still battle-twitchy.] We can cuddle up for sweet body heat.

[Look at them calmly planning all this filthy PDA. They are so gross. Dave makes it worse by kissing her forehead and holding her hand one more time. Disgusting.]

Okay, team. Break?

[Or she can hold his hand all the way to the counter. He won't complain.]

[God bless, it's a reference she actually gets, and quite frankly she's not altogether averse to the idea of some quality PDA right now, either. She's keeping up a good front and a brave face, but this business of being suddely whisked off somewhere again is rattling on her nerves. There's a reason she's been such a homebody since they settled down at the B&B, after all; the boys are the ones who kept on living their lives of danger, while she's the one hungry for a calm atmosphere and a quiet life.]

Let me see you off to the line, at least, so you don't get lost on the way.

[It's an easy joke, but she meant what she said about not wanting to let him go, and it's obvious she's trying to put off the separation — minor though it might be — as long as possible.

When the time comes, though, she's reluctant but not afraid to let him go, and makes a determined separation before heading over to claim one of the window tables for the view.]

[No, it's Dave who wears the abandoned puppy look as she grabs them a table. He doesn't look away until he sees where she's sitting, and even then, he stands in such a way that he can see her on his peripheral, that there's no way she can disappear while he waits on drinks and information.

When he joins her at the table, he has a double Americano (for him), a hot spiced cider (also for him), a Belgian hot chocolate (for her, because dealing with scary new situations requires sugar fuel), and a thoughtful frown.]

Hey. [He sets their drinks down and slides in beside her, quick to bring their hands together again.] Careful; they're hot.

[He may or may not have taken a tiny sip of hers.

(He may or may not have decided he better be the one to test shit for poison, given the circumstances.)]

The shop guy's cool. I like him.

[Of course Dave does.]

I think something hot is just what we both need right about now, honestly. I'm grateful for it.

[But not as grateful as she is for Dave next to her, and as soon as he's there she's quick to snuggle up against his side. Even now she doesn't weigh much, and never has, but there's something more fluid in her body language now than there ever was in her life before Dave, something more natural and less doll-poised.]

And do you, now? What is it that's so cool about him, then?

His hair is donuts.

[This is the man Meridiana is choosing to make babies with.]

...Perhaps you should ask him how it's done, and you might have donuts for hair, as well.

[She sneaks a glance over toward the aforementioned donut-hair barista.]

Except for the braid he's wearing that you haven't, the two of you could be peas in a pod, really.

I'm taller.

[Because that's what's important. Dave puts a disgusting amount of sugar in his coffee and starts in on it--gingerly, because it's hot.]

Anyway, he told me some stuff. [He waves vaguely at the ceiling.] Apparently, there's rooms right up here for new arrivals to use temporarily until they find better digs.

[He's not sure he trusts such a kind offer himself, but if Meridiana's tired, or scared, it might be better than wandering around in the cold. Dave already knows he's keeping watch all night, anyway. Nothing's going to get to them, not ever again.]

Some peas are bigger than other peas! It doesn't make them any less pod-ly.

[She has been around Homestucks and their weird vocal cadences for too long. This is obvious.]

...Oh. I hadn't thought of that, but that's so, isn't it — we don't...we haven't been provided with rooms, the way we were the other time.

[She goes quiet a minute, then, thinking of all things of Silver. How would Silver think about a crisis like this, she asks herself?

Food. He would always make sure he had access to food first, and thus far that looks as though it means the coffee shop. So maybe taking a room here is a sensible thing to do, if only because it means they have the certainty of knowing their next meal is close at hand if they do.]

That...might be for the best, though. To get our bearings first, and then see about — to be safe for one night, at least, until we've time to make a plan about what to do next.

[Dave nods and squeezes her hand gently. He gets it. He doesn't want to go back to the other time, either, and every departure this place takes from it is at once nervous-making, since what's unknown is impossible to predict, and irrationally reassuring.]

Okay.

[Either way, staying here is as sensible a plan as any, and since Meridiana likes it, he's on board, too.]

So, the other thing about that is that they've got those rooms specifically for newcomers. Nobody here's originally from here, world-wise. But we're not... we're allowed to do what we want here, pretty much.

[No Mutual Killing Game. No motives every week. No student handbook.]

Like getting stuck at the airport. Shitty, but not, you know. Not like last time.

...Another place like that. Do you suppose that's how we've ended up here — we in particular, that is? Because we were already snatched away once, so perhaps now we're...more susceptible to it a second time?

[It's a big hypothesis for someone without a lot of background in science or science-fiction, but uncertain though it is, there's a certain clumsy logic to it.]

I'm just glad we're together. I can bear not being home, I think, so long as it's not — so long as you're here, and it's not like last time.

[It does make a lot of grim sense--how many worlds has Dave been through by now? How many before Monaka even got her grubby little hands on them? He shivers a little.]

Yeah.

[He's kind of ashamed, actually, of how close he'd already been to a fury-panic meltdown party before Meridiana found him. What was it Schuldig said to Lysandre at that one party? 'That's one kid we absolutely don't want going nuclear.'

Yikes. He should maybe work on that. In therapy. That he'll probably no longer be getting, on account of his insurance doesn't cover travel to pocket dimensions.]

It's not gonna be, though. The guy had no idea what I was talking about when I made references, and. That's not something anyone would just gloss over.

[He offers his other hand, if she wants it.]

[At this rate, she's going to end up just crawling right into his lap before the night is out, and all things considered neither one of them is going to mind it a single bit.

But having Dave by both hands is comforting, even if it prevents both of them from drinking their beverages.]

And...what about us? Are we going to just gloss over it, should anyone ask? Or...

[She hesitates.]

We'll have to tell people something, sooner or later. Won't we? What are we going to say?

[Dave hesitates, too.]

Depends on who's asking, probably. And how they ask it.

[His gut reaction is that it's nobody's goddamn business where they come from. They both left their pasts behind the moment they made the first payment on the bed and breakfast, and fuck anyone who tries to dig up what they've buried.

But the fact he feels such heat about that probably means it's not the healthiest response. He rubs his thumbs over her fingers as he chews it over.]

But, I guess... If they're trustworthy and not an asshole, we can probably get into it, at least a little. Like, the premise, maybe. The Cliffnotes edition.

[He shakes his head.]

I dunno. It's worth figuring out what's commonplace here and how people might react before we set policy.

...Then we'll say we're from the same place, from — France.

[She begins slowly, sort of working it out as she speaks, talking them both through it thought by thought and sentence by sentence.]

That's true, or at least true enough. You're from America and I'm from London, and we met at...school...and now we live in France.

D-Do you think we ought to use different names than our own? Just in case, until we've gotten a better idea of things?

[Dave tilts his head to ponder the suggestion.]

I don't know that it's necessary, since the likelihood anyone here's gonna recognize us by name is pretty slim, with the different worlds and all.

[He leans in a little.]

But on the other hand, that sounds fuckin' incredible. What are you gonna name me. Something awesome, I hope. Paul Bunyan. Pecos Bill. [Wait, holy shit. He breathes in sharply.] Snoop Doggy Dogg the Third.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

NOVEMBER TEST DRIVE

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