TDM 009: I'M IN LIKE WITH YOU

[erkumods]

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

Comments

[holeyjudgment]

Colette fiddles around with the knobs. It's always nice when she can bathe or shower somewhere with hot and cold water like this, and she takes a little too much time playing with it before she gets it nice and warm.

Having someone help wash her hair has always felt good, especially with how much she's always liked growing it out. Professor Raine or Sheena or Presea...

Colette hums softly for a moment at the question. "I've never had to explain it to anyone, you know," she starts. "It's always just been part of the world I grew up in, and the others I visited as well."

"I was born with a mission, into a world in decline. The world of Sylvarant was running out of mana, and beset by tormenters called 'Desians'." There are still complicated feelings about them. "I was meant to go on a journey to awaken as an angel and 'regenerate' the world, returning mana and banishing the wicked."

[hello_again]

It doesn't pass Pyrrha by that Colette insinuated she had gone to worlds other than her own, but she stores that away for later. One question at a time.

She listened to Colette without interrupting, the idea of a Chosen captivated her. It didn't sound too dissimilar to other stories she heard, especially that of the Maidens.

"That's a lot of responsibility to have from such a young age," she was equal parts impressed and worried that Colette probably didn't have a childhood that allowed her to just play and enjoy the simple things, at least not without the duty looming over her.

"There are stories of Angels in my world too. You do look the part, though they're usually depicted with feathery wings."

She paused as Colette's phrasing set in "but you said you were meant to, did something change?"

[holeyjudgment]

Choosing people, young people, for a task that by all rights ought to fall to adults - it's not the best system. Yet it happened over and over again for so long, for thousands of years.

"It was a great deal to bear." Too much. Colette doesn't complain, but she knows that it was a cruel and absurd system. "But I was raised to be ready for it, and I thought that anything was worth saving the world, and helping so many people."

Feathery wings. Some of the lesser angels were like that. ...Remiel was a nobody huh?

"At the cost of my life. I didn't quite know the nature of what it would be like, at the time, but I knew I would never see my friends or family again even if I did live on in some way." It was vague. Of course it was. All the better to keep her cooperative. "I would have gone through with it, if my dear friend Lloyd hadn't stood up and fought against my fate."

[hello_again]

There was a gasp from Pyrrha as she understood the situation now. She found herself holding her hand to her chest. It was hypocritical, but she knew she would do the same as Lloyd if she was in his place. Even though she would have done the same thing as Colette were she in her place. It was a terrible and cruel choice to have to make.

Pyrrha finds herself describing the situation she hadn't said out loud to anybody else before. "In my world there were four Maidens. Four women who have tremendous power capable of protecting the world. I was going to be one, to help protect that power from evil people who would have taken it, but to do it I would... have to put the soul of the previous maiden into my own body."

Saying it out loud brought that anxiety she felt back all over again, but she had to finish, to let Colette know she wasn't alone "There... was no telling if I would have been me after that. Even then I would have ended up doing it."

[holeyjudgment]

That's understandable. Colette's sure she wouldn't have allowed Lloyd to sacrifice his life, or her other important friends, or... anyone but herself at all. Being born and raised to die for the greater good may not be an emotionally healthy life.

"Not unlike me at all. The true intent was to use me as a vessel for the soul of Martel, who... turned out to not be a goddess as we all thought at all." Poor Martel. "There was another world, however, connected to ours, that we didn't know about. That world... had a Chosen as well."

She sounds a little more upbeat. "He's the sort of person who might find out about Eros and be happy about it..."

[hello_again]

Hearing that reality Pyrrha moved without really thinking. She knelt down and wrapped her arms around Colette's middle, her chin resting on top of Colette's head she held the other girl tight.

"I'm sorry you had to go through something like that." It did sound like everything had turned out relatively okay in the end. At least Colette was here to talk about the events.

She still held onto Colette as she responded "Do you mind if I ask what he looks like and Lloyd too? That way I know what to look out for if they ever arrive here." She'd make sure she reunited Colette with her friends if they ever did show up.

[holeyjudgment]

"A-ah..." she let out a squeaky kind of sigh as Pyrrha held onto her. It's... comforting. It's nice. She'd been traveling a lot lately, and that hadn't left much time for hugs, so she leaned back against Pyrrha, exhaling and letting out some of the tension of having saved the world, only to realize that it's not just a thing you do and then stop working at.

"I'm sorry you... had to worry about it too, though." That it happened in this many worlds must mean that it can happen in how many others? How awful...

"Zelos... um, he has long red hair. He's very... beautiful." Honestly, she got why he got all that attention from women. "He often wears pink, and he'll definitely try to charm a pretty woman like you the moment he sees you."

"And Lloyd... he has brown hair that sticks up a lot, and he wears a lot of red. He's got... v-very determined eyes. And he likes to carry two swords." And in some ways he's kind of........... he's not necessarily book smart. "But I have other important friends too. Professor Raine and Genis are both half-elves with white hair... Sheena is a very beautiful ninja. Presea is tiny and has pink hair and a big axe. Regal is buff with long blue hair."

