TDM 001

[erkumods]

TDM 001: TFLU

( 1 ) After leaving the teleportation chamber, you are gently coaxed out of the hospital and encouraged to find a place to stay. Maybe you've had time to check out your A5 app. Maybe you're just settling in. It's cloudy, overcast, cold -- you'll want to seek out someplace warm. Also, your device is beeping. A lot. The tech on the island works, it just doesn't work right. You can't seem to send a message to the correct person. It's time for... Texts From Last Universe ( 2 ) What's this? Your bingo card has just been beamed to a stranger's inbox...?! ( sample A5 cards -- NSFW, may contain triggering content, please feel free to use/ignore as you see fit) ( 3 ) And now you're receiving messages from other users that they don't remember sending: Nice shirt. It would look better on my floor. 10/10 would ride it into the sunset. This user thinks you're attractive. u up? 🍆 ( 4 ) Once you figure out that the robots have been hacking your devices, it's no easy feat to track one down and demand they stop. "So The Augur wills!" they wail in a monotone. "So it is done!" Any attempt to actually contact The Augur and get back into the hospital will be met with beefy robot bodyguards, who suggest taking a gentler approach to fix your devices. If you know what they mean. Wink. (This is your overt kink prompt. Please label any threads accordingly.) Note: All prompts are optional. The theme for this TDM is "malfunctioning devices." They can be fixed by indulging in the squares on your cards. For the sake of the TDM, you can use one of the pre-generated examples or a wildcard from the kink list. This can be used as a free bingo square completion once you have been accepted into the game. Players are welcome to wildcard their own TDM prompts; we only ask that you try to stick to the theme. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● N A V I G A T I O N

Comments

[beloveddaughter]

Her eyebrows go up at that reaction. Okay, well. She's obviously dealing with some things. E'dolha's stance gets a little less relaxed, a little less—well, like she's better than her. Her ears even pull back slightly. She takes a couple steps forward, closer to this other girl, but still stops far enough away to give her some personal space.

"It's difficult. I understand," she says, her voice kind but not heavy, not like she's going to dwell on it. "Let's see if we can track down who's in charge here. Have you been able to figure this out yet?" And she raises her hand to indicate her beeping device. "Maybe it has information we can use."

[heterochrocatic]

Catra shakes her head, hands resting on her hips.

"No. It's useless--just a bunch of jerks sending messages about riding me and taking off their shirt and...eugh." She grimaces again, her expression twisting into disdainful disgust.

"I have a girlfriend, you weirdos."

[beloveddaughter]

Well, that gets a smile on E'dolha's face. Eventually. Yes, the bad news about how useless the device is isn't very encouraging, but—well, she sees this other catgirl is also a woman of culture.

"Congratulations. I can imagine that getting exhausting, though." She makes a mental note not to proposition this one. "We could always do some walking and see who we run into. It would be fair cruel of the universe to separate you from her." Not that that's stopped the universe before.

[heterochrocatic]

"We literally just finished saving the stupid world!" Catra lets out a little annoyed growl.

"We finally figured stuff out, we were gonna be happy--" Oh no. No, she's gonna cry. She tries to stop herself but there are hot, angry tears on her cheeks and her hands are starting to clench again.

"I finally had her. We were going to spend the rest of our lives together. This isn't fair." This is stupid. She's breaking down in front of this stranger and she can't stop it--this is what Adora and her stupid friends did to her. Made her all emotional.

[beloveddaughter]

Oh no, oh no, oh no. This won't do. E'dolha hasn't done a whole lot of mothering in her life but there's definitely an impulse to just. Try to make things better, even if it's for someone she's known for five minutes, even if it's for someone who she's pretty sure would react poorly to... well, to anything she could do to help.

But those thoughts all get shoved to the side as she closes the distance between the two of them and reaches down to touch at this other girl's hands, to try to get them to unclench and give her something else to hold on to. "Oh, dear, come here. You're right. It's not fair." She's going to see how the hand thing goes before doing anything else, in a frankly stunning example of impulse control.

