driftfleet_ooc | Winter Test Drive

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!test drive

Winter Test Drive

THE WINTER TEST DRIVE MEME
(Or Summer 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!

IMPORTANT!!! Per this post, Player Invites are not needed to app to Drift Fleet until the conclusion of the Calibrations plot.

→ The previous test drive (which may still be active!) can be found here.

Helpful Info for Ideas!:

December Star System

Game Details

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Unlike Magnus, Taako does not rush in. Ever. Unless it's for some bangin' boots or something, but that isn't what's happening here.

Instead? While she's skipping rocks, he'll just sort of wander up, hands in his pockets as he watches her wish so hard it looks like her head might explode. Ever since people started arriving here, he's learned to be cautious of timelines. He has no idea what she might know or not know, how much of his suspicions are true or just wild conjecture, and so he has to, well, himself. Paranoid, always alert, and just a little (a lot) irreverent.]

Don't think too hard there, Miss Director, or your hair might turn even whiter than it already is.

[ For once, it's Lucretia who's blissfully unaware of just how much Taako is hiding, or the wariness holding him back. She smiles reflexively at the sound of his voice, the response coming automatically even as her fingers curl slightly tighter around the rock and the message pressed against it. ]

It's Madam Director. Please.

[ She turns to look at him, still smiling faintly, careful as always not to betray...anything. Anything. ]

And I'm not sure that's possible, at this point. Hello, Taako.

Edited 2018-12-16 02:26 (UTC)

[Nope, he's pretty sure "misdirector" might work for her right now, if he's right about what he's figured out with Lup. But no use in harping on her right now of all things. It's Candlenights and she's only just arrived and there's no telling what she actually knows or if Taako is even right.

He's dumb as hell, so he wouldn't be surprised if he had shit backwards.]

Yeah yeah, I know.

[He doesn't really smile back at her until he sees the rock in her hand. Then he raises an eyebrow, the smirk on his face mischievous.]

Ohhh shit, just got here and already making wishes, huh? What? You want a new romance novel or something to keep that big brain of yours busy?

Yes, that's right. One of the raunchy ones.

[ The best part is...no witnesses. He'll never, ever be able to prove that she'd said it. Not that it's true. She's fairly certain the wish actually written on the paper would be incomprehensible to Taako, even if he was able to read the language, but she keeps it carefully held at her side, all the same. ]

Unless there's a library somwhere I don't know about.

[....Holy.

Shit?????

He stares at her for a good hard second and then bursts out laughing.]

Fuck! No one is ever going to believe me when I tell them you said that. I hate it, thanks.

[Even though he loves it? Godsdammit, Lucretia, he was all ready to be mad at you.]

There's a library on the big-ass ship the Iskaulit, but I dunno how many raunchy books you're gonna find up there. I haven't gone looking.

[Yet.]

[ Against HR regulations? Most definitely.

Worth it, for the look on his face? Absolutely.

A small smile tugs at her lips, something even she can't hide in the wake of making Taako laugh. ]

No, I'm sure you've been very studious.

[ Well, that's a lie. She's sure he's never set foot in the library at all. ]

The...is there a ship bigger than this one?

[He did so! It was to steal some shit, but sure, he's been in one!!!!

Taako shrugs it off, wiping at a fake tear in his eye.]

Yeah, it's where I've been working since I got here. Not as big as the one we all first got elf-napped to, but big enough. Bigger'n the ones we live on, that's for sure.

[He pauses and then grins.]

I can't believe I get to be the one telling you about what's going on. This is great.

[Time to start lying his ass off.]

It's wonderful.

[ Surely he's not going to take advantage of that fact to fuck with her, right? ]

Please, Taako, just tell me -

[ Wait. Wait a minute. ]

I'm sorry, did you say that you've been working?

[Don't give him that look, Madam Director. A guy's gotta eat and get enough cash to buy shit that he can't steal.]

Yeah since something doesn't work across planer barriers [He says, brandishing his Bureau bracer] I had to start slumming it for cash. I'm capable of that, you know. Surprisingly.

I'm amazed.

[ She quirks an unimpressed eyebrow as he raises up his bracer. ]

I'm - not sure how it would have helped you without the Bureau itself, but - well, I'm sorry I didn't forsee the possibility of you crossing planar barriers while overseeing the development of your bracer.

[ As if the very idea is so foreign as to be absolutely ridiculous. ]

Maybe next time we'll get it right.

[He had a very successful career before everything went to shit, Lucretia! Don't @ him over how lazy he's become since then.

Taako rolls his eyes at her and lowers his arm.]

And here I thought you were smart. If there's a next time? Can you make it so we can take these things off on occasion? Magnus sweats and I bet his smells awful by now.

[ She considers this for a moment, then shudders. ]

You know...at this point, it might be better to ensure his never comes off.

If I die from the smell, I'm haunting your ass. I just want you to know that.

I'll keep that in mind.

[ But they have other things to worry about than Magnus' arm stink at the moment. Lucretia had just arrived, but if Taako's been here long enough to not only come to the conclusion that he would have to get a job, but actually follow through on it... ]

How long have you been here?

