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Entry tags:
TDM 001
TEST DRIVE MEME 001 ❀
CONTENT WARNINGS: potential character nudity, violence, trypophobia (images) as well as light mentions of gore.
Please note: FOR THE FIRST 24 HOURS AFTER 'HATCHING', CHARACTERS WILL FEEL WEAK AND ANY POWERS THEY HAVE WILL NOT WORK.
Test drive meme threads can be considered game canon for players who are later accepted and wish to keep their CR. The rescue mission prompt will be a TDM-exclusive, but the other prompts that you see here will also appear on our first game log. There will, of course, be more going on that week.
Please reserve questions about consequences for altering or meaningfully investigating the setting for the first log of the game, where we will have a Mod Questions thread at the top of the log. On this test drive meme, please reserve this thread for clarification and setting questions.
On the first day of reserves (May 10th), only players who participate in the TDM will be allowed to reserve. You must link an AC-length thread from the TDM for early access. Starting on the 11th, any prospective player may submit a reserve. Our hope is that this will avoid overwhelming our reserves.
Congrats, you've woken up in an egg. I'm sure this is exactly how you wanted to spend your Saturday, right? There's no time to get curious and check out the other egg sacs. By the time you've fought your way out of the membranous sac, spilled electric blue goop everywhere, wiped it out of your eyes and sundry other orifices to get your bearings, you have a spear (or a gun) leveled at your face, throat, or other vital organs. Even if you might be inclined to fight, you can barely lift your arms to protest being grabbed and dragged off. Before you can even get a word in edgewise, you've been thrown into a holding cell.
Characters will not have a chance to retrieve their items at the time of the first hatching, and may not even know there is anything left in the remaining eggs.
The holding cell stinks of something sour and acidic, like rotted citrus, but you are not alone. Several other detainees sit in similar squalid confusion, dressed strangely and equally gooey. Time to make nice, ask questions... figure out what the hell is going on, and maybe do something about all that slime?
Over the next few days, a few things become clear. Despite the alien greeting, your captors speak a language that you understand, and the unpleasant circumstances are revealed to be a matter of necessity, not choice. Supplies are low, but they ensure that the new arrivals' time imprisoned is as painless as can be — they offer hot communal showers of less than three minutes, some strange starchy meal-replacement, and medical treatment to those in need. You might strike up a conversation with your new best friend in the shower over a low soap dispenser or when you realize you might need to share towels.
The cost of these luxuries comes in the form of touch-and-go interrogation by the security officers keeping tabs on the cells and supervising the shower time.
A few notes:
Please note: FOR THE FIRST 24 HOURS AFTER 'HATCHING', CHARACTERS WILL FEEL WEAK AND ANY POWERS THEY HAVE WILL NOT WORK.
Test drive meme threads can be considered game canon for players who are later accepted and wish to keep their CR. The rescue mission prompt will be a TDM-exclusive, but the other prompts that you see here will also appear on our first game log. There will, of course, be more going on that week.
Please reserve questions about consequences for altering or meaningfully investigating the setting for the first log of the game, where we will have a Mod Questions thread at the top of the log. On this test drive meme, please reserve this thread for clarification and setting questions.
On the first day of reserves (May 10th), only players who participate in the TDM will be allowed to reserve. You must link an AC-length thread from the TDM for early access. Starting on the 11th, any prospective player may submit a reserve. Our hope is that this will avoid overwhelming our reserves.
❀ HATCHING
Congrats, you've woken up in an egg. I'm sure this is exactly how you wanted to spend your Saturday, right? There's no time to get curious and check out the other egg sacs. By the time you've fought your way out of the membranous sac, spilled electric blue goop everywhere, wiped it out of your eyes and sundry other orifices to get your bearings, you have a spear (or a gun) leveled at your face, throat, or other vital organs. Even if you might be inclined to fight, you can barely lift your arms to protest being grabbed and dragged off. Before you can even get a word in edgewise, you've been thrown into a holding cell.
Characters will not have a chance to retrieve their items at the time of the first hatching, and may not even know there is anything left in the remaining eggs.
The holding cell stinks of something sour and acidic, like rotted citrus, but you are not alone. Several other detainees sit in similar squalid confusion, dressed strangely and equally gooey. Time to make nice, ask questions... figure out what the hell is going on, and maybe do something about all that slime?