[heterochrocatic]

Catra's immediate instinct to flinch back, her hands clenching even tighter. THis is a stranger, this isn't Adora, or even Glimmer or Bow or any of the people that she's slowly come to trust and rely on. Her first instinct is to tug away and she starts to do that at first.

But someone wants to help her. A stranger. And slowly, her fingers uncurl to accept E'dolha's touch. The tears aren't stopping anytime soon, either.

"I already almost lost her--"

[beloveddaughter]

Okay. That went well. Her fingers run against the skin of this other girl's hands and soon they're outright holding hands, and E'dolha has rough patches on her palms from holding a bow and working with wood for so long. But she doesn't let her companion feel them for long, because there's a gentle tug, and soon she's holding her closer, against her body, against the soft fabric of her button-down, just trying to comfort her.

"There, there... you'll find her again," she says softly. "We just have to look for her."

thanks season 5 for giving me so many icons of catra being sad

[heterochrocatic]

"You don't get it!" Catra protests, shaking her head as she feels herself tugged in closed against E'dolha. She doesn't try to pull away. She feels to exhausted for it, too beaten down. The emotional high of victory, of the prospect of finally being happy has been ripped from under her and all she wants to do is lay down and die.

"She's not here. She almost died--we all almost died and--she's not here!" She's sobbing now, just a full on mess of hurt, angry tears. The world isn't fair. The universe isn't fair. She was finally happy. After years of pain, it had seemed worth it, even a little.

dear noelle let catra be happy

[beloveddaughter]

Her hand moves up to the back of this girl's head, her fingers tangling in her hair. It's okay. Let it out. The shirt can be cleaned, it's no big deal, the important part is that this crying girl gets some comfort. (By the gods, E'dolha is a sap.)

She doesn't say anything for a moment—though there's a few things she could say. Instead, she settles on what feels like something better than wondering how she knows her girlfriend isn't here. "You've been through a lot. I know what it feels like to have all your progress stolen from you. I'm sorry. But you'll find the way back to her." A pause, and as a comfort, she decides to lie. "I know you will."

i mean this isn't noelle's fault, this thread is all mine

[heterochrocatic]

Catra's sobbing continues unabated for a few minutes, no more words coming for a short while. At last, there's a faint, unhappy murmur from against E'dolha's chest as Catra manages to find what she needs to say.

"...She's the whole world to me."

you're right, dear emmy let catra be happy

[beloveddaughter]

E'dolha nods and closes her eyes, trying to give this girl a steady rhythm of breathing to focus on instead of everything else going on. It's a good thing she's quiet so she can hear and actually make out those words, and... this poor girl is just heartbroken right now, isn't she? Absolutely devastated by being brought here. It makes E'dolha's chest pang.

"I know. I know what that's like. I'm sorry, dear. I'm sorry that she's been taken away from you." There's a pause as her fingers curl and gently scratch at this other cat's head. "And you know she isn't here?'

ms. emmy's wild ride never ends

[heterochrocatic]

"I don't know," Catra admits. "I didn't see her inside." But the possibility that Adora might be here, somewhere, wandering alone and confused and being a stupid idiot trying to be everyone's hero seems to galvanize Catra into action. She tugs herself away from E'dolha and cups her hands around her mouth as she starts heading down the ruined street.

"ADORA!"

[beloveddaughter]

E'dolha follows in kind, glad to at least get one name out of this even though it's for the one person who likely won't be providing an answer anytime soon. (Though that is more or less her fault for not introducing herself properly.) Her footfalls are light, and she's careful to maneuver around the gap left behind by the chunk of asphalt that had been hurled at her.

"Her name's Adora?" she asks once she's within speaking range again, and after giving the call enough time to ring out and potentially receive a response. "Is that short for anything?" she follows up, her tone just shy of teasing.

[heterochrocatic]

"Why else would I be yelling 'Adora'?" Catra stares at E'dolha like she's an idiot.

"And no, it's not short for anything. Why would it be short for anything?" Catra hurries on, ears perked as she listens for any response. At the next intersection, she pauses, looks left, then right, then cups her hands around her mouth again.

"ADORA!" Nothing, only the wind answers.

