TDM 004: WASHED ASHORE

[erkumods]

TDM 004: WASHED ASHORE

Arrival This time, you come out of the water. While the Augur reboots, the Nameless Island's own inherent energy draws people in. It's like being suspended between realities and walking through a rift in dimensions. It may make you sick, or that might be the motion of the ocean, lifting you and carrying you to shore. Waterlogged and covered in sand, new arrivals will be greeted by robots who welcome them with towels and bracelet devices. The A5 card is already loaded up. Inventory will be found a day later, wrapped up haphazardly and delivered to each person's makeshift home. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● I. Feel the friendship! Recent arrivals and visitors to the beach may notice a sudden influx of hundreds of bright red crustaceans crawling (and coupling) across the sand. It's crab mating season, as it turns out, it's a regular invasion! To keep the beach a pleasant place to gather for the island's inhabitants, the robots are offering credits to especially enterprising crab-catchers. Grab a bucket and get to work! Be sure to watch out for their pinch, mind you. Their little claws are tiny, but that doesn’t mean they don’t hurt. Surprisingly, there is another effect that even the robots don't anticipate: islanders who are pinched by the crabs find themselves feeling instantly buddy-buddy with the next person they spot. Did you just become best friends?! Get pinched one too many times, however, and those feelings may sour into a crabby mood, indeed. If you are feeling particularly vengeful (or just hungry), the little crabs do make for delicious gumbo. Once cooked, they have no side effects whatsoever. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● II. Phallus Phestival Although the Augur is offline and supplies are scarce, the robots of Erku are still eager to make their run-down little island a welcoming place for the new arrivals. To that end, they have arranged a three day festival to boost morale and promote the generation of plenty of Eros energy to assist in the restoration of the damaged and decayed parts of the city. The robots claim that this celebration was once a cornerstone of the long-lost civilization of the island. By the dawn of the first day, every island resident will find at their doorstep (or tent flap, mobile suit, etc) the traditional costume of the ancient islanders to wear to the festival. It appears to be... a giant sheet? There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the sometimes garish colors and patterns of the fabric, but at least the robots have uploaded instructions on how to wear it to your bracelet device. Attendees will find food (mostly crab-flavored), confections, and household necessities in rather suggestive shapes, as well as goods you might find handy to complete your A5 squares: sex toys, pervertibles, sexy maid outfits, and the like. While islanders are welcome to set up shop on the festival grounds and sell (or charge) whatever they like, all items from the robots are offered up for free to those who wear their traditional island garb! ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● III. Fireside Adventures Each night of the festival is wrapped up in style with an enormous bonfire on the beach, where drinks, fruity cocktails, and lively music appropriate for dancing is all provided at no cost by the robots. Even if you’re not usually much of a dancer, the longer you stand by the fire and allow it to warm your limbs, the more you feel like moving! Not only that, but everyone is looking quite beautiful by the firelight, are they not? If you’ve grown tired - or if dancing just isn’t your thing - you might prefer to sit back and swap stories on one of the many driftwood log benches the robots have prepared for seating. Or, maybe you’d prefer to rough it for the night in one of the beachside canvas tents. Better claim one quick, though, or be prepared to share… there’s only one sleeping bag! ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● N A V I G A T I O N

Comments

[trost]

I was saving myself that day... [ If Marco means that incident where Jean led the recruits to headquarters, a lot of What he had done for his own survival -- or at least, that's the way he sees it. He even let a few people die to buy them all some time so it's hardly something anyone can call an altruistic act. That's how he lived back then, with his survival at the forefront of his mind. It's only after he lost a friend he had not even realised he had grown so attached to that the reality of their tragic situation truly struck him and he was forced to make some harrowing choices.

Marco's here, and his hands feel real. If Marco were to take his hands like this five years back, Jean would probably try to pull away, eyes averted and a few grumbling words of complaint as he attempts to cope with the awkwardness of the situation. The Jean of this moment feels no such compulsion to break away, marveling instead at the unique opportunity to spend time with someone he thought he would never see again. He stares at their hands, how his spindly fingers have outgrown Marco's, and it just makes him think of the time the boy has lost. Meanwhile, Marco looks exactly the same, like a relic.