Over the next few days, a few things become clear. Despite the alien greeting, your captors speak a language that you understand, and the unpleasant circumstances are revealed to be a matter of necessity, not choice. Supplies are low, but they ensure that the new arrivals' time imprisoned is as painless as can be — they offer hot communal showers of less than three minutes, some strange starchy meal-replacement, and medical treatment to those in need. You might strike up a conversation with your new best friend in the shower over a low soap dispenser or when you realize you might need to share towels.
The cost of these luxuries comes in the form of touch-and-go interrogation by the security officers keeping tabs on the cells and supervising the shower time.
A few notes:
☆ Your character may get pulled away for interrogation at some point. No torture, no drugs; just questioning.
☆ Locals will be stopping by outside the freestanding holding cells to ogle or ask questions. Are you really going to be mean to that little kid staring at you with wide eyes?
☆ Characters will be let out for bio breaks. No one has to pee in a bucket, that's just inhumane!
☆ Attempts to escape will probably get you tasered. The mods will not facilitate escape-plots/etc on test drive memes. However: if you app and are accepted you are more than welcome to chat with us about the possibility of having escaped or attempted it.
☆ Locals will be stopping by outside the freestanding holding cells to ogle or ask questions. Are you really going to be mean to that little kid staring at you with wide eyes?
☆ Characters will be let out for bio breaks. No one has to pee in a bucket, that's just inhumane!
☆ Attempts to escape will probably get you tasered. The mods will not facilitate escape-plots/etc on test drive memes. However: if you app and are accepted you are more than welcome to chat with us about the possibility of having escaped or attempted it.
❀ EXPLORE THE BASECAMP
On the heels of a little benign interrogation, a medical inspection, and a stern talking to by Captain Childe, the survivors at Basecamp Leviathan determine one thing: you don't appear to be an active threat.
Released from the detention center after three days, you are given the run-down by the locals — you're on a planet called Ethyraia, and the people around you are survivors of the catastrophic crash of the UCSS Adamant several years prior. You, in fact, showed up on the third anniversary of the crash. Weird coincidence, huh?
You're being allowed to mingle with the others. The first order of the day is having a proper meal at the mess hall — some of the Adamant's survivors will be friendlier than others. They've been stranded here for years, remember? Some of them will be so desperate to talk to someone who has news of other places, and some will be giving you the cold shoulder.
You'll be fed the same as the rest of them. A plastic plate of crumbled protein of unidentifiable origin and gravy over rice with a single wilted stalk of broccoli and a cup of the worst coffee you've ever had. Maybe somebody bumps into you and spills said coffee, maybe you make it all the way to one of the long tables set out for communal eating.
Time to strike up a chat with your neighbor — maybe ask them to pass the salt?
(What do you mean, there's no salt!?)
After a meal — it's hard to say which one you'd call it, since the whole crew is on rotating schedules — you may decide to wander the basecamp. Folks in every department could use a hand. Those willing to help out may get friendlier reception than those who play the tourist. For more info on what else you might find, check out the LOCATIONS page.
During this time, characters will be able to return to the Central Chrysalis where they hatched. While there are no clues as to how they got there, they might find items — their own, or someone else's. Everyone is strapped for supplies, but try not to snatch up anything that isn't yours. The security officers don't look kindly on people chasing one other down the hall, trying to get back their dirty magazines.
A few notes:
Released from the detention center after three days, you are given the run-down by the locals — you're on a planet called Ethyraia, and the people around you are survivors of the catastrophic crash of the UCSS Adamant several years prior. You, in fact, showed up on the third anniversary of the crash. Weird coincidence, huh?
You're being allowed to mingle with the others. The first order of the day is having a proper meal at the mess hall — some of the Adamant's survivors will be friendlier than others. They've been stranded here for years, remember? Some of them will be so desperate to talk to someone who has news of other places, and some will be giving you the cold shoulder.
You'll be fed the same as the rest of them. A plastic plate of crumbled protein of unidentifiable origin and gravy over rice with a single wilted stalk of broccoli and a cup of the worst coffee you've ever had. Maybe somebody bumps into you and spills said coffee, maybe you make it all the way to one of the long tables set out for communal eating.
Time to strike up a chat with your neighbor — maybe ask them to pass the salt?
(What do you mean, there's no salt!?)
