JANUARY 2018 TDM

[recollecters]

TEST DRIVE

JANUARY TEST DRIVE The city of Recollé... What do you mean the city's behaving for once? I. The large opaque dome enveloping the entire city continues to stand tall and firm, though this may be the first time you've noticed the dome itself rather than believe it's simply an eclipse effect. Faintly reflective in appearance but blocking the outside world, the dome still allows the warmth of the weak winter sunlight to seep through. It isn't hard to breathe, and the flora and fauna seem to be responding just as naturally as always. But the city of Recollé is pitch black except for the light citizens shine themselves. The dome stretches incredibly high over the city, but anyone who can get close enough to it will find that they can briefly see themselves in the surface. Upon touching the dome, it appears to be smooth and almost rubbery in texture despite a shell-like shield appearance. Soundproof and unable to provide clues to what's happening outside of the city the dome is also harmless for those who wish to touch it and examine it, causing it to bounce a few times under light impact. However, do be careful not to trigger its defense mode! Should anyone attempt to damage the dome itself, it will light up with a bright, sickening blue color for three seconds before delivering a shock to its attacker and rendering them unconscious for an hour. Perhaps you'll get lucky and you'll only deal with the too-hot-to-touch surface that self-activates when the dome is threatened, or the spikes that appear at the source of impact. The dome seems to have a temperament of its own. It may be best to treat it the way you want to be treated. II. Going about your normal day, the darkness seems endless aside from whatever light can be shed via flashlights, cell phones and interior lights inside buildings. However, as you wander the streets of the city, under your feet a swirl of yellow light appears before darting ahead, bouncing and bobbing its way over snow and concrete to create a clear path for you. It's a little convenient to have a guide to follow, but you're not the only one. Others around you are following their own lights and they all seem to gather right at the entrance of the old subway station. Perpetually under construction for as long as you can remember, the station appears to be wide open for anyone who ventures in. The light will guide you for roughly twenty-five feet before it dies down again. You're allowed to turn back, of course. There's nothing stopping you...except for the vine that suddenly snakes along the ground and wraps around your ankle, hooking onto you and beginning to drag you further into the tunnels. Now would be a good time to start calling for help. III. Back in the city itself, it's hard to say who, exactly, is to blame for the first hit. People are minding their own business and moving on as if everything is perfectly natural as usual. However, in addition to the hustle and bustle small barrels appear on every street corner with an assortment of colored guns. The moment you step up to investigate one of these barrels it becomes a little more clear what, exactly, is happening here. A bright red, green, or blue dot appears on your skin as the laser light hones in on you. Someone's decided to make you their next target in a city-wide game of laser tag and you have precisely ten seconds to run. For anyone tagged by the guns, a confetti-effect of red green and blue dots will appear all over you lasting for up to fifteen minutes before you're back in the game. Will you grab your weapons and join the game? Or will you dodge as long as you can? IV. As the evening sets in, there's a smell in the air. It's not the usual winter-y scent of peppermint or warm soup or anything like that. No, you soon realize that the smell is buttered popcorn and now instead of the barrels of laser tag guns there are carts containing popcorn machines, bottles of soda, candy and more. These carts don't move and they do not seem to be manned by anybody so feel free to take as much as you'd like! At precisely 7pm, the street lights dim a little and the dome above you starts to...glow? It glows and a picture stretches all the way across the sky as a movie begins to play for your enjoyment. Maybe it's the first of the Galaxy Fights series, or it could be that crazy archaeologist turned fortune-hunter Kentucky Smith. The movies will rotate one after the other for the rest of the evening until 7am when the street lamps come on, but for now grab some blankets and a good seat. There's always time for a movie with some friends. BONUS. Of course communication to people outside of the city is still out of the question. Of course it is. There are absolutely no signs of that changing anytime soon no matter how many times you call or text or email. Snail mail is nearly impossible and don't even think about videochatting. On the other hand, it seems as though the powerlines above are beginning to spark, pulsing in patterns of a bright blue color visible to the naked eye. What's up with that? Trying to get a closer look will only reveal a thick, crackling sort of energy that is surely not dangerous in the slightest and is nothing to worry about. The energy won't leave the powerlines at all, but instead the next time you use your phone for anything a song activates instead. It's loud and it can't be shut down, but once it ends you may find yourself in a video chat with a fellow Retrospec user. Say hi! Welcome to the recolle test drive meme! All characters will be begin in-game AU'd as Recollé residents. You may use any of the above prompts for ideas or make up your own depicting your Recollé AU! Prompts do not have to be set in the districts listed above. You can review our list of locations for what's available. Please note that TDM threads can be used as samples, can be kept as game canon, and can also be used for bonus points for future item regains. Share a few minor details of your AU, tag around, and have fun! For current players, please remember that TDM threads can only be used for bonus points, not regains. Please note: you will need a reserve to apply, and current characters must have full AC posted at the time of their reservation. Your January TDM directory is here, and your AU workshop is here! Our mod questions thread for this TDM is over here!

