Summer Test Drive Meme

[thespaceopera]

THE SUMMER TEST DRIVE MEME
(Or Winter Test Drive for you Southern Hemisphere folks!)

Got someone you want to try out before you app? Well this is the post for it! Feel free to use anything that fits in the setting of Drift Fleet! Want to play bumper shuttles? Want to go wild in a med bay? Play around with the current plot? Have at it!

Threads from the Test-Drive may be made game "canon" but DO NOT count toward AC!

FOR NEW PLAYERS: You DO NOT NEED an invite to participate in the TEST DRIVE! If you decide to APP into the game, ONLY THEN will you need an invite from a current player!

Helpful Info for Ideas!:

June/July's Star System

May's Star System

Game Details

Test drives are posted SEASONALLY, so the next one will be in September!

Comments

[necromanswers]

Ugh, but your style's always so high-maintenance. You really think people will mistake me for you? I know my tits aren't the biggest in the universe but you sure as fuck don't have any.

[Don't make her do that much woooooork, Taako.]

[abracafcku]

I'm not asking you to do a fancy updo everyday, but a little effort is required here.

[He sighs and walks over to grab a completed macaron, inspecting it.]

But at a glance, people might see me not you and vice versa. I'm not going to take the chance that my rep of being the most beautiful thing this Fleet has ever run into suffers.

[necromanswers]

[She makes a gagging noise, as sisters are wont to do - because yes he's beautiful, they're both beautiful, but she doesn't have to say it - but she goes ahead and starts gingerly brushing her fingers through her hair as a temporary measure until she can get herself a proper brush. She used to do this plenty of times on the road when they were younger, when brushes broke or were lost or stolen, it's just been a long ass time. It's not going to be the prettiest job, but it'll do.]

Fine, fine, but you better believe I'm gonna collect on the cooking.

[abracafcku]

Technically, [And he's smirking now] you're already indebted to me for the cookie you blew up and the replacement you ate.

[necromanswers]

[Lup snorts indelicately, wincing around a particularly stubborn tangle.]

And I'd do it again in a heartbeat. -Fuck, ow. Have you got a spare brush?

[abracafcku]

Mmhmm. I was wondering when you'd ask.

[And he pulls one from a random drawer, handing it over with one hand while he continues inspecting the macaron. Good color, the smell is right, and he assumes the flavor is fine. He won't eat it until someone else does though.]

[necromanswers]

[Oh thank god. She takes it immediately and begins brushing properly, gently smoothing out the tangles with practiced ease. With one foot she nudges a chair free from the kitchen table and plops down, making herself at home. Normally she'd just go ahead and sit on the table but there's baking stuff all over the place, so space is a bit of a premium.]

...Hey, Taako? Do you have the Umbra Staff here?

[She'd woken up unarmed, and that seemed to be the general consensus of the folks around that she's already met, but she has to ask.]

[abracafcku]

[Ooh delicate question there, Lup. Taako glances up from his inspection and puts the macaron down, leaving back on his heels. He knows he doesn't need the Umbra Staff or the newly acquired Raging Flaming Poisoning Sword of Doom, but it sure would be nice to have them right about now. ]

Mmnope. This place straight up looted me when I got here.


Why?

[necromanswers]

[Yeah, figured as much. He wouldn't be using an egg timer as a focus if he had her swank-ass weapon around.

A part of her is relieved, truth be told. If he had it she'd have had to wrestle with her conscience and resist the urge to break the shit out of it. She loved that thing when it was hers, had a blast using it and it soaked up power like the cutest floaty sponge, but after everything that's happened she's a little bit afraid of it now.]

No real reason, just wondering. [And then, after a moment, assuming that would be insufficient-] I had jack when I woke up, too.

[abracafcku]

[Well at least they were on the same page. Although he would have liked to see what happened when the Umbra Staff got near her. It reacted whenever people spoke of liches and it carved her name into the wall, so clearly they were connected. The problem was how.

Taako hummed a quiet note of understanding, and then back to leaning up against the counter near his cookies.]

So we're - mostly - even then. How do you know the Umbra Staff though? Did Red Robe the Senior tell you?

[necromanswers]

[Fuck. Fuuuuuuck. Should've just kept her mouth shut. Talking about the truth behind her question isn't something she wants to get into right now- she doesn't trust herself to not get emotional about it, because fuck it had been hard, every day had been hard, and she's not sure that her heart can handle the likely callous response she'd get from Taako as a result.

It's not his fault, she wouldn't blame him for it, but it would still wreck her. It's too close, she was in the umbrella yesterday. She's not ready to tell him, plain and simple.