After a meal — it's hard to say which one you'd call it, since the whole crew is on rotating schedules — you may decide to wander the basecamp. Folks in every department could use a hand. Those willing to help out may get friendlier reception than those who play the tourist. For more info on what else you might find, check out the LOCATIONS page.
During this time, characters will be able to return to the Central Chrysalis where they hatched. While there are no clues as to how they got there, they might find items — their own, or someone else's. Everyone is strapped for supplies, but try not to snatch up anything that isn't yours. The security officers don't look kindly on people chasing one other down the hall, trying to get back their dirty magazines.
A few notes:
☆ Feel free to help out anywhere. Every little bit of assistance you offer to the locals will raise their estimation of you. You could easily help clean dishes after the meal, help fix leaky piping or repair hammocks. You could stop by the aid station and assist with the wounded. You'll be watched closely and some of the survivors will be warier than others, but most will appreciate the opportunity to have a 'break'.
☆ If your character leaves the basecamp and wanders outside the Leviathan, they may begin to notice that what they perhaps took as a giant cave is actually an enormous dragon. Everything they see that seems 'human made' will look varying levels of worn down, patched, repaired and patched again. This is not a place of prosperity and happiness. Many people are recently injured, or have new scars or missing limbs.
☆ PCs will be warned about going beyond the shade of the dragon's wings. For the sake of the test drive mods will not be facilitating plots that deal with characters going further; we ask that players with an interest in exploring this wait until the game is fully open.
☆ If your character leaves the basecamp and wanders outside the Leviathan, they may begin to notice that what they perhaps took as a giant cave is actually an enormous dragon. Everything they see that seems 'human made' will look varying levels of worn down, patched, repaired and patched again. This is not a place of prosperity and happiness. Many people are recently injured, or have new scars or missing limbs.
☆ PCs will be warned about going beyond the shade of the dragon's wings. For the sake of the test drive mods will not be facilitating plots that deal with characters going further; we ask that players with an interest in exploring this wait until the game is fully open.
❀ RESCUE MISSION
"There's no time to waste," the woman says breathlessly as she grabs your arm. She pulls you to an augmented reality sand table and you will find yourself standing alongside some of the others you may recognize as having 'hatched' with you. There are murmurs by the Adamant's survivors as they pour over data. Maybe you remember Captain Childe from the stern interrogation she gave you a few days ago, but in any case but she's standing at the edge of the sand table looking at the distance scaled between the enormous huddle of HUD badges — the Adamant's survivors — and a tiny pocket of pulsing green some fifteen kilometers away.
"They knew better," Captain Childe says, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. "They should have been back hours ago."
"Fucking scientists," says a man with a faintly French accent. He is scarred and battle-worn, and looks properly pissed off. He's also sporting several fresh injuries, one of which seems to have warranted the use of a crutch. "They'd lose their heads if they weren't attached. Let them wait out the storm."
"No," the captain says. "They're too close to the Rat Nest. We don't need a repeat of —" she trails off, as if seeing you for the first time. She looks you up and down, and then: "You've been told by now that everyone here has to pitch in. If you know how to fight, be ready in ten minutes. You're our rescue squad." She turns and walks out, and there's an awkward moment where everyone present is looking at you to make a choice.
Ten minutes really isn't a lot of time to get ready to walk into danger. Or maybe you aren't a fighter. Maybe you just don't care. But either way, there are people looking to you. To see how you'll react. To see what you'll do. To see if you belong.
What'll it be, hatchling? Fight or flight? Maybe you ought to start coming up with a plan.
FIELD WORK
There's a cadre of scientists cut off by acid rain. From their last transmission, they were driven into the Rat Warrens — and you've been tasked with rescuing them. Too many members of the Security Team are themselves injured, and none of the remaining ones have experience leading a fire team. Let's hope you do — or at least that you can fake it.
Maybe you've hand-picked your team. Maybe you're just stuck with whoever else was closest. Either way, your companions are some of the people you might recognize as fellow 'hatchlings'. If you know them already — good, you've got a head start on what they might be capable of out in the field, and you can chat about the little things. You know, like the weather. Acid rain, gotta love it.
Either way. You're given few small slabs of surprisingly lightweight alloy that has a sheet of — is that hide from the Leviathan? — stretched across them, to divide up amongst your team. "Helps with the rain," Ensign Porter says, trying to sound cheerful despite the grim set to his jaw. "Just come back in one piece. I kinda feel responsible for you guys, you know?"
