ercookies | TDM 003

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TDM 003

TDM 003: #BEACHBUMS

I. BEACH

Welcome arrivals, new and old! The skies on Erku may be perpetually gray, but the weather has taken a sudden turn to summertime heat. Fortunately, soaring temperatures have chased away more of the strange fog that conceals so much of the island, unveiling a charming, sandy cove dotted here and there with rustic love shacks. These shabby little lean-tos are dusty and sparse, but they provide everything one (or two, wink wink) might need for a little relief from the sun. Just don’t wander too far... that fog has memory-loss properties.

II. DRINKS

The 'bots are very apologetic about the whole fog incident, and they are trying to get on the new arrivals' good sides by giving out fancy drinks. Of course, they still haven't mastered the art of making things properly, so each drink has a little something... extra.

Geloso: Has a slightly bitter, yet refreshing herbal taste... and it will make you feel inexplicably envious of virtually anything, to a petty degree! Be it someone else’s shoes or their incredibly muscular physique, you’re jealous enough to tell them about it!
Colpito: Fruity and sweet like candy. If you drink this, you will feel hopelessly infatuated with the very next person who catches your eye!
Vivace: Delightfully tart, with a flavor somewhere between citrus and raspberry. This summery drink will fill you with bubbly energy. Whether you’re feeling flirty or just mischievous and playful, you’ve never felt more alive!
Verace: Creamy, earthy, and a little nutty - the flavor is hard to describe, but delicious. After drinking this, you’ll feel strangely compelled to spill something you’ve been keeping a secret, no matter how incriminating or embarrassing.
Conoscere: The robots are especially excited about this flavor! They’ve heard organic beings enjoy chocolate, and hope you like their first attempt (it’s a little bitter, but it is chocolatey). Those who drink this will feel incredibly confident and sensual. Better yet, if you share it with a partner - which the 'bots encourage you to do - you’ll find that every touch is enhanced, and every sensation is shared between the two of you. A lucky few may even be able to sense one another’s thoughts!

III. SNACKS

Lo! As you ask, the Augur shall provide. Thanks to the efforts of your organic predecessors in restoring the planet’s Eros energy, edible fishes and seaweeds have returned to the ponds and the shores of Erku. If you fancy yourself savvy to basic survival skills, why not fashion up a fishing rod and catch yourself dinner? Just be careful if you happen to hook one of the octopus creatures from the deeper waters - they can be quite forward with their tentacles!

Or, if primitive angling isn’t in your repertoire, you can always trade some credits for a tasty catch from one of the food stalls along the coast. Most stalls are manned by 'bots, but there’s nothing stopping an enterprising arrival from setting up shop. No credits? No problem! The robots have also provided a bit of entertainment, and any volunteers to man the kissing booth, get dunked in the wet t-shirt dunk tank, or grill up some fish - among other opportunities - will find credits automatically loaded onto the payment app of their bracelet devices. The 'bots are recruiting especially hard for participants to work in the gloryhole tent!

IV. SPARKLES

As dusk descends, the white sands of the beach suddenly come alive with glittering lights. It’s as if the darkened waters have carried a thousand shining stars from the depths of the sea to the shores of the cove. In actuality, each little twinkle is a bioluminescent plankton or jellyfish! Feel free to wade among them and admire their shine; even the sting of the jellies won’t hurt you... though they do pack a different punch. The tentacles of the jellyfish elicit a powerful aphrodisiac response, which gets the heart racing and the blood pumping for an intimate touch. The effects come on within a matter of minutes, and last for a few hours. Only time will relieve the symptoms, but a partner will help to make it more bearable.

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N A V I G A T I O N

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"And in the meantime, you can tell me more about where 'here' is! Are we somewhere on Fodlan, or were we taken somewhere else? The last thing I remember is defeating the Immaculate One, and then Edelgard rushed over to the Professor..."

Memories after that were blurry, but she was certain it must not have been long before she'd woken up here. Taking another long drink, her eyes met Ferdinand's inquisitvely.