So after a moment she smiles faintly, setting the brush down and pulling her hair into a ponytail... then reconsidering and starting a braid instead. Best to keep it out of the way.]

"Red Robe Senior"... you're gonna shit yourself when you're able to hear who that one is. Anyway, I know about the Umbra Staff because I'm the one who made it.

[abracafcku]

[Having both of them wear braids, whole practical, was definitely going to get confusing fast for his shipmates, so as she braids her hair up, he starts fussing with his to make it look a little different. He loosens some hair out and pulls part of it into an updo, twirling it around and securing it with a few pins he had tucked in his pocket. ]

Yeah? Looking forward to that because I'm so tired of all this static shit ruining my day.

But if you're the one who made it, I guess thanks? It's saved my life a few times now.

[necromanswers]

[God, Taako, make up your mind, do you want her to look like you or not? She sees that fiddling but doesn't comment. Whatever he needs to feel comfortable's fine by her.]

It's good for that- used to be my focus, after all. Sucked up some interesting stuff, right?

[abracafcku]

[He just wants her to not look like a cat got into a fight on her head ok. He whips up a quick Disguise Self and creates blue highlights in his hair - just for good measure. Although she might notice the pattern of his highlights is almost exactly like hers.]

Hell yeah it did. Man was it fun feeding those dipshits' wands to it. Nice feature.

[necromanswers]

[She does notice that, actually, and it makes her smile but she has to hide it in case he doesn't. She likes it, one more way for them to match. She's pretty sure he doesn't know that he did it.

And yeah. Fun. Great feature, best idea she'd ever had.

Suddenly she's regretting this conversation, and she no longer has to hide the smile because it's gone.]

I could probably make something better, if we find the right materials. Egg timer's kind of beneath you.

[abracafcku]

What, you don't like my rainbow stickers?

[But he knows what she means - it's not the best focus; it's just what was handy when he needed one. And while he would love to have something like the Umbra Staff again, knowing that a red robe made it makes him cautious. Who knows what he's been carrying about with him this whole time? It nearly fried Ango and Kravitz, and he isn't so sure he knows why yet.

Instead, he picks up his little egg tiger and holds it defensively against his chest.]

I don't want to hear it from you - you took a wooden spoon.

[necromanswers]

[She knows it's a long shot, and that's okay. It's not as if she even has the ability or components to make anything now- until that situation changes, her hands are tied. It's an empty offer, and not one she'd expect him to accept any time soon.

It's fine. She'll keep on putting out feelers, testing the waters, gauging his response. Not pushing, not trying too hard. She knows Taako, knows him right to his core, but there's still ten years of his life that is nothing but a void to her; there are things that happened in that time that changed him, and losing his memories of her means he's used to being alone. Trust has never come as easily to Taako as it has to her. This is... a project. A long game. She's got practice with that, now.

She finishes her braid and tugs the tether of her hood free, wrapping it around the end as a makeshift bow. She'll find something better later on.]

Yeah? Well maybe I'll turn this wooden spoon into a proper magical artifact, too. The Spoon of Magic Missiles, or something. Next time you throw a cookie at me that bitch is gonna dance.

[abracafcku]

[The bow is cute, but he can make it better. He flicks his wrist and the bow takes on a glittery sheen - another olive branch perhaps, or simply because he thinks it looks better this way. He pulls his egg timer back and shoves it into his pocket, then starts cleaning the kitchen, sweeping dishes into the sink and putting unused ingredients away. ]

At least decorate it or get me a new spoon if you're keeping that one.

[Since, losing a wooden spoon is actually a bad thing for a kitchen and he has no idea where he'd get another one. It's not like he can ask Magnus to carve him another one. ...Even if it would probably end up looking like a duck.]

And next time? I'm not throwing a cookie at you unless I conjure it first. As cool as it looks, it's still a waste of a good cookie.

[necromanswers]

[She feels that tingle across her hair, glancing down, and- ah.

He used to do that when-

Her throat clenches, and she stubbornly swallows past it. He may not have the memories but something must linger, surely. Something that- that lets him know, even subconsciously, that this is normal. She has to believe that or she'll go mad.

This time the olive branch is accepted, and then some- she sets the wooden spoon on the table between them, giving it a light tap.]

If you'd like to give it some decor befitting of the great Taako, y'know, from TV, you're welcome to it. And yeah, I'll find you a new spoon.

[A wizard offering up their focus to someone they don't trust is normally a supremely stupid move, but she shows no fear or concern as she turns away and starts cleaning up her share of the kitchen mess.]

[abracafcku]

[Honestly? Sure. She's willing to trust him with her focus like that? He hesitates for a moment and stares at the object - once innocuous and now somehow loaded with so much meaning. She's turned away and is cleaning up her side of the kitchen and he watches for a moment before he decides what to do.