Before you know it, you're outfitted for the trip. Weapons (if you didn't have your own) and maybe some medical supplies, handed over with a grimace by Doc Sunya.
So then it's just you, your tiny team and a fifteen kilometer hike. Oh, and the acid rain. Luckily, the shields seem to be keeping it off, but it's hard to hear anything over the impact of the drops. Anyone want to play I never?
Or maybe you think you should make a break for it. This is your first time being outside the Leviathan unsupervised. You've got supplies, and other people with as little to lose here as you do. Maybe you should talk.
THE RAT WARREN
You've made it to the last transmitted location of the scientists. What you find doesn't bode well — one of them seemed to have an arm torn off — at least, you think it's an arm — the way it's been disintegrated by the rain makes it hard to tell.
One thing's certain, though. There are bloodstains leading into the nearby maw of a hole in the ground. There's a putrid odor wafting from it, and the sound of frantic scrabbling.
You have an idea of what might be down there. 'Giant rats with tentacles', Porter had said. Don't let the tentacles grab you, they leave chemical burns that usually result in amputation if they can't be treated immediately. But there's a chance the scientists are still alive, and you need to make your choice.
If you and your small team venture down into the darkness, what happens next is up to you. You'll be encountering hoards of these monsters. The scientists are still alive, but will they stay that way? And more importantly, can you get them back to the Leviathan in one piece?
PCs versus the local fauna, round one, FIGHT!
A few notes:
"They knew better," Captain Childe says, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. "They should have been back hours ago."
"Fucking scientists," says a man with a faintly French accent. He is scarred and battle-worn, and looks properly pissed off. He's also sporting several fresh injuries, one of which seems to have warranted the use of a crutch. "They'd lose their heads if they weren't attached. Let them wait out the storm."
"No," the captain says. "They're too close to the Rat Nest. We don't need a repeat of —" she trails off, as if seeing you for the first time. She looks you up and down, and then: "You've been told by now that everyone here has to pitch in. If you know how to fight, be ready in ten minutes. You're our rescue squad." She turns and walks out, and there's an awkward moment where everyone present is looking at you to make a choice.
Ten minutes really isn't a lot of time to get ready to walk into danger. Or maybe you aren't a fighter. Maybe you just don't care. But either way, there are people looking to you. To see how you'll react. To see what you'll do. To see if you belong.
What'll it be, hatchling? Fight or flight? Maybe you ought to start coming up with a plan.
FIELD WORK
There's a cadre of scientists cut off by acid rain. From their last transmission, they were driven into the Rat Warrens — and you've been tasked with rescuing them. Too many members of the Security Team are themselves injured, and none of the remaining ones have experience leading a fire team. Let's hope you do — or at least that you can fake it.
Maybe you've hand-picked your team. Maybe you're just stuck with whoever else was closest. Either way, your companions are some of the people you might recognize as fellow 'hatchlings'. If you know them already — good, you've got a head start on what they might be capable of out in the field, and you can chat about the little things. You know, like the weather. Acid rain, gotta love it.
Either way. You're given few small slabs of surprisingly lightweight alloy that has a sheet of — is that hide from the Leviathan? — stretched across them, to divide up amongst your team. "Helps with the rain," Ensign Porter says, trying to sound cheerful despite the grim set to his jaw. "Just come back in one piece. I kinda feel responsible for you guys, you know?"
Before you know it, you're outfitted for the trip. Weapons (if you didn't have your own) and maybe some medical supplies, handed over with a grimace by Doc Sunya.
So then it's just you, your tiny team and a fifteen kilometer hike. Oh, and the acid rain. Luckily, the shields seem to be keeping it off, but it's hard to hear anything over the impact of the drops. Anyone want to play I never?
Or maybe you think you should make a break for it. This is your first time being outside the Leviathan unsupervised. You've got supplies, and other people with as little to lose here as you do. Maybe you should talk.
THE RAT WARREN
You've made it to the last transmitted location of the scientists. What you find doesn't bode well — one of them seemed to have an arm torn off — at least, you think it's an arm — the way it's been disintegrated by the rain makes it hard to tell.
One thing's certain, though. There are bloodstains leading into the nearby maw of a hole in the ground. There's a putrid odor wafting from it, and the sound of frantic scrabbling.
