Test Drive - July Edition

[rekindlemods]

The July Test Drive! Trying to see if a character will fit or work in the setting? Need some interaction samples? Well this meme is for you! Make a post, tag around, and most importantly, have fun! Here's the setting page for those who want to learn a little more about the city itself. And don't forget to go reserve your character, GO GO GO.......

Here's some prompts to help you get started, if you need it:

Option 1

[ It looks like there are preparations underway for some sort of festival or fair. There are various stands and booths being erected along sectioned-off streets and the riverbank, and decorations are slowly but surely being hanged. Fireflies seem to be appearing all along the riverbank as the sun sets, with a few stands set up with mason jars of various sizes as well as paper lanterns, possibly as further decorations. Whatever the case, it looks like those setting up could use some help! ]

Option 2

[ Though most of the stands are being set up, that doesn't mean that there aren't a few vendors looking to help those out and about beat the heat in some fashion. There are some selling shaved ice with various flavors, and others that appear to be handing out water-filled balloons or squirt guns. However, like in the market district, there's a catch – the items are free, so long as you arrive at the stall in pairs or groups larger than two. ]

Option 3

[ Whoops. Looks like you haven't taken the cautionary words of the other NPCs to heart, or maybe you just wanted to take your chances. Either way, the withdrawal symptoms have started and you need to find someone to hug quickly before you get even more sick.]

Option 4

[If there's something else you wanted to play with, that you didn't see here, then have fun with that. You've just arrived in a strange city, after all. There's got to be plenty to explore out and about, not to mention people to meet.]

Comments

[dead_eyed_wolf]

She nodded absently, selecting a couple pairs of shorts (khaki, white, black, navy), skirts (black and white), a hopefully 'cute-as-hell' belt (white with little silver studs is sort of cute, right?) and, on second thought, a black rain jacket. It felt sort of wrong to dress so casually, but she figured she probably wouldn't need something like a flak vest here-- especially if the city's energy really was based on hugging (which seemed completely ridiculous, but so did teleportation).

'Snowman thing'? Mukuro turned to look at him while she listened, expression growing more and more uncertain the more he talked. Gods turning people into animals, mind-controlling rain, killer snowmen. What kind of town was this? She peered intensely at him, steel eyes searching his face. She wasn't exactly an expert at socializing, but he didn't seem to be joking.

"...Are you serious?" She finally asked, voice flat. It was bad enough she'd been dragged away from Junko to this city, surrounded by strange people, and now there was supernatural threats to handle. Maybe she was wrong about the flak vest thing. "Do you know if there's some kind of... military surplus store? Or something?" She badly wished she had a gun. Who knows what bullets would do against magical snowmen, but something was better than nothing. For the second time today, she wished she hadn't been in Junko's clothes when she was spirited away.

[topgun_textiles]

Studded belts could be cute and tough; Kanji didn't utter a peep about any of the choices she was making: Half because it wasn't his place to tell her exactly what to wear, and two that - for someone who hates shopping - she was getting pretty good at it.

He was snapped from his thoughts with a simple question. Despite a small sound of uncertainty in his throat, he nodded. From an outside perspective, sure, it sounded like a whole lot of bullshit to take all at once. It sounded like something out of some weird supernatural TV show.

"Wouldn't make any'a that shit up if I tried. I could show you, but... I dunno exactly how to turn into the animal form that god gave me anymore. I mean, I can kinda feel it somewhere real deep in, but--"

He blinked, frowned. "Military surplus? ...What, like, guns, ammo, armor? Nah. At least, I dunno."

But as he remembered, he stood up straighter. "...Ohh! Shit, why didn't I think of that?! Fortuna! Okay-"

He raised an arm a little over a foot above his head. "Y'wanna look for this really tall chick with ram horns n' fangs. Goes by Fortuna. Whenever I see her she's kinda campin' out somewhere with a whole shit-ton of guns and little gun robots and stuff. I think she got 'em from her home world, but if anybody knows where to grab ammo, it'd be her."