Comments

[pronounces]

[ god, kuro's laugh makes nazuna's heart squeeze in his chest, like a happy little rabbit, and he's beaming at him already, even if he sounds a little incredulous. ] What've you even been eating?!

[ the kuro nazuna remembers was a stringbean, dark haired preteen with a bike, who got into all kinds of trouble--who he met because his "gang" (if you can call a group of 13 year olds that, though they were scary to nazuna) took an interest in nazuna when he was crossing the street. he'd apologized for them, and the two of them had hit it off from there. in a time when nazuna didn't know what friendship was really like, kuro found him and led him there by the hand, even if it involved a little breaking and entering every now and then. it had been fun, the kind of experience that made him feel things, something he was starting to learn how to turn off.

and now this kuro's standing in front of him. he's still the same person, that much is clear, he's right: it's surreal. he wants to reach out and touch him to make sure he's real, wants to pinch himself, wants to say a thousand things (i'm so sorry being number one) but for now all he can do is bite his lower lip, brimming a little with energy.

he might cry. he's going to do his damndest not to, though, focusing instead on the smile that's making his cheeks hurt. ] It's--you look amazing. [ ???? ] Thatsh, I mean--you know, you--whatever, y'know what I mean!

[ his cheeks color because he said something stupid, as usual, and nazuna tries to wave it off, pretty much failing at looking like anything but a stuttering moron. ]

[taishou]

I don't - do you want my diet chart from the past five years? [ Kuro is still laughing, as he straightens back up to really get a good look at Nazuna.

Yeah, he's put on a lot of goddamn weight since the last time they saw each other. Sure, he was still growing when they were friends, shot up a few inches every now and then, much to Nazuna's chagrin, but it was never this much. He's a full goddamn foot taller than Nazuna, and he doesn't need to be closer to him to know it. He's also got to be - god, he has to be a good sixty pounds heavier than him, at least.

The peculiar thought to pull out any old selfie of them, somewhere, wherever it might be hiding, comes to mind. That'd really complete the surreal moment, as he thinks about it. Someone that his "friends" had thought was a petite girl, fighty as hell even when he didn't talk much, and this dark-haired punk that rode him around everywhere on the back of his bike without helmets down hills until he could get Nazuna squealing into laughter. ]

I get it, yeah. [ He wants to laugh more. Instead, Kuro just grins big at him, something warm building stronger into his chest. ] But you do, too. You look - you look real good.

[ You look happy. You look like you're where you want to be. ]

[pronounces]

[ thankfully, kuro seems to mitigate much of nazuna's flailing, flustered embarrassment over his traitorous tongue: though his cheeks stay pink, it lets nazuna take a moment to (sort of) compose himself. after all, it's hard to be all that composed. kuro says you look real good and nazuna's smiling, ear to ear.

he wants to hug him.

vibrating a little, nazuna nods, once, then twice, his bangs bouncing a little with the force of the motion. kuro's real in front of him, and he's never even allowed himself to think about this moment before this. about the apologies he'd like to say, about how he missed him and thought about him all the time. there are a thousand things he could say, and now, nazuna nito has the voice to say it.