[hello_again]

"It... wasn't exactly the same situation. I knew what might happen and it wasn't from a young age like you." Though perhaps that was worse, she hadn't been prepared for it. She had to make that choice to throw away a life thinking she'd live it much longer than that.

She ended up squeezing Colette a little tighter thinking about it. Something about the girl's presence seemed comforting even though they had just met. Maybe it was her attitude, making it feel like everything would be okay.

Pyrrha just quietly listens as Colette describes her friends. They all sounded like good people. There didn't sound all that out of the ordinary to her except for one aspect "Elves?" Perhaps she shouldn't be surprised since angels were real to some extent in Colette's world yet it still caught her off-guard.

"In my world there's no such thing as Elves. There's Humans and Faunus."

[holeyjudgment]

"But it was meant to turn our lives into salvation for our worlds." Even with all the information that just opens up new avenues for people like them to tell themselves that they have to.

Colette doesn't mind being held; hugs are nice. Pyrrha is warm and strong. She rattles off the information about them, and she could probably go on quite a bit longer too if she feels like she has the time.

"There are humans and elves in my world, and those in between." Actually probably more half-elves now that they've formed their own communities. Elves don't seem to reproduce often. "And then there are also spirits and a few other kinds of life... but not many of those."

"What are Faunus like?" she finally asks.

[hello_again]

Honestly she was comfortable in this position even if she had to kneel to hold Colette like this. So she just stayed like this and listened to what she had to say.

When prompted she thought of how to describe Faunus appropriately "They look a lot like humans, but there's some minor differences like many of them being able to see well in the dark, but the main difference is they each have a singular trait that is like an animal. So one Faunus may have a monkey's tail while others, like my friend Blake, has ears like a cat."

Now that things have settled down she does eventually let Colette go and went back to washing her hair. "Almost done, and after our bath I can help you brush your hair if you like."

[holeyjudgment]

It was comfortable indeed. Pyrrha was so big and strong, yet very comforting to be held by; kind and gentle.

People who look like humans, but with animal traits. Colette might... like the idea of having doggy ears, but maybe that's rude to say around a Faunus. "That sounds... well... cute." First and foremost, though, they're still people.

Colette straightens up a little when Pyrrha finally lets go. "Oh, that would be lovely too!"

[hello_again]

Pyrrha giggled softly "Well there are definitely some cute Faunus out there," Blake being one of them, but she leaves that unsaid.

"Anything an animal has there's probably been at least one Faunus in history with that trait. Ears, tails, claws, wings or even fins." She described easily. "Of course that isn't all there is to them, there's rich history and cultures, but I'm not exactly equipped to give a history lesson." After all she was a student herself.

She smiles as Colette accepts the offer "Perfect, I just need to rinse your hair and then I can take my turn. So shut your eyes."

As promised she'd take the showerhead and rinse Colette's hair before replacing it and waiting for Colette to get up so she could take her place in the seat.

[holeyjudgment]

"I bet there are." Are there any here? Colette's sure she'll find out if there are, so it's not the most important thing probably. So many traits. Lots of history. A complicated discussion to have standing in a shower.

"Thanks." Colette closes her eyes, humming softly.

[hello_again]

She quickly rinsed off Colette's hair, once she was sure she had gotten all the soap out Pyrrha cheerfully said "All done!"

Then it was soon her turn, she'd take the seat as soon as Colette was up.

"Is there anything else about your world you'd like to talk about, or any questions you have for me?" She offered the potential conversation topics.

[holeyjudgment]

"Thank you." Colette walks around Pyrrha, trying not to let her gaze linger too much, but... maybe just a little is fine. She's so tall and strong - even if Colette can lift more than her, it's not something she feels she earned like Pyrrha must have.

Her hands work through Pyrrha's hair gently. "I'm not sure... there's so much that happened. But there's also a lot that's going to... happen... here."

[hello_again]

A soft happy hum leaves Pyrrha's lips as Colette works on her hair. It's nice to just enjoy something like this every now and then.

She understands Colette's nervousness so she's quick to say "It's okay to be nervous, but you should take it one step at a time. First we'll get you clean and then we can find you a place to stay."

Then Pyrrha decides on the direction of the conversation "What kind of foods do you like?" It was simple and silly, but it was focusing on something concrete and would give Pyrrha a good idea of what to get Colette later.

[holeyjudgment]

Taking care of people, and being taken care of, is comforting. It already feels like she's getting closer with Pyrrha even without the conversation at hand. "I should do just that. A place to stay, clothes, food." The basics. "I've traveled on my own a bit, so I don't mind if things are a little... rustic."

Her fingers work through Pyrrha's hair casually. "I like fresh fruit, if there's any of that around here."

[hello_again]

Pyrrha leans her head back slightly into the attention "I think you'll find the living conditions to be alright. We'll just have to find you somewhere to stay and I'll be sure to tell you how to find my place so you can fly over there if you need anything."

She smiles "I think we can find some fruit. Do you have a favorite fruit dish, like apple pie?"

[holeyjudgment]

"I'll help you in any way I can, too, once I'm settled in." Not a lot of options, but she can improve her versatility, she's sure of it.

"I like fresh fruit better. Like a fruit salad, or on a tart." Although apple pie sounds good right now too...