[dead_eyed_wolf]

Mukuro couldn't help but stare at him. Every other word that came out of his mouth was insane. Mukuro had definitely known some troubled individuals, having spent plenty of time with the other members of SHSL Despair. She didn't pick up the same kind of... nervous, frantic energy off him at all. He was actually remarkably casual for someone talking about shapeshifting and demons.

"Ram horns," she repeated, deadpan, "and fangs." There was a beat of silence. "Okay. Fortuna. Thank you." As ludicrous as it sounded, she filed away the information for later use. Honestly, it was likely to be completely true, considering the other ridiculous things she'd been told. She trotted over to shoes, selecting a much more comfortable and sturdy pair of boots than Junko's heels, then, on second thought, a pair of sandals as well. "Is there--" she paused, chewing on her lower lip, feeling stupid for asking. "Is there a way to... go home? Or... pull someone else through?" Probably not. Or else who would stay here? But she had to ask.

[topgun_textiles]

"If there was a way ta go home, most of us wouldn't even be here. So whoever it is in charge of pluckin' us from our timelines or whatever tries to give us a hand by givin' us a place to sleep at their expense. S'better than sleepin' on the street."

Looking on the bright side of things has helped him plenty here. Would he go back if offered? Hell yes he would, but only if his friends got dismissed too.

"I know it sounds nuts, but they sounded pretty desperate when I first got here. The effects of not touchin', of goin' out in the darker parts of town... it drains you and it makes you seriously sick. The people born n' raised here can't generate energy like we can, so I'd imagine they'd be pretty screwed if we left anyhow. So I'm kinda stuck between 'LEMME GO THE HELL HOME' and 'Lemme help these people who gave me a place to stay'. Y'know?"

[dead_eyed_wolf]

Of course. Of course. There was no way home-- or at least, not one commonly known. Of course there wasn't, it was never that easy. There was no way back to where she belonged, back to Junko. Her fists clenched, nails digging into her palms, reminding her to breathe. She almost wanted to laugh. Or cry. Both?

Maybe this was her punishment, for participating in Junko's killing game. Or... maybe it was her punishment for not doing well enough in Junko's game. 'You want to be nice and make friends instead of killing them? Fine! I guess you'll be happier in a world where you have to hug or die instead!' That's definitely something she would say. She did laugh, then, small and choked. "Right," she replied, voice low, holding the clothes tight to her chest, "they are being generous." For kidnappers. More generous than others could have been. But did it really matter?

"So-- they pull people in regularly?" She forced herself to continue the conversation. "Is, um, is there-- is there a way to... pick someone in particular?"

[topgun_textiles]

"Not that I know of. I figure they'd pick more 'huggy' people if that were the case, right? I don't exactly go around huggin' people."

But he hesitated. If he didn't know any better, he was getting a hunch that she was really hoping for another friendly face. Any of them. Or maybe a specific one. He wasn't about to ask.

But... "What a lotta people do is wait by the Welcome Center every month for any sign of their friends to help 'em out. New people show up about the same time each time, so it turns into a kinda ritual."

He didn't wait for anybody, but maybe it'd help her.

There was a quiet beep from him, and he raised his arm to chest level. On his wrist was an odd, almost cartoonish watch, almost like a gadget out of some sentai show, and he wrinkled a brow.

"Shit... s'it that late? Anyways, it's my turn to make dinner, so I gotta get goin' pretty soon."

He nodded to her selections. "...Ya picked some good ones. I mean, if you were wondering."

She really should lose the acrylic nails, though. But that wasn't his place.

[dead_eyed_wolf]

That would make more sense, wouldn't it? Mukuro was probably the last person they'd have picked, if they had any control over it. Stupid. She should have realized that. The Welcome Center, though... that, she could do. She nodded. None of her other classmates would recognize her, probably. And if they did, well... served her right, she guessed. Not that she'd be in any real danger, but...

She tried to manage a smile, small and hesitant as it was. "Thank you," she murmured, genuinely. It was the first time in a while that she'd been complimented. "And-- thank you for the help." He hadn't been obligated to hang around and answer her inane questions, after all. She'd been pretty wrong about him. She inclined her head in a polite nod before drifting off towards the counters. Even if it was free, she probably had to verify it with a clerk, right?

And then she could go home. Or what passed for home now.