You have an idea of what might be down there. 'Giant rats with tentacles', Porter had said. Don't let the tentacles grab you, they leave chemical burns that usually result in amputation if they can't be treated immediately. But there's a chance the scientists are still alive, and you need to make your choice.
If you and your small team venture down into the darkness, what happens next is up to you. You'll be encountering hoards of these monsters. The scientists are still alive, but will they stay that way? And more importantly, can you get them back to the Leviathan in one piece?
PCs versus the local fauna, round one, FIGHT!
A few notes:
☆ Feel free to put player characters 'in charge' of the planning/logistics phase. If another PC tags into your thread, you and that player can decide which PC will be 'leading the charge'.
☆ Your character will have: a mini-railgun, a spear (if they don't have their items/weapons from home), a first-aid kit, the acid rain shields, ration bars (that are essentially condensed protein bars — they do not taste good) and one of the smartwatches, which will have a mini holographic HUD displayable on its interface. If your character is the sort to request other things, feel free to assume they received them (within reason — please remember that resource scarcity is the name of the game — feel free to be creative here!).
☆ There are fifteen kilometers to cover. If your character has an ability like superspeed/etc, please keep in mind it will work, but you also have your allies to consider. Normal walking time over this distance, given the difficulty of the environment (steep hills, acid rain, unknown territory, etc) would translate to several hours to an average person.
☆ Feel free to use the NPC scientists however you'd like. If you want your character to find some dead, you can. If you'd prefer they be rescued, that is also acceptable. These are essentially 'your' NPCs that you are using to facilitate the story at this point — the sky is the metaphoric limit!
☆ Your character will have: a mini-railgun, a spear (if they don't have their items/weapons from home), a first-aid kit, the acid rain shields, ration bars (that are essentially condensed protein bars — they do not taste good) and one of the smartwatches, which will have a mini holographic HUD displayable on its interface. If your character is the sort to request other things, feel free to assume they received them (within reason — please remember that resource scarcity is the name of the game — feel free to be creative here!).
☆ There are fifteen kilometers to cover. If your character has an ability like superspeed/etc, please keep in mind it will work, but you also have your allies to consider. Normal walking time over this distance, given the difficulty of the environment (steep hills, acid rain, unknown territory, etc) would translate to several hours to an average person.
☆ Feel free to use the NPC scientists however you'd like. If you want your character to find some dead, you can. If you'd prefer they be rescued, that is also acceptable. These are essentially 'your' NPCs that you are using to facilitate the story at this point — the sky is the metaphoric limit!
❀ BOOZE
A week. You've been here for a week.
By now, you might have tried to venture out of Basecamp Leviathan and experienced firsthand the acid rains that the security officers warned you about. Or you might be teaching the kids at the schoolyard how to gamble. In any event, Thorkil seems to take pity on his disoriented new friends and taps his distillery for a little help.
Invitation passes by word of mouth to meet at the memorial wall. Moonshine of questionable quality is passed around in tin cups — hope no one's afraid of germs — as Thorkil explains the great relief it is to be gaining people instead of losing them. This settlement isn't big, and they aren't overburdened with hope or supplies, but there's been a lot of loss in the past three years. Some people might be willing to look at the arrival of these newcomers as a sign that things are turning around.
Bottoms up, hatchlings, and ... Happy Birthday?
A few notes:
By now, you might have tried to venture out of Basecamp Leviathan and experienced firsthand the acid rains that the security officers warned you about. Or you might be teaching the kids at the schoolyard how to gamble. In any event, Thorkil seems to take pity on his disoriented new friends and taps his distillery for a little help.
Invitation passes by word of mouth to meet at the memorial wall. Moonshine of questionable quality is passed around in tin cups — hope no one's afraid of germs — as Thorkil explains the great relief it is to be gaining people instead of losing them. This settlement isn't big, and they aren't overburdened with hope or supplies, but there's been a lot of loss in the past three years. Some people might be willing to look at the arrival of these newcomers as a sign that things are turning around.
Bottoms up, hatchlings, and ... Happy Birthday?
A few notes:
☆ Feel free to turn this into an impromptu party. Maybe you're celebrating getting all the scientists back alive! Maybe it's something like a wake to remember them in the sad event of their passing. Either way, many of the engineers and other NPCs may join you in this moonlight drinking session, as well as whatever PCs you tag out to or are tagged by.)
