TDM 010: PARTNER UP, PARTNER

[erkumods]

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. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 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. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 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). ] ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 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. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● N A V I G A T I O N

Comments

tent time;

[omnistriker]

[ From a high-speed chase to drowning to eating a face full of sand, Tifa thinks there are better ways her evening could be unfolding, although she definitely prefers the quiet ocean front scenery to being cooped up in Shinra's headquarters any longer. There's a moment she pauses, inhaling the sea air and feeling a strange calm wash over, but it doesn't last. It never does. Immediately after, the chill of the water sinks through marrow-deep, leaving her shivering as she drags her tired muscles across the shore, trying to quell the deluge of worried thoughts. Where is she? How did she get here? Where are the others? Is this the after-life?... nothing out of the usual really, hearing them rotate on repeat, and the only sign of life she can spot for miles are the rows upon rows of tents.

It's better than nothing at this point, needing some time to regroup and figure out what to do next. She's already wandered as far as her weariness will allow her, and she's ready to catch her breath -only to pause the moment she pushes the tent flap open.

That ...that certainly is a sight for sore eyes. Tifa doesn't know whether to be shocked, confused, or elated, but even one familiar face is enough to reduce the tension lines around her brow and mouth. ]

-Aerith! Is that really you?

[ Her knees hit the pillows as she crawls in, fingers latching onto the other woman's, desperate to prove to herself that she's tangible. That this is all very much real and not a fevered dream from the sheer stress and exhaustion of the last few days. ]

How did we-? Are you all right?

GRIPS

[florant]

( she still wringing out the ocean from her hair, already having done what she could with a still-damp dress, red of her jacket slung over one of the wooden beams of the tent. there's a good chance it wouldn't dry til morning, and while she's not exactly keen on the idea of letting the dress upon her figure heal while she's wearing it, it's that or... well, nothing. she'd managed to pull at the tresses of her hair to let down what part of her braid had lasted the tumults of the water, lithe fingers combing through it to try and get out the snarls just as the tent's flap opens, a wide-eyed startle before— )

Tifa?

( she's pressing to her knees just as tifa lowers to her own, fingers clasping knuckle white. ) It's me! It's me. I don't... ( she shakes her head, a frustrated sigh sure to suggest how she wishes there were an explanation, that she had some sort of pieces put together before she'd arrived, only she didn't. ) I'm okay, I think. I'm still trying to figure everything out.

( she shifts, gaze dropping to the identical bracelet that'd been secured around tifa's wrist just as it had her own, brows knitting while lips set. )

I haven't seen anyone else. At least, nothing human, there were machines. The same ones that'd given me this. ( one of their laced hands unthreads, baring her own bracelet pointedly. )

Do you remember how you got here? I mean—before the water...

[omnistriker]

[ It had been a whirlwind of events before she found herself gasping and coughing up water in what must be continents away from Midgard. Tracking through that mess even after the fact makes her feel dazed and like she's still neck-deep in salt water, ready to let it swallow her up, but she manages to shake herself out of the stupor. It's not going to do Aerith much good if she freezes up now. Plus, if they both have managed to make it this far, then they are probably in better shape than Tifa is giving them credit for. ]

You were taken... it was the Turks. They brought you to the Shinra headquarters, so we went to rescue you together. Before that there was the plate... Barret, he-... we all saw him-...

[ Revisiting that memory alone lodges a thick lump inside her throat because even she's not sure how much of it was real. Barret had been laying cold, still, and unmoving on the floor until those- those whispers arrived. ]

-and then I was driving, and I don't know what happened. We were running away from gun fire, and Cloud was on his motorcycle. Please tell me you remember it, too.

[ Because she doesn't know how else to convince herself, but if Aerith saw and felt the same things she did- Her fingers tighten unconsciously around the other woman's, trying to get a grip. The important part of it all had been that they had all survived. She's not sure if they ever meant to, but they did.

And if she and Aerith are here, surely the others must be scatted across the shore, looking for them. It's a dim hope, but it's one she clings to. ]