he has more than a voice, though, now. nazuna's warm with the realization, with the brimming happiness of knowing a relationship he thought was ruined might still have a breath of a chance. so, he takes a step forward, and then another, and then abruptly makes his decision: he closes the space between them a little quicker than a walk, then lifts his arms to throw them around his chest in a hug. ]

[taishou]

[ In the end, there's apologies caught in both of their throats, aren't there? Kuro was getting into trouble even when he and Nazuna were still friends, back when he was full of so much anger - at the world, at his father, at how his mother was getting worse and worse, at Nazuna's manager and parents who didn't seem to realize what their son was going through - that he his hands were more at home as fists. He could've used that to fight for Nazuna, maybe. To fight to maintain their friendship more than some holiday texts when it became abundantly clear that he was being ghosted.

He fought, still, but not for that. It might've had the ulterior, goodhearted purpose of helping maintain his family, the weight of it all resting on his shoulders, but - the road to hell is paved in good intentions, and all that.

Someone like Nazuna didn't need more hell in his life.

But he suddenly goes from a bouncing nod, a beatific smile, to closing the chasm he thought could only get wider. There's a small oof, but the impact doesn't really faze him much. What really packs a punch is the intent, the warmth, of the gesture.

Instead of saying anything, he just folds down over Nazuna, wrapping him up in his arms and squeezing him close, his cheek against the side of his blond head. ]

[pronounces]

[ kuro's--he's really warm, and he smells really good. those things haven't really changed. the last time he got this close to him was when they saw that stupid horror movie, when they bought tickets to an animated feature and kuro told him he could hold his hand in the real movie if he got scared. nazuna told him there was no way he'd get scared, and spent the entire movie clinging to his arm, face buried in his bicep, squeaking every time there was a jumpscare or a terrible fright. it had been embarrassing, but even years later, nazuna can recall the way his heart jumped when it had nothing to do with the film, when kuro laughed and he shoved him and felt as light as air. things had been simpler back then.

but they don't have to be complicated, at least not this second. for right now, nazuna can curl his small fingers in the back of his shirt and hold on tight. it doesn't have to be a long hug, but their talk can come later. he can apologize over ice cream, maybe, and they can stay out just a little too late like they used to, spend just a little time together.

its been almost ten years. there are a thousand things that have changed. nazuna has always been responsible, but with kuro, even when he was younger, he was able to forget that, just for a little while.

slowly, he pulls back, just a little, enough to tilt his head up to look at him properly. that smile hasn't faded even an inch, and nazuna feels that same giddy, airy feeling he felt the first time they took off down a hill on kuro's bike. ]

C'mon, c'mon, let's go! You made me start craving ice cream, and I'm hungry ~ ♫ [ teasing, light laughter, as nazuna ducks out of his arms--but he doesn't stay far away. the heavy i miss yous, the i'm sorry's... they can wait, just for a little longer. ]

[taishou]

[ Things really had been simpler back then. His mother's health was a little hit and miss, a lot of the time, but Kuro had Nazuna to pour his concerns into when he really felt the weight of it all. It didn't seem fair, really, when he'd had so much going on, himself, but he was the one person he trusted with it. And then, he'd turn around and lighten things back up. A trip to the zoo, sneaking into movies they shouldn't have been in, racing through the streets at all hours of the day on his bike.

He remembers the last time they went out, Kuro helping Nazuna climb out of his window so they could sneak off to that scary movie. It'd been entirely intentional on his part, because he'd known that Nazuna would react the way he did. Sneaky and underhanded, sure, but it'd been nice, having him holding so tightly to him and squeaking. Shoving him.

The feeling is there again, in a way. Kuro tightens his arms for a moment, before Nazuna eventually pulls back. At least he's still there, at least he's still real. He's not disappeared on him for a second time. Hell, the first time was something at Kuro knew could happen, with the way that his manager was, what he'd learned. ]

You know where it is, Nito. [ His arms loosen, letting him free, with some measure of reluctance. But he does. There's apologies on the tip of his tongue, too. He'll hold onto them, just as much as he'll hold onto this moment. ] And I wasn't the one that suggested it, y'know?