❀ OBLIGATORY NETWORK
Welcome people of all kinds to Basecamp Leviathan! I'd give you a hand moving in except...
I have no hands.
Because I'm an AI.
Get it?
It's a joke.
My name is Cartagena. But anyway, this isn't about me or the Adamant for once. This is about all of you. So if you would kindly fill out the following questionnaire to get to know each other; it would also be very helpful for my systems.
NOTE: Participation is MANDATORY.
That was another joke. It's all voluntary. You people and your free will.
1. What is your name?
2. Where are you from?
3. What's your favorite smell? Please describe it as you would to a person without a nose. Because I do not have a nose.
4. If you could be any animal in any world, what would you be?
5. How old are you?
6. Did you enjoy this questionnaire?
Thank you for your participation! Please enjoy the rest of your stay here at Basecamp Leviathan.
I have no hands.
Because I'm an AI.
Get it?
It's a joke.
My name is Cartagena. But anyway, this isn't about me or the Adamant for once. This is about all of you. So if you would kindly fill out the following questionnaire to get to know each other; it would also be very helpful for my systems.
NOTE: Participation is MANDATORY.
That was another joke. It's all voluntary. You people and your free will.
1. What is your name?
2. Where are you from?
3. What's your favorite smell? Please describe it as you would to a person without a nose. Because I do not have a nose.
4. If you could be any animal in any world, what would you be?
5. How old are you?
6. Did you enjoy this questionnaire?
Thank you for your participation! Please enjoy the rest of your stay here at Basecamp Leviathan.
no subject
There is a tiredness in her eyes that echoes down to her soul. For a time, she just holds his eyes and allows herself to comfort herself with the knowledge that he is there. That she hadn't quite lost everything yet.]
Who told you?
[The guards? She had not guessed that they knew very much of her, or the relationships she kept. But if they did, it would make sense for them to try and reassure Jon that she was out of his way.]
no subject
Rey. But I already knew. I knew when I couldn’t send you a message. I didn’t see you in the Volary... or anywhere else in the Aerie. Not ever.
[He hesitates before adding,]
— I’ve missed you.
[More than that — the feeling he had at losing her, and the feeling he has at seeing her again — it wouldn’t be right to say. But maybe it’s in his look.]
no subject
Whom?
[Along with the exhaustion in her voice, there is some mild irritation...but when he confesses that he had missed her, it seems to evaporate from her expression.
Something else was going on here, she is almost sure ... but hearing that is a small balm, at least.]
I do not know how long I was in that .... whatever it was.
no subject
No. I don’t either. Don’t know why I was there, or how, or for how long.
[He opens his mouth to ask if she’s all right, then closes it. Of course she isn’t. And she wouldn’t want to be told that she looks fragile.]
But it’s good to see your face... even in a place like this.
[He is weak and weary, and everything he’s ever wanted to say to her threatens to come pouring out of his mouth. But this isn’t the time or the place, and it wouldn’t be a kindness. It might never be. So he holds it back, just as he had been doing back in New Amsterdam.]
How long have they been holding you here?
[- Her hair is so much longer than it had been the last time he saw her.]
no subject
How she will need to respond.
But that is a problem for when she wakes. For now, she can indulge herself in this just a little. And so, Daenerys turns to more readily face Jon, coming up to the wall of her cell and grasping the bars to support herself.]
Long enough. Time is difficult to keep here. They have been taking others out for questioning and returning them afterwards.
[The furrow in her brow deepens.]
So far as I can tell, they have not pressed very hard for whatever it is they are looking for.
no subject
If they press you -
[His jaw sets.]
Have you seen anyone else either of us would know?
[She wouldn’t know his sister, but they might talk and learn that they come from the same place. She might know Quentin, if he were here, or recognize Yennefer — gods forbid. The idea of her talking to Yennefer gives him a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach.]
no subject
[She sounds very sure of this, though it warms her to see Jon seek to rise in her defense. It takes the dangerous edge off her tone of voice -- just slightly.]
No, I have not. Nothing but the inside of this cell, and the guards keeping watch.
[Her fingers flex on the bars briefly, and then her grip tightens.]
Nor do I know what they've done with Drogon or Rhaegal -- if they are here, even.
no subject
Still, when she mentions the two dragons, he frowns, confused.