[beloveddaughter]

"Well, I don't have any other names to work with, dear," she says, and that does come with a grin that's a little further past the edge of an outright tease. Her eyes scan the horizon for the sights of, well. Of anyone. But she's certainly not seeing anyone reacting to the call—certainly nobody who could be Adora—or otherwise. They seem alone, and that's not a good situation for anyone to be in.

"You've cried in my arms," she continues, smoothing out a rumple on her shirt. "I don't think asking who you are is out of the question."

[heterochrocatic]

That she seems to be getting no response doesn't apparently phase Catra. As she hits the next intersection, she repeats herself, pausing to call out Adora's name, then adds another:

"Melog!" No discernible reply comes and Catra exhales sharply before she turns back towards the other woman. Crosses her arms across her chest.

"...Catra," she says after a moment. Doesn't hurt to give her name, right?

[beloveddaughter]

Ah, someone else she can reach out to. How charming, that there's multiple people who can vanish from Catra's life. Her ears droop a little as she hears that second name get called out, but her back has straightened again by the time Catra turns around.

"A pleasure to meet you, Catra," she says. "My name is E'dolha, but my friends are more than welcome to just call me Dolha." There's a bit of a rasp to the H, something that (she's seen from experience) only other Miqo'te are able to properly replicate. So she's setting the bar high for Catra to begin with. "And unfortunately, I'm not sure how much luck we're going to have shouting blindly down intersections."

[heterochrocatic]

"E'dolha." Catra repeats the name. The h isn't hard for her to replicate, just unusual--she's not used to it. She wraps her tongue around the word, though, and seems to manage to get it right the first time.

"Well, what else is there to do? I'm not going to just sit here!"

[beloveddaughter]

Not friends yet. Well, that's hardly a surprise. Catra seems the kind of person for whom friendship is not... easily given. And this isn't really the appropriate time for it, anyway.

"We could try to learn more about what we need to do to get back to our homes. You seem a little better at navigating this technology than I am," she admits, flexing her wrist with the device on it. "If you're convinced Adora isn't here, then getting to where she is seems like as good a plan as any."

[heterochrocatic]

"It's pretty normal stuff," Catra says, a little surprised that someone wouldn't know how to handle it.

"I don't know where she is, that's the problem. If I did, I could go get her," Catra adds a moment later, her tone suggesting that she is explaining something very simple to a small child.

[beloveddaughter]

"You were definitely shouting loud enough for the whole place to hear you," E'dolha says, crossing her arms over her chest again and fixing Catra with a look. "And if you have her trained to come running when you call, then she's likely back at home if she didn't respond, isn't she?"

She'll let the part about her technological ineptitude slide for the moment, if only because it's accurate and she's more likely to break this thing further than she is to fix it.

[heterochrocatic]

"Look, it's not that she's trained," Catra says, scowling. "It's that if she's here and we're separated she's probably looking for me too! And how else is she going to find me? sitting around doing nothing?" She scoffs.

"This city isn't exactly small."

[beloveddaughter]

"It's not," she agrees, trying to fend off an argument. Catra's the only person she knows here, though even getting the name was a bit like pulling teeth. "But I don't know anything else about her—or you, for that matter."

Her voice is still calm, but she's at least going to attempt to get some more information out of Catra. "So this is all I can offer for ideas. What do you two normally do when you aren't saving the world or being lost inside a perverted city?"

[heterochrocatic]

"...I dunno." Catra rubs the back of her neck, feeling suddenly awkward.

"...We were kind of on opposite sides of a war for like three years and we finally had a minute to breathe. Then I showed up here.". There isn't a normal for this state of affairs yet, really.

[beloveddaughter]

E'dolha nods like this is the most normal thing in the world. It explains the breakdown, too—you give up your life on one side of a war only to lose your anchor on the other side. She feels as though she'd understand it better in a different life, but it's not hard to piece the emotional maelstrom together from her own experiences.

"So you're drawn to fighting," she offers, grinning and immediately putting her hands up in a defensive position. "Kidding! But you two must have learned some things about each other. Is there something you could do to draw her here? Maybe she's into... swordfighting, or something?"