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TDM 009: I'M IN LIKE WITH YOU
| TDM 009: I'M IN LIKE WITH YOU |
00. Arrival This time, you come out of the water, the Nameless Island's own inherent energy drawing people in. It's like being suspended between realities and abruptly pushed from behind through a rift in dimensions. It may make you sick, or that might be the motion of the ocean, lifting you to the surface 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. Feel free to explore the Island, though there isn’t much to see. Most of the buildings are abandoned and in dire need of repair, and beyond the city lingers a thick fog that obscures much of the wilderness from view. Wander too far into this fog, and you will find yourself mysteriously looping back to where you began, your memories of what you were doing and how you got there erased. With that in mind, it may be wise to stake your claim on a rundown apartment, a tent on the beach, or a bed in the “comfortable” new barracks. Your inventory will be found a day later, wrapped up haphazardly and delivered to each person's makeshift home. I. STARGAZER On the first night that new arrivals wash ashore, the moon rises. It's full and beautiful and surrounded by stars. The robots quickly bring old, dusty telescopes out of storage and line them up on the beach to help people get a truly spectacular view. "Look to the heavens! Behold, the chicken, the cat, the owl, the donkey!" It's... the cock, the pussy, the hooters, and the ass. For the rest of the night, characters will become fixated on the specific asset associated with the constellation they've gotten an eyeful of. Whether this leads to some body worship or just casual appreciation is up to you. You can learn about the stars and constellations later this month in some of the rare, non-pornographic books in the library. (More info will go up soon, so please be patient!) II. STIMULATING CONVERSATION An ancient courting ritual has been announced! It involves the give-and-take of candy hearts with slogans printed on them. Of course, since these hearts are being manufactured by robots, their sense of taste is a little... off? Or perhaps off-putting? "You'll do." "5/10." "Acceptable." "Sloppy Seconds." Receiving a negative heart makes one feel insecure, jealous, and submissive. "Be mine." "Nicest ass." "Swell bulge." "They're good lays, Bront." Receiving a positive heart will make one feel confident, boastful, and dominant. Your friendly neighborhood 'bots will give them out to anyone who asks - and maybe even those who don't. III. Eat Or Dare The robots have set up a stall by the beach with a banner that reads: Eat Or Dare. They have procured bigger candy hearts than ever before -- fist-sized and larger -- with actions written on them instead of derogatory slogans. "Take a dive." "Lick me." "Get handsy." The name of the game is to follow the instructions or forfeit the challenge by making the evidence disappear into your mouth. Delicious! Those who eat the candy hearts will feel themselves getting giddy and unreasonably invested in the love affairs of others. They will feel compelled to play matchmaker to spread the cheer. N A V I G A T I O N |
no subject
Huh. [ Well, he guesses it kinda makes sense, in a way. A comfortable arrangement, if nothing else, as it was all people her know. Though... the more he thinks about it, it sounds a lot like third-wheeling and that's ....
Well. He supposes that's probably ultimately his fate anyway. ]
Why not? Isn't like we've never experienced retaliation before.. [ He almost sounds like he's annoyed Relena won't let him blow something up and.. well. He is. He wanted to blow things up. Sue him. ]
Programmed to work? What the fuck does that mean? Did I get brain programmed when I came up outta the water like a weird fuckin' sea monster worse than I already am?
[ Considering he.. you know. Still can't be in crowds despite turning in his terrorist hat.. that's very much a thing. And not something Duo is willing to ignore or pretend like doesn't happen. They all see it happen, after all.
Relena gets a bit of a look at the hair touch, but not one that says he's going to gut punch her or anything. ]
Christ. All I was after was my own little part of the vacuum and I end up here.
no subject
[ And certainly, she doesn't want Duo to see what happens when they decide to play tricks instead of throwing dances. She has a few new open wounds now she doesn't want to bear, but has to. She knows he and Duo had enough of those to start with. He doesn't need to egg on more. ]
Mm... I'm sorry. You'll have to talk to him about it. He told me a lot about it, but understanding what I hear and explaining it to someone else are two very different things, I guess...