Taako reaches over and touches the spoon with one hand. It's an easy thing to transmute a piece of wood. Wood always wants to be something else. As a tree, it longs to be taller. As a plank, it longs to be a house. Wood is never content to be itself.

And this wood, while happy to be a spoon, is now infused as a spell focus so it wants to be something else, too. He pushes a little bit of power into it and the wood transforms, becoming deeper in color, threads of red springing up along the grain that deepen and lighten in alternating stripes. The tip turns to a burnished copper and - because it's still him - stars pop up all along the handle in different shades of the rainbow.

He's almost tempted to put in an arcane eye or something just so he can have an idea of just who this person is, but instead, he just infuses a little more power into it. Like an early warning system. If she ever points this thing at him, he'll know and he'll be ready to jump the fuck out of the closest window.

He pulls his hand back and goes back to cleaning up.]

You better find me a great goddamn spoon in exchange.

[necromanswers]

[Lup gives him some time to do his thing, running water for the dishes, though she can feel the arcane buzz behind her and Taako's unusually quiet so she knows something is up. When he speaks she turns off the water and glances around, staring for a long moment. She moves closer and lifts it up to examine it, turning it slowly between her hands.

It's perfect. It's fucking perfect. Fire and stars, like an echo of them, intertwined together as inextricably as their lives. And there's that twinge again, that smothering feeling in her chest, but this time she doesn't fight back against it. She exhales, she shudders, she closes her eyes.

And then she tucks the spoon into her belt like a sword, and returns to her chore. Her voice is thick with... something indecipherable when she replies, her heart all wrapped up with nostalgia and affection and a quiet sadness.]

For this? I'll find you one made of fuckin' polished gold.

[abracafcku]

[...Huh.

He hadn't expected that kind of reaction. He'd thought he'd a "Hey rad" or a "What the hell?" but not...that. She seemed shaken by the gesture and he wasn't really ready to deal with that. He knew she had to be important to him because he was obviously important to her. He knew she'd been around for most of his life because he knew details and they just seemed to click.

But knowing wasn't the same as experiencing and believing, and that left a rift between the two of them that he wasn't sure if he'd ever be ready to cross. It was too weird seeing someone have your face, your mannerisms, your little quirks all mirrored and just slightly different enough to be unique. He'd think she was a doppleganger out to eat his brains in the middle of the night, except for moments like this - where it seems like the little kindnesses he was occasionally capable of doling out are more painful to her than the obvious distrust he displayed.

He steps back and starts edging toward the exit, not sure if running is the right answer, but feeling like this heaviness is about to crush him. But when she speaks, he has to stop.]

Yeah? Well, it better be heat resistant because I'm not stirring a pot with a gold spoon.

[necromanswers]

[It takes her another handful of moments of watching the water run, of soaking her hands in it, of jostling it up to turn the soap to foam, but when she speaks again her voice is back to the way it was. She needs to figure out how to keep that under wraps, somehow. Some control or- shit, she doesn't know. He was always a better after than her.

Fantasy Rome wasn't built in a day. Just remember that.]

Hey, sometimes style is painful, right? Don't tell me you're afraid of a little heat.

[She dumps a pile of dishes into the water, beginning to scrub.]

I don't mind cleaning up, if you're, you know.

[Uncomfortable.]

Busy.

[abracafcku]

The heat? No.

The blisters? Yeah. I'm not huge on blisters.

[Although a gold spoon would be totally bitching, he is also not into wearing oven mitts just to stir a pot. He still hasn't found a cute set and like hell he's going to wear the set provided. No style there.

She's giving him an out and he's sorely tempted to take it. He's never been good with uncomfortable things and this is about as uncomfortable as it comes. He fidgets on the edge of the kitchen, eyeing the hallway and thus his room where he could go to escape. His eyes flick between her back and his refuge, until he finally decides.]

Yeah, no, I'm not leaving you alone in my kitchen. I'll supervise from here though, thanks.

[Free labor, free labor, yeah!]

[necromanswers]

If you're gonna stay get your ass over here and dry the dishes. Do your share, I'm not your mom.

[She loves you, you dingbat, but she's not here to serve you. She does take some small comfort in the fact that he's staying; she's got no illusions about it being for her, of course - there's a lot of things that could be done in a kitchen if she had some intent to harm him and his crew - but selfishly, she wants him here with her.

Eventually she'll have to leave. This isn't her ship, and she's not exactly welcome here yet. There's no trust on his end. But hey, for now, she can just earn her keep and take what she can get.]