Ferdinand felt a sensation in his chest — relief — as Mercedes asked him about their whereabouts. So, she remembered precisely what he did — that she was among their allies, and that they had brought down the Immaculate One in Fhirdiad. At least, that's what he assumes that she remembers.

"Ah, well, that is close to the last thing I remember as well," he admits, placing a hand on his forehead. "But to answer your question, this is certainly not Fódlan. People appear to have come here from many different worlds besides our own, as strange as that sounds."

"From many different worlds? Do you think it could be because we won?" Perhaps the Goddess was angry with them-something Mercedes had been somewhat worried about, though she'd had faith that they were really doing what was best for both Fodlan and the followers of the Goddess, even if Rhea was so important to the church. Surprisingly, though, the worry seemed to be controlled, almost as if she was overcome with the relief that Ferdinand was feeling instead.

Ferdinand shook his head at that question, furrowing his brow. The whole concept went above his head, and he certainly did not feel like the most qualified person to explain what was happening, but she may as well hear it from him.

"No, I do not think that is the case," he responded, trying his best to sound reassuring. Although the Empire had gone to war with and ultimately defeated the Church, Ferdinand found that he still had some belief in the goddess, just not the version of the goddess that the Church had put forward. "You see, there are others here, such as some from the Kingdom. But their memories are different from what you or I remember. It seems that some of them remember the Professor siding with Dimitri instead of Edelgard."

"That... doesn't really make any sense. Truly, they are those we know, but don't remember the Professor siding with Edelgard? And instead with Dimitri? How would that even happen?" There was a point that she remembered, of course, where Byleth chose Edelgard over Rhea-but she hadn't exactly been privy to Byleth choosing the class to teach, and it had never come up.

The whole thing was a lot to wrap her head around, and Mercedes frowned in consternation as she lowered the drink slightly to rest in her lap.

Ferdinand can only shake his head again, looking a little regretful. "I am afraid I lack the answers to those questions," he responds thoughtfully. "However, I am glad to know that you remember the same events that I do. It is quite comforting."

His eyes dart downward to his lap, however, as he feels something touch it. But when his eyes lower, there is nothing there. Strange... it feels as if it were his lap she had placed the drink on and not hers.

"Has anybody tried to write down what all the differences are?" Her face scrunched up again, before she shook her head. "That would probably be a project for Lindhardt or maybe Lysithea-is either of them here with us?"

Mercedes hadn't been a bad student, but she was never one for that sort of in-depth research if she could avoid it. Much more up the alley of the more scholarly sorts. Lifting the drink again, she took another sip before offering it to Ferdinand. "It's almost gone."

"Until recently, it was just myself and Edelgard here," he responded gravely, still slightly unnerved by the phantom feeling in his lap. It seems to fade once she lifts the drink from her lap. "There are... others here as well. But their memories are different."

Before he had a chance to elucidate upon that point, he was offered the drink, and he nodded with a smile. "Thank you," he remarked, taking another sip from the drink. For some reason, he could still taste the slight bitterness of the rich chocolate flavor in his mouth even after he drank it.

"Well, perhaps it's something we should endeavor to, then. It could get confusing, otherwise." She was lucky, by the sounds of it, to have run into Ferdinand and not Edelgard or anybody from her *own* house. Though that brought her to another question, after she finished the drink, leaving her somewhat unsure what to do with the cup.

"Who all is here, if it's more than just you and Edelgard and, well, me?"

"Please, allow me," he stated, holding out his hand for the cup. He made eye contact with one of the robotic servers, who dutifully hovered over to retrieve the cup from them. He had to bite back the urge to thank the robot — they never respond when he does.

Addressing her question, he stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I have not met with everyone, but I have met with Sylvain and Dorothea," he muses aloud. "And I believe I heard that Dimitri is here as well. I have been spending all of my spare time trying to renovate the building that Edelgard and I claimed as a shelter, and between that and my training, I have had precious little time to meet with everyone."

"Dimitri..." Hopefully, in much better shape than he had been when she last saw him. Sylvain, of course, had fallen over himself to join the Black Eagles when the Professor took over the class, but she hadn't had an actual conversation with Dimitri in five years.