[ It makes her feel more than a little useless. She can't do much in the ways of technology like the two of them can. She can offer her voice to the council and her body to the greater good of the people here, but she doesn't have a mind for overcoming automatons or the machinations behind them.
She turns her palm out to him. He'd greeted her and taken her to their temporary home when she arrived. She wants to do the same for him. ]
I'm truly sorry, Duo. Here, why don't you come with me? We can get you cleaned up and you can take some time to rest.
no subject
Well I thought that when you started on about total peace forever so. You might as well just come out with it.
[ Duo hadn't exactly had much weight in that whole discussion on total peace and gundams, though. He'd left that to Quatre for the most part with all the money and power behind him and.. well. He'd rather have had to hide Deathscythe for the rest of his life to blow it up when he was on his deathbed or something...
But dreams could only go so far.
Anyway, he nods as she explains he will have to get his explanation from Heero. That's probably the better bet in the long run, anyway. Heero and he could explain things without words, after all, so it was the best option. ]
Mmn. If he's feeling talkative that day, anyway.
[ The glance at that offer is tired, though he's covering it quickly enough by turning away. He could chafe at her about it, but.. there's no point. If it's the three of them, it's the most comfortable company he could hope for other than Hilde.
So eventually he nods, stopping for a moment to take a look around and remember where he'd laid what. Quickly, though, he gathers up a few little tools that he's put aside, tucking them in to the pocket of his jacket easily enough. ]
Lemme just.. you know. Get a little more decent. And ..
I guess put my hair in a bun or something.
[ He hasn't gone around in public with his hair flowing wild in something like ten years and he doesn't intend to start now. ]
no subject
They have ways to manipulate us - mentally, emotionally. They can show us things we never wanted to know or remember and show them to others, as well. They can construct and destroy. They might even be able to control the weather here, it seems, and can create any number of things beneficial and detrimental.
[ She tries to smile as if attempting to reassure. ]
He's been a little better about that lately, you know. With the way things are here, you might have a better chance to get him to speak more directly about it.
[ Relena lets him gather himself and his belongings, ever patient, feeling the weird distance that wasn't there before. She considers things, wondering if she should reconsider her residence to give him space to live there comfortably or if she should put in 'work' to increase the space allotted to them.
She perks up, catching the last of his statement. ]
D-Do you need something to put it up? Here, I can--
[ She reaches towards the back of her head as if attempting to untie her ponytail from its ribbon. ]
no subject
Welcome to Gundam Training, Vice Minister, so far as manipulation, anyway. Give G the weather and we have a whole other monster, though. So thankfully he didn't have that. [ Or.. well. Just life on the streets so far as Duo had lived it. But he supposes that it's entirely necessary to share with her right now. Most people knew that to train to be a Gundam pilot wasn't without struggle, and so it was the safest sarcastic comment to share.
Relena is kind to try to reassure, though Duo's expression keeps a certain seriousness about it despite that. He may be the pilot who smiled most freely other than Quatre, but Relena has probably learned by now, with living with him, that it isn't necessarily the real Duo Maxwell. ][ Duo waves a hand as if to say she should get it just by the implication, he guesses, first gathering his pants to shuffle them on. They're still a bit damp, and crackling slightly from he salt value, but.. well. Again, he isn't walking through town completely naked, either.
For a moment Duo seems to hesitate about the ribbon, but considering all he has is a few pins (that double as lock picks...) and a hair tie... a ribbon would help. Maybe with that he could make some kind of bun. ]
Thanks. I guess I'm just gonna have to kinda... go with a bun of some kind for the moment..
no subject
I don't remember my parents' assassination, but my brother does... and I relived those memories through him somehow. Those kinds of things -- those out of this world things -- can happen here. [ Her tone has lost all sense of lightness and she can't quite look at him. She hasn't talked much about that time to anyone, but the gravity of it feels necessary right now. He's thinking within the scope of his understanding as anyone would. She needs to pull him free of that restricted way of thinking. ] Sure, they can also make you feel and do things as might have happened to you during your time as a pilot. Desire things you never would or say things you'd never dream of saying... but as far as our evidence gives us now, there are many things for them that are 'limitless'. Until we know if limits exist, we can only assume that much of them.