Please do.

[Because if he has to, he'll ask Kravitz for special dispensation or whatever so he can cross back over just to make her life hell. That's how determined he is if he dies because of arm stink.

But at her question, he goes quiet for a moment. It's been long enough to know she's lying to them, but not enough to know about what or why. His hypothesis about there being a second Voidfish is the only reason why he hasn't figured it out yet and it passes him off.

Taako tilts his head back and makes a show of thinking, counting back the days.]

You know I'm pretty shit at keeping track of time, but uh......... [He purses his lips on concentration.]

Two or three months? Soooomething like that?

Edited 2018-12-16 06:38 (UTC)

[ Oh, she knows he means it. She's just not nearly as concerned as Taako is about him actually dying from Magnus' arm smell.

She waits patiently while he thinks, attention drifting just a little as she tries to collect her thoughts. Where they are. What happens next. Whatever this place is, it's apparently stable enough for Taako to find a job, for there to be jobs. And an economy. She hadn't had to find a job for such a long time...

But his answer offers nothing but confusion. She tilts her head, trying to understand. ]

I...no, that can't be. I saw you just a few weeks ago. [ Maybe he is just as bad at keeping track of time as he says. ] Are Merle and Magnus here too?

This place is full of crazy shit.

[It's not the answer she probably wants to hear, but it's the only one he has. He could be nice and tell her how they're all from different times, how they're Frozen in place like a planer binding done by some lunatic, or how Magnus isn't the only one here, but nope. That's not his style.

Instead, he shrugs.]

Before I got here we'd just finished blowing ourselves up in Refuge like...a billion times.

And I came alone. Like those two idiots could figure out how to follow me.

[Except for Magnus. He'd somehow been pulled in, but not Merle. He's not lying exactly. He hadn't come with the others. They'd showed up later.]

[ It's not one she's unused to hearing, so at least there's that. And the mention of Refuge helps clear things up a little. If it's the Chalice behind this...well, at least it's a somewhat plausible explanation.

But her expression changes when he says he'd come alone, sympathy merged with concern. He may act like he doesn't care, but she knows him too well for that.

He'd been alone for so long. And if she'd had even an inkling of what that would do to him, she never would have arranged it that way. ]

I'm...I'm so sorry, Taako.

Three months...that's a long time to be alone.

Pfft, whatever. It's not a big deal.

[It was. He'd come to rely on those two chucklefucks despite himself. Despite how much he pretended he didn't need them or want them around or give a single godsdamn fuck whether they lived or died.

He cared.

And it killed him to admit it so he just buried that shit so far down that it was easier to ignore once they were gone. He just tried not to think about them and how they would've made dealing with all this crap easier, or how Magnus would have loved wrestling bears, or how Merle probably would have done some dumb shit back on that trash planet. Easier just to forget and move on.]

Being alone is kinda Taako's schtick and it's not like it's super dangerous here or anything. Fuck, this entire planet is basically made of magic and the worst it has to offer is a few bears and people trying to give me gifts I don't need or want.

[Plus he wasn't technically alone - Kravitz was here and Lup. But telling the Director he'd spent the last three months kicking it with a Red Robe was proooobably a bad idea. And also none of the Madam Director's damn business.]

[ She absolutely knows he's bullshitting. She knows loneliness, she knows the pain of losing friends, and even if all that wasn't true, even if she hadn't experienced it all for herself in a way that very few people ever had, she knows Taako. Better than he knows himself right now, maybe. A hundred years is a long, long time to spend with anyone, and she can read every gesture, every tell. He misses them. And if being alone really is Taako's schtick now, it never, ever should have been.

When she'd met the three of them again, really met them up close rather than just checking in on them from afar, it had been the change in Taako that had shocked her the most. She'd worried about all of them, but truthfully she'd been more concerned with making sure that Merle found a good home, and that no one took advantage of Magnus' good heart. Taako had always been so confident, so sure of himself and his place in whatever world they happened to be in at the time. He would be fine.

Except he hadn't been, had he? He'd been jaded and detatched and so distrustful of everyone he met in a way that had broken her heart, that had filled her anew with guilt. She feels that same guilt now, looking at him, bulding up walls to protect himself.

She knows he's bullshitting. She also knows that she absolutely cannot call him out on it. ]

Well...I'm glad to hear it. That you're well.

[There's none of her recognition in his eyes. She's just a coworker - a pseudo-boss only because she pays him. Whatever Lucretia's thoughts are about Taako, he can guarantee he thinks much less about her. It's not meant to be callous, but her life only tangentially touches upon his and only when it comes to her giving them some mission where they may or may not die an hopefully get paid regardless of their status.

She was always a little cold, sometime a little exasperated with them, and while she'd complimented his baking, everyone did (or should), and he didn't really... well, he never really thought about her much. He trusted her as much as he trusted anyone who gave him a quest to fulfill. Hanging out with her had been more Merle's thing since they were both old.

But since coming here? Since meeting Lup?