"You still keep up with your training, though? Is it dangerous here? Or do you think you will need to continue fighting when we return home?" Mercedes was completely out of the loop with regards to Those Who Slither in the Dark-and was looking forward to peacetime. Training was something she'd hoped to have been done with.

He could hear the melancholy in Mercedes's lovely, lilting voice. It saddened him to see her in such a mood, considering how selflessly she gave of herself unto others. If only there had been a way for all of Fódlan to unite and right the wrongs of the past without war, he tells himself, but the opportunity for that probably passed long before any of their fellow students were born.

Probably for the best, then, that he allowed her to change the topic.

"I have not encountered anything dangerous here," he concedes, shaking his head. "I am certain there will still be some fighting to be done when we return, but it is simply a matter of habit for me. Even if I never have reason to fight again, if I am to protect the people of Fódlan, then I must be ready to do so regardless."

"That makes sense, I suppose. And I'm not going to stop learning how to use white magic better-but I want to *help* people, not fight in a war." Though she'd avoided the brunt of it for some time, Mercedes wasn't really built to be a soldier despite her time at Garreg Mach.

"But it's nice that even if we might still want to train, and even if we'll have to fight when we get home, we can at least have a break from that here." Peace for a time sounded like just what the healer ordered, at least if she could keep from being *too* worried about what was happening in Fodlan while she was gone.

He really does find her desire to help others admirable, and her words bring a warm smile to his lips. Perhaps he'd come on a bit strongly when he first tried to befriend her during their days at the academy, going on about the duties of the nobility rather than simply finding out more about her, but he really has found that side of her so remarkable. Such selflessness is very rare, unfortunately, which makes it all the more important to preserve.

"I suppose you are right about that," he concedes, though he's not certain he would consider this a break. "That being said, there are some... well, rather difficult topics I must discuss pertaining to this place. Have you been told about what it is we are expected to do here?"

That typical optimism of his seems to have faded somewhat, a more concerned expression making its way across his features. He'd rather not have to break this news to her at all, but if she must hear it, then perhaps it is better she hears it from someone she knows.

Calm, collected positivity fading from Ferdinand's face was never a good sign, or, at least, it hadn't been since their academy days. Not since he seemed to learn to stop always comparing himself to Edelgard and instead focused on simply being the best he could truly be.

"Well, they wouldn't let me out of the hospital before they finished scanning me and explaining the squares on my bracelet-I assume it has something to do with that?" If not, she hadn't a clue-that was really all the information they'd given her, that great fortune would befall those who fulfill the requests. Nobody she'd spoken with before Ferdinand had shared any other details about Erku.

Well, at least she's not been left entirely in the dark. And perhaps Mercedes's pleasant, caring outlook on life will allow her to handle the burden of this knowledge better than he is giving her credit for. He nods, allowing himself a small, sympathetic smile.

"Something to do with that," he explains, calmly and patiently. "We were told that this area is powered by something called eros energy. Unfortunately, it seems that the way that eros energy is produced when people share... well, physical intimacy."

That's putting it rather mildly. Perhaps he should explain more clearly before she starts assuming that holding hands and hugging will be enough to produce that energy in any significant amount, but there is simply no way he can think of to explain it both clearly and politely.

"Physical intimacy... like hugging and kissing? Or-more than that?" The thought of the latter does make Mercedes blush, though as somebody as unfortunately familiar with the idea of having sex simply for the sake of crest babies-her mother's fate before her, and the fate that multiple father figures in her life would have foisted upon her-it can only do so much to embarrass her. "I suppose that would match up with the content of these squares." Some could be innocent enough, but when her list included things such as 'breeding/in heat' and 'orgasm control/denial' there wasn't much of a grey area.

"Ah, quite perceptive of you," he praises, though the topic of conversation makes his cheeks take on a reddish glow as well. "You are quite correct." He's not particularly fond of the idea of Mercedes in particular being exposed to such an environment. Of course, she's not weak. She survived the dissolution of her noble house and likely much worse, and she did so without losing that altruistic streak of hers.