[ She lets out a breath. Just thinking about it is stressful. She worries her hands together where they're clasped in front of her, frowning. She didn't think being the one explaining instead of the one being explained to would be so tiring.
Relena hands over the ribbon, letting a more political smile ease back onto her face. ]
Use it as you need to, Duo. I'm sure we can get you what else you need without too much concern.
no subject
No one needs to see that. [ In reference to his own memories. After all, there's a reason he's never really said much about his past, where he'd come from or how he'd come to be a gundam pilot for the L2 Colony Cluster. More than anything to do with fear of pity, Duo is fiercely protective of his past and the people involved.
.. And pity is definitely not where it's at for him.
He frowns as she goes on about Zech's memories of their parents' assassination, serious in the face of other people perhaps seeing all the gore and blood and.. everything that went along with war. Or just anything he had endured far before he could make a conscious choice to move along differently.
Still, as she says they're limitless, Duo can't help the dry expression as he, again, offers : ]
That's why I suggested explosions, Relena.
[ Give this man some C4 and he can make anything work, basically. Either way he takes the ribbon with a little nod of thanks, thinking for a moment before he begins to gather all of his hair.
Without it woven into a braid, it's at his knees if not longer, and soon Duo is using Relena's ribbon to tie at the base of his head, the majority of length of it still available with how he ties it. Then, his hair band goes where it usually does - at the tail of that long length of hair.
This may be an on the fly scheme, but Duo has had a lot of time to suss out different ways to do his hair. ]
Hopefully this one works. I haven't had my hair down like this for long for like...
[ A pause, Duo's eyes shifting toward the ceiling. ]
Ten years?
no subject
[ At the repeated suggestion, she shakes her head. She doesn't believe it would solve anything. Certainly, someone must have tried to damage or decimate them before. There are mobile suits and space ships and people with special abilities here. ]
I'm sorry, but I don't think it would make much change, in the end. I have a feeling others have tried similar approaches by now.
[ She watches him, assuming he won't need help. As someone who's grown her hair out time and again, she's aware it's important to learn how to keep one's hair tidy when it's that long. It'd be miserable to deal with, otherwise. ]
It's not easy to leave it down. Even mine tangles up if I'm not very careful with it and it's no where near that long. I'm always impressed that Dorothy's stays so tidy when it's usually loose.
no subject
Well if we may no decisions here it doesn't actually matter in the end, does it?
[ So, sort of, why does it matter what he does or does not do? If they're doomed to shitty experiences no matter what they do.. then why not include C4 as an option? Even if it's an option that doesn't get the exact results, it is an option they have.
He's thankful she doesn't try to physically help, at the very least not having to explain how much he doesn't want anyone to touch his hair doesn't have to happen. Not at the moment, anyway.
His hands twist the base of his hair for a moment, carefully beginning to wrap his hair upon itself in a bun at the back of his head, for the moment. It's fast, and the easiest way to transport, he thinks. ]
I dunno. From what I've heard from Quatre it's maybe just straight-up witchcraft on her part.
[ Hair wrapped up now, and the final end tucked, Duo takes the length of the ribbon to wrap the bun underneath and over, using a pin to hold it in place and add a little security.
It isn't his braid but it's... something. ]
Okay. I think this'll hold..
no subject
[ He doubts they will had him explosives, anyway, so unless he has some that followed him here, it would be difficult. That is a relief. She can't confirm nor deny or confirm that there would be retaliation, but she can assume the likelihood is high. ]
Hm... she certainly has skills most of us can't imagine having and absolutely the confidence.
[ She looks at him when he announces the bun's completion and nods. ]
It looks fine to me. Here, follow after me.