His hands flinch a little, resisting the urge to clench into fists. The Director was lying to him about something and he couldn't even confront her about it because he wouldn't be able to hear the answer.

But maybe he could futz with it a little and see if he's right about at least one thing.]

As well as I can be after gettin' my ass kidnapped and having to take care of a bunch of idiots in space.

[Here goes nothing.]

What about you though? Without you at the Bureau, who the fuck is taking care of the voidfishes and missions?

[ Lucretia knows that she doesn't mean nearly as much to the boys as they do to her. She's worked very, very hard to keep things that way. As long as she stays distant and professional, as long as they only see her as a boss and not as a friend, then she's...safe. Safe from giving anything away. From raising suspicions that she cannot allow to be raised.

That's not to say it doesn't hurt, every time they call her Madam Director or look at her with those blank expressions or banter together as if she's not even in the room, never even thinking to let her in on the joke. It's the status quo she'd worked to maintain, it's the relationship, or lack of it, she needs...but it's hard, it's so hard, to pretend. She knows them so well. She loves them, misses them so much, and most days she can't decide which is worse - not seeing them at all, or having them right in front of her, vital and familiar and with no idea that they'd shared an entire life together, that they'd all grown as close as any group of people ever had.

It hurts. But she's used to it by now.

Taako's test is a subtle one. Just one extra syllable, a tiny shift that could easily be dismissed as a slip of the tongue, or blamed on a lack of attention to detail on his part. Why should he be expected to keep track of a little thing like that?

But there's only one Voidfish in the Bureau of Balance, so far as he should know, and they both know it.

She doesn't react, not physically. She's been anticipating this moment, after all. Since the day they'd first arrived on the moon base, since before that, she'd been waiting for her plan to fail. For the second voidfish to start broadcasting, though she knows that should be impossible. For the discovery of some crucial secret, a minor yet vital detail she'd failed to erase from the world's collective memory. For Davenport to look at her and say her name rather than his own.

It had never happened. Until now. Her expression doesn't change, but internally it's as if a switch has been flipped, every neuron firing at once and every nerve immediately standing on end.

Maybe it had been just a slip of the tongue. There's a pause, just a fraction of a second too long, before she gathers herself and replies. ]

...There are - policies set in place for my absence. [ Something, something, who cares but she has to say something. ] Even I do leave the Bureau headquarters occasionally, Taako.

[No reaction at all. Maybe he didn't push the right buttons or say the right thing to get her to jump out of her skin, or maybe it's just that he doesn't know her all the well. He can't see her tells, whether her stony expression has changed from all the other stony faces she's given him. When someone's whole dealio was "cold, distant director," it's hard to know what an emotion looks like.

But there is something there in the way she hesitates, like a crackling static that's too low to hear.

He watches her and then is careful to shrug nonchalantly.

She hadn't denied there being more than one voidfish.

She hadn't said anything about there only being one.

Time to play it cool, like she hadn't just clued him in and sent a bolt of anger boiling through his stomach. If there was more than one, then all that static in his head? All those blanks in his memory? Lup? She might be right.

He just can't be certain if the voidfish belongs to Lucretia or if it was in the hands of someone else. Or why they'd want to erase parts of his life and not just the big bits like with the Relic Wars. Why just pinpoint pieces of some stranger for removal?

He barks out a laugh, hoping it doesn't sound as cold as he feels right now.]

To what? Be all stern at someone else for once? Or do you venture planet-side for more of your raunchy romance novels that you apparently like.

[ She hadn't denied it, no. She hadn't acknowledged it, either, but...she'd never liked lying to any them more than she had to.

Lucretia can read Taako much more easily than he can read her. But even she can't tell what's going on in his head right now. He's nearly as skilled as she is at hiding what he's thinking, what he's feeling, bottling up his emotions and wrapping them under layers and layers of affectations. And although the persona Taako chooses to show the world couldn't be more different than the one Lucretia is careful to maintain, the end result is the same.

They're both keeping everyone at arm's length.

She smiles, because he'd laughed, because he's needling her, but it's brittle and reflexive and it doesn't meet her eyes. Lucretia looks away, at the rock still held in one hand, the note tied onto it, written in a language no one on this ship can read and obscured by the visual equivalent of static.

Her Candlenights wish. ]

Excuse me, Taako.

[ She raises the rock slightly - not in any kind of threatening posture, but merely to draw his attention to it. ]

I was - in the middle of something.

Yeah no, go right ahead. Don't let me stop you from throwing rocks.

[Into glass houses.

Or whatever that saying was supposed to be. Taako shrugs and waves her onward, trying to catch a glimpse at the stone and the wish tied there, but knowing it's probably in one of the languages he doesn't speak. Lucretia is nothing if not careful and smart. Smart enough to deceive all of them for as long as they've worked for her.

He steps aside and back, giving her enough room to angle her throw and release it without worrying about hitting him. From here, he's more at her back than her side and he can let the mask of feigned indifference slide just enough to narrow his eyes at her.

What are you hiding from me? What did you do?]

candlenights with this jerk why...

oh no

huhuhu

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