He clears his throat, feeling rather flushed. "Ah, but you need not necessarily perform the tasks on your squares," he continues awkwardly. "Our captors may encourage such actions, but you should not allow them or anyone else to place pressure upon you."

With a soft smile, Mercedes shook her head. "I don't feel pressured! But it's not like all of them are that bad, either." Once she was over the hurdle of finding somebody she wanted to be intimate with, at least. There was that challenge, but cuddling? Size difference, should the pairing allow for it? They weren't *all* that bad.

Of course, Ferdinand's increased blush was making her feel all the more embarrassed nonetheless, and some of his awkwardness seeped through. Resulting in a rather inappropriate question. "Have you? Felt pressured-or performed any?"

Yes, that question certainly does strike him as inappropriate, and if it were coming from anyone but Mercedes, he might actually be indignant about it. But it's hard for him to take umbrage with it when she asks it in such an innocent, considerate tone. But it's a fair question. As embarrassed as he is by the answer, it would be hypocritical of him not to avoid the subject of his own squares.

"I... have filled two of my squares," he admits, his cheeks brightening as he looks away. "It had not been my intention to do so, but it seems to have happened regardless. As you said, it was not necessarily all that bad."

Edelgard had convinced him not to deny himself any longer, but even without her prompting, he thinks he may still have succumbed to those desires at some point. As a noble who has a rather romantic view of physical intimacy, as opposed to those who simply view it as either a means to an end or some sort of purely physical pleasure, that embarrasses him a great deal.

"As long as you weren't pressured to do it, it couldn't have been all that bad." Though she could practically feel his embarrassment as they spoke, and was becoming increasingly self-conscious about the conversation herself. "Maybe we should discuss a different topic, though."

Even as she suggested a different topic, some part of Mercedes couldn't help but imagine for even the slightest moment Ferdinand indulging in those squares, and her blush deepened all the more until she spit out the next thing that came to mind, clearly flustered. "Does everybody live in those shacks? Or are their nicer places in the city?"

"There are certainly nicer places where you could live, yes," Ferdinand confirmed, nodding his head. "Edelgard and I managed to find what looks like an old, dilpaidated inn... it is not much, but with just a little bit of work, we were able to make it livable."

He frowned in deep thought, stroking his chin. Something about that building troubles him, however.

"It is rather strange, I must admit. Each room has its own bath, and my tub is, well, heart-shaped. And then, there is the matter of the bed. At one point, as I was adjusting it, it began to shake."

He hadn't put the signs together quite yet. It wasn't as if Fódlan had vibrating beds or love hotels.

Far be it from Mercedes to put the hints together.

"That does sound strange. Though each room having its own bath is a lovely luxury." Though Mercedes enjoyed the camaraderie of the hot springs, there was something nice about privacy when you really wanted it.

"Are you and Edelgard the only Black Eagles here before I arrived, then? Or do others live elsewhere?"

"Well, Dorothea is here as well," he responded, thinking nothing more of his unusual living situation. "I have also seen Sylvain, and there are others here as well, but I believe they do not remember being part of the Black Eagles, as I have already discussed."

He'd tried his best not to make waves and simply be friendly to all who approached him, whether they remembered him as an enemy on the battlefield or as a friend. It was an approach that seemed to work for now.

"Ah, but would you care for another drink? We have already shared one, so I do not see there being any harm in sharing another." There wasn't anything particularly strange about this particular concoction. He was still thinking clearly, which was already a marked improvement from what he and Edelgard had experienced at one point.

That was certainly an approach they'd come to share, with time-while Mercedes remembered going to war against some of those she'd gone to school with, they were friends, first-and this was hardly a theater of the war. The war being effectively *over* from the time she came from only made that easier.

"Another drink sounds nice." Whatever effects it had had, Mercedes had missed out on them so far-perhaps giving the impression that none of them had any side effects. "Should we get more of the same, or try something different?"

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TDM 003

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It occurs to me how weirdly comfortable a character taken from Heroes would be in a jamjar.

Wow, that certainly would ease them into it.

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