ercookies | TDM 010: PARTNER UP, PARTNER

TDM 010: PARTNER UP, PARTNER

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” barracks. Your inventory will be found a day later, wrapped up haphazardly and delivered to each person's makeshift home.

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I. Laid Bare Basics

There is a new addition to the scenery at the beach, and everyone is welcome! Especially new arrivals, who will be ushered to the recently-established Laid Bare Spa, where (provided they don't slip away from the bots' helpful grasp) their uncomfortably wet, sandy clothing will be stripped away and they will be lovingly pampered by the cold metal hands of the resident robots. Long-time Islanders and newbies alike are welcome to enjoy such amenities as hot and cold baths, sauna rooms, scrub-downs, thorough whippings with birch brooms, skin treatments, massage and energy work, and more! All rooms are thoughtfully decorated with tasteful murals of naked and disrobing bodies.

Maybe you'll see someone you recognize?! (Maybe you'll see... you?)

Islanders who happen to find their clothing mysteriously missing are welcome to borrow a Laid Bare branded towel to cover up with on their way home.

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II. Tattoo to You, Too

The Augur understands that sometimes, it's difficult to find a partner to indulge you in those favorite Auspicious Acts - especially for new arrivals, but surely even long-time residents could benefit from a little assistance now and then. That is why ever-benevolent entity has gifted Her precious Islanders with tattoos which feature their most secret, urgent, and/or shameful of desires! (Even if that desire is to simply complete a Bingo.)

The tattoo may be a picture or a word, and it can appear anywhere on the body. At first it is pleasantly warm to the touch, like a soft glow of light on your skin. It soon becomes apparent - through either robot advice or a notification on your communication device - that your task is to find a match for your tattoo and complete the depicted act with that person. The longer one goes without completing the act, the more the tattoo seems to heat up, until it feels like it is burning into your skin.

Take too long, and the tattoo may become permanent. Otherwise, the tattoo will fade within hours of completing the Auspicious Act.

[ For TDMers: feel free to select any favorite kink for this prompt! If you complete a kink that doesn't appear on your card, you may switch one square for the completed kink. For current players: by participating on (tagging into) this TDM, you may switch one kink into your card (it must be the kink in the toplevel prompt you responded to). ]

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III. Creepy Crawly Caterpillar Crawl

Are you on the hunt for credits? Then have the robots got a task for you! The 'bots of the Nameless Island are recruiting Islanders to go bug collecting in the caves, crevices, and hollowed-out logs of the wilderness. The quarry? The (shudder - literally, the robots will shudder) doom-summoning harbinger bug. They describe these creepy creatures as fat, fuzzy, and rainbow-colored, with long, fluffy antennae that look like rabbit's ears.

The robots describe these critters as so dangerous that Islanders should only hunt them in pairs. Should your team return successful, you both will be rewarded very handsomely for every caterpillar caught!

The bugs are typically very docile and seem to enjoy soft pets, judging by the cooing and squeaking noises they make (especially to scritches behind their "ears"). Poke or disturb them however, and they may bite! Body parts bitten by angry caterpillars will swell up cartoonishly, and can only be treated by having someone else suck the venom out. Good thing you're traveling with a partner!

The 'bots strongly recommend against keeping these little buggies as pets, but they're not your dad.

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N A V I G A T I O N

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Battered and bruised, aching from the wounds of several serious fights, Vorin had allowed the island robots to usher him into the spa—easily pushing away any that tried to poke or prod at him—only because they spoke so highly of its restorative qualities. Stubborn didn't mean suicidal; he was hurt and tired, coming down off an adrenaline high. Rinsing off in the ocean had only washed the blood and sand and sweat from his fur, and as much as his instincts demanded he scour the nameless island for his friends, for a complete picture of the place he's ended up, a smart warrior knew when to wait for the right moment to strike.

(Keeping his sword with him at all times had helped.)

Out of the sauna by now, toweling off his fur in brisk economical pats, he glances at Rosetta. Notices how close she is, that her clothes don't seem to be doing their job at keeping her properly covered, the same way he would notice a splatter of blood or footprints in the dirt. Then he glances back to the portraits, gold eyes narrowing in what might be irritation or simple concentration.]

Not particularly.

[His own portrait shows a male humanoid ram in the prime of his life; broad-shouldered and barrel-chested, battle scars hidden beneath light-colored fur. All accurate. It also shows him with his dick out, proportionate to his nine-foot-tall frame. That's also accurate.]

But it is impressive that they painted this so quickly, considering.

[ That is truly some impressive junk. Don't mind as she glances down (but not by much, given the four-foot difference in height between them) and assesses the situation there. Nice.

Her attention wanders back to the portrait, one hand lifting as she taps a finger thoughtfully against her chin. ]

It is impressive, isn't it? Even the most talented painters I've known have required more than a day to craft something as masterful as this.

[ Then again, man-made creations do always seem to churn out a level of output that far exceeds anything a normal person would be capable of. Perhaps they could find an answer if they cornered one of the little metal golems whirring around the place, but she has no desire to approach one of them any time soon. The two of them will simply have to question the great mysteries of (Sex Island) life on their own. ]

But so is gathering all of us here in one place without, I suspect, being courteous enough to inform any of us beforehand.

[ She's as interested in a free vacation as anyone else, but a little warning would have been nice. Her head turns as she tilts her chin to look up at him. ]

Unless you came here of your own accord?

[It's a strange look to receive from someone that is, or at least appears to be, human. Shock, fear, confusion, hostility—from the single Earth day he spent on that planet, Vorin has seen those emotions reflected back, staring up at him out of small, fragile, hairless faces. Anything else was rare and unfamiliar, seen only in Bliss and her brother. He instinctively tenses into readiness, priming himself for a fight....and then relaxes once he recognizes the glance for what it is.

Yes, definitely a strange look.]

...These facilities, yes. This planet, no.

[He wipes down his horns next, drying them like an old-timey shoe polishing with one end of the towel in each hand.]

Whatever galaxy we're in, I can't recognize it from the skies. Can you?

[No teasing lilt or coy suggestion in his voice, his posture; he's all business, calm and focused on the task at hand.]