In the time he has known her, she is the dragon, scales pushing past her skin to cover it. She fills with rage, and spits fire, but he has calmed her through touch, felt her master the rage. All the work, he knows now, of the pieces of the blue god that live in them both.
But he also knows of her dragons at home. And of those, he’s sure there are three.]
And the other? Viserion?
no subject
But there is a glossiness to her eyes. So fresh was all of her loss that she does not have the will or strength to hide it from him entirely. In spite of it, she does not look away from him.]
...Viserion is dead, as you might well recall.
[Daenerys manages not to grit her teeth in anger, but it is at the cost of volume in her voice. She must tread carefully, here -- no matter how it hurts her. After all, he and the last two dragons are all she has left.]
no subject
And why wouldn’t she? Even if he had ever known her to lie, she wouldn’t lie about this.
But why would she think that he already knew?
His confused expression deepens. How could he forget —- ?
Realization strikes him: the way people came and went and came back, sometimes, in New Amsterdam. He had done it himself, with no memory of it. He leans into the bars.]
Daenerys, the last time we saw each other... when was it? To me, we had gone to New Casablanca. We tried to rest there. There wasn’t much joy in it, but it had nothing to do with your dragons.
[He thinks this will accord with her memories of it. Before she can answer, he adds, sympathetic,]
I am very sorry, for Viserion.
no subject
But the apology somehow hurts more than the question. He dared to try and apologize now for that, after everything? After he'd told Sansa who he was, after they'd nearly all died during The Long Night, after Jorah and Missandei--
Daenerys closes her eyes, swallows, and opens them again -- hollow. When she looks up at him again, she is different. Closed off. Cold and distant.]
It's in the past.
[A breath, a sigh as her hand reaches to worry at the spot between her eyes.]
Nothing of what you recall is at all familiar to me. We were preparing to march on King's Landing.
ONE. TRACK. MIND.
[He saw it, how she turned suddenly remote again, but he doesn’t understand why. Although she had seemed like this at times when he’d first met her, she had thawed.
If she doesn’t remember anything of New Amsterdam... it’s as it was for him, when he first found himself there. But she speaks of marching on King’s Landing... she says “we.”]
The Dead. Have we defeated the Dead? I couldn’t march with you if we had not.
[He can’t keep the cautious hope from his expression.]
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Yes.
[There is no effort to mask the bitterness. Unsurprising that it is all he can think of, that her sacrifices still meant so little and that he could barely spare a moment to wonder what must have managed to fell a dragon so large as one of her own.
All she can do is turn and return to the seat she'd made for herself in her cell, looking away from Jon entirely. She has no interest in telling the story, and the hope in his eyes hurts to see, in a way she hadn't been prepared for. She was sure she must have looked at him the same way many times, before -- well. Everything.
Suddenly, she is tired and heavy, and she closes her eyes to retreat to her own thoughts.]
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But his heart doesn’t leap, and he doesn’t fall to his knees.
What was the cost of this victory? A dragon, it seems. What else? Why does she seem so angry?]
The victory was costly.
[It’s a question, and it isn’t.]
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Daenerys inhales, a movement that appears quite laborious for the queen, suddenly.]
Very.
[It is just a whisper. An answer given out of regard for manners, not because she wanted to.]
As I said. It is in the past. No amount of apologies or mourning will correct it.
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She may not want to hear the words, but he can’t keep himself from looking troubled, looking apologetic.]
—- Like we’ve found ourselves here, I found myself, moons ago, in a great city. It was called New Amsterdam. Before that, I had been traveling to Dragonstone to seek your aid.
I met you in that city. We grew to be friends.
Whatever it is that I’ve done to you, I don’t know it. I don’t remember it.
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[One hand raises with the command, the other wrapping around her middle. She just ... needs a moment. Obviously, she has much to catch him up on, which means reliving all of it in detail. The wounds were still too fresh for such things.
But, perhaps blessedly, it also means he is not privy to other information. She will come to appreciate that more later.
The chill she feels in her blood makes it easy to lie -- her face absent of any expression that might give her away as she stares at nothing in particular.]
It was not so long ago that they were all alive. You ... startled me, is all.
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I would never mean to startle you, or to frighten you, or to make you sad. Do you know that much of me?
[OOC note: I asked Dany’s player about the tone of her voice!]