Jean's fingers curl around Marco's hands, eager and grateful for the touch. Absently, his thumb runs over the boy's knuckle, almost like he needs that physical sensation to believe this whole experience isn't another dream he's had. Those hands feel warm in his, and it's a stark comparison to his last memory -- the cold, clammy, lifeless sensation of Marco's rigid body as Jean transported him. ]

It's still hard for me to believe this is real. I never thought I'd see you again. [ He's missed him, but that's not something he says outright, because it's still difficult for him to express his softer feelings. ]

[freckilled]

I know. [Jean is Marco's best friend, and he cares about him more than just about anyone else, but Marco is realistic about what Jean's real intentions were that day. He knows what they were, and it doesn't matter.] But you saved me too. You saved a lot of us.

[Marco is honestly a little shocked that Jean is letting him hold his hands like this. It's a natural gesture to Marco, one he's learned from growing up with siblings and a loving family, but he knows that Jean tends to shy away from affection. It's not that he doesn't like it--that he doesn't need it--but that it makes him uncomfortable. Shy, almost. But here Jean is not just letting Marco hold his hands, but holding them back, actively taking part in it, and the sensation of Jean's thumb across his knuckles sends a chill up Marco's spine.]

[He really has changed.]

[Marco has a lot to process right now: ending up on some sandy strip of land in the middle of nowhere, Jean being older and taller than he is, and most of all, the knowledge of his own upcoming death. That's the hardest one to grapple with, and so Marco does what he's often done in the past: he compartmentalizes, and shoves those sticky, difficult emotions aside, so he can focus on Jean.]

I'm here now. [Marco tries to smile, and though it takes him a few seconds, he eventually gets there.] Wherever here is?

[trost]

[ Sorry, Marco, he's still the same shy, awkward and prickly existence, but right now is a special case. This is the first time they've had any kind of contact in what feels like an era, and he finds himself still in some sort of disbelief that the hands in his are tangible and real. Jean can remember a dream he had from many years ago, where a gentle, familiar voice exchanged some casual words with him and listened to his troubles. When reality slowly started to sink in in that same dream, he found himself desperate to hold on to that presence, talking to them incessantly like that would stop their ghost from fading away. He doesn't know why he's reminded of that dream, but he's in a similar situation, feeling like he has to touch, to hold on to this person because they could vanish.

But Marco reminds him that he's here, and his words have that usual calming effect, the way they did back then. By some strange coincidence the forces in Erku happened to summon Marco on the day he dies, in what's probably hours before the act. The cynical part of Jean is reminding him that this might not last, that he could return to his doomed fate at any time, but maybe it's fine not to think about all that now. Erku isn't an ideal place to live by any stretch, but anywhere's better than the land they come from. ]

This land is called Erku. [ Okay, the reality is really setting in now -- especially when he's reminded of the absurdity of how things work here. Jean frowns, expression on his face taking on that familiar look of disgruntlement. Things are quickly returning to normal now at least, after the initial shock. They still have things to talk about, but he can probably ease Marco in slowly. ]

Aaah, can't believe they pulled you in here too. [ It's better than being at home, but it's still ... not ideal for someone as pure as Marco, in his opinion. Jean's hands slip out of Marco's as he fishes for his device. Should he sugarcoat this? Nah. ] It's a world that runs on sex.

[freckilled]

[Okay, this is more familiar; Marco half-reaches for him when Jean takes his hands back, but then he sees that look on Jean's face and lets his hands drop to his sides. So Jean has changed a lot, but he's not a completely different person. He's still Jean.]

[Frankly, Marco is glad he got pulled here, if all that's waiting for him back home is being a titan snack, and he's about to say so when Jean drops that little detail.]

[Marco blinks, thinking he's misheard.]

It runs on what?

[Erku: got it. They pull people from different times: okay, weird, but yeah, got it. It runs on what now?]