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[She looks at him now, still sick with grief and attempting to corral it in spite of herself. Daenerys searches his face for -- something. She is not sure what she is looking for, herself. All those things he says, they're all very nice to hear. But they're not true.
Or, at least, they hadn't been true. And yet she wants them so badly to be so.]
You speak of things -- places incomprehensible to me, like all of this. Things we never shared.
[She gestures around them -- the cells they sit in, the distance between them.]
How am I to know they have not done something to you, in an effort to get to me?
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How do I know they haven’t done something to you? I don’t. Might be that I shouldn’t be inclined to trust you.
But I know you. I do trust you.
[It hits him then. The way she had looked at him earlier... maybe she had looked at him a little bit like that, once, when they were in a room full of people trying to forget their troubles, or later, when they first saw each other after the great attack of monsters on the city, when he had been knocked from her back by the dragon they fought. Maybe not quite like that.
But if she looks at him that way, and she thinks that he could somehow be used against her... there is something between them that she can remember, and that he can’t. Something more than just a successful alliance.
When it strikes him, it shows on his face. Then his look turns questioning, and he turns it to her.]
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But the praise is what she is craving: that trust, the gaping hole in her heart yearning to be filled. So Daenerys is back at the bars, fingers cautiously gripping them as she stares back into those questioning eyes -- before she decides that she does not want to hold it back and slowly reaches past them with one hand, searching for his own. She must press herself against them to reach in the chasm between them, as small as she is.
But she is clearly determined.]
I want to trust you. I do.
[There is grief in her voice that she cannot shove down despite her best efforts.]
I've missed you.
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The last time he’d held her hand, it had been in a long shared dream. She had never been so eager to offer her hand in waking life, because taking the hand of any of the other Displaced could tell them what you were feeling. It’s good for someone who would rule to be able to appear unmoved when they need to, but neither of them had really been a king or a queen in New Amsterdam, except in their dealings with each other. Still, she had worn gloves like he would wear armor. And sometimes, they had used their bare unguarded hands to calm each other.
It’s hard for him to remember that his hair has grown long again since he last saw her, but the fact that she didn’t notice the difference should have told him from the beginning that she isn’t the Daenerys he knew. Her hand feels right in his, but her mind is closed to him.
Still, she’s holding his hand. She wanted to hold his hand. She misses it, misses him. They had been marching together, but she misses him. There is something between them.
He can’t say what, because he knows that if he had her, he would not let her go. There should be no matter of missing each other. It troubles him, so he holds the trouble close against his chest, for the moment, as he holds her hand between both of his own.
He leans into the bars too.]
I’ve missed you. I had my friends... Quentin, others... but gods, no one is like you. I should have told you that then.
[Maybe she understands what he’s implying. It’s too sharp and fresh to say it, and the loss of her too recent to deny it.]
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It is challenging to fathom what is happening, that Jon does not seem to remember the Long Night or the many deaths they'd suffered in the wake of it. The very real threat of his claim to the Iron Throne. It was almost as it was before -- almost.
At least I have this. Whatever this is.
She stares like she's found something long lost, fair skin lightly smeared with detritus from whatever age was left on the bars of their cells.]
You don't have to say anything. [The smile reappears, lighter.] Unless it is a plan to free us from here.
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Not yet. I think if they wanted us dead, we already would be. They’ve had every chance: gave me a shower instead.
[As to the rest of it: the way she seems to accept what he’s said, as if it’s what she expected... that goes a little way towards answering the question of what might be between them. It does not tell him what might have gone wrong. Might be that the Northmen were displeased to have a foreign queen among them, but... if they’ve won, if they have won, how could they show anything but gratitude?
He keeps holding her hand.]
If there is no danger in waiting, I will wait. But Daenerys...
[How to explain this?]
Something happened to me, in that city. I’m stronger than I should be. I’ll use it, if I have to, but these people don’t deserve to be hurt just because they’ve found us among them. I can understand this much of what they’re doing — anyone might do it.
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[He had changed, in that regard. Her other hand passes through the bars, reaching for his. Her thumb drags across the knuckles of the one she holds, and all the tension in her body finally seems to begin to bleed out.
Her eyes lift again when he speaks of his strength and her brows pinch just a little as she attempts to understand. His stance on fighting back was confusing, but it is overshadowed by his description of his ... power?]
What happened?
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