JANUARY TDM - OVERFLOW

[recollecters]

TEST DRIVE

JANUARY TEST DRIVE The city of Recollé. A beautiful city with beautiful people. The place you call home. It's a wonderful home, isn't it? With everything you could possibly ever want right at your fingertips, why would you ever want to leave? In honor of this glorious city, the residents of Recollé are preparing for its annual Founder's Day celebration…you'll help out, won't you? I. Recollé Square is bustling with activity today and several residents are working together to pitch a large tent. Others are working together to decorate the fountain of the founders with flowers and streamers. Children and dogs run through the area and there's song in the air as everyone works together. Are you one of the people helping with the streamers? Or perhaps you're holding the ropes of the tent taunt so it doesn't blow away? Hey, maybe you're catering the whole event to feed those hard workers! The choices are endless…but you might want to catch those balloons that are starting to float away! II. Meanwhile in Chata, business is booming as everyone crowds the parking lot of Freshens trying to fight their way into the store. You really should have thought to buy your groceries much sooner. Everyone knows that Founder's Day is one of the best potluck days and, weather permitting, picnic days. Are you having any luck getting into the store? Is that the last rack of ribs? You better hurry and snag them! On the flipside, shop owners in Chata are busy setting up food stalls and merchandise tables in preparation of the main event. The smell of sweets and spices fills the air and you can't help but follow your nose to check it out. The vendors are all friendly and happy to give away samples of their goods in the hopes that you'll be back in a few days' time. Or maybe you're one of those vendors hoping to attract customers for Founder's Day. Do you have all of your supplies? Your permits? Is that teenager trying to steal apples from your produce stand? Everything's a little chaotic in the days before Founder's Day. III. The work doesn't stop there. Over in Tisse it's party central with flashing lights, sound tests, and a festive atmosphere that says the celebration's already started for several businesses. The line for Expressive is out the door with customers eager for their Founder's Day special. Be careful, you might have to finagle your way through the crowd. Throughout the day you may hear music and mic tests coming from the Atrium as the local schools work together during their dress rehearsal for the Founder's Day Pageant. You might even have an insider's look if you're one of the students in the pageant or one of the stage hands helping with last-minute set design, costume alteration or any of the other countless things that could go wrong. The employees at the boutiques inside the Towers are bustling as well, swapping their floor displays and handing out flyers and coupons to shoppers to encourage them to come back for their big sales. Maybe you are one of those employees and now you're dealing with some wicked papercuts, or maybe the smell of butter is seeping into your clothing as Flix opens its doors to an early marathon of historical films depicting the life and tales of the city. Tisse is most certainly the busiest of the districts today, but there's still so much to be done! IV. Most important of all, back in Tribunal Terrace residents will find Mayor Mayer out and about today which may seem unusual. The Mayor tends to stay inside City Hall keeping the city running from there, but today he's speaking with someone handling a large truck. People passing by may hear some scurrying from inside the truck, the sound of claws skittering on the metal floor, and…is that clucking? No, wait, now it's the sound of hoofs clomping and the whinny of a horse. What's going on in there? Maybe you should investigate and ask around. Employees working for the Mayor will only give you a strange look in response, and the Mayor himself is unavailable for commentary…but it can't just be your imagination, can it? Upon further examination and questioning residents will be told that these are horses for pony rides for the kids on Founder's Day, but that doesn't stop all of the weird noises. What on earth is going on? BONUS. Despite the festivities and the light-hearted mood of the city, it's still winter. Like all winters prior, it's chilly enough that you'll need a warm coat outside, but the storm season has passed. Instead, today in all districts there's a light flurry of snow falling, snowflakes gently twirling and landing on your shoulders and in your hair. It's not enough to stop the work, but it may send several people to crowd inside coffee shops for a hot drink or shops to take a break from the cold. Bet you weren't expecting that influx of business, were you? And later…much later, in fact, those carrying cell phones or tablets will feel a jolt from the device. A closer look will reveal that a new application has started to install itself on these devices, but you can't seem to open it right away. That's a bit odd, isn't it? It might be wise to check other devices in the city to see if the application's installed itself. Upon further investigation, though, you'll find only a handful of residents have the app installed. The app pops up on any public computer you may use but fades away the moment you log off. Strange, strange, strange. Once it fully loads on your device, you'll find that the app, Retrospec, appears to be a social media app with the option to friend people, share statuses, pictures, videos and more. Those sections are currently blocked out, however. Take some time to fill out your profile if you'd like; that portion of the application seems to be the only one that can be accessed currently. All other social media (Facebook, Twitter, and regular texting) are accessible, but the app itself stubbornly remains on your own profile page. Welcome to the recolle test drive meme overflow post! You may use this post to post new top-levels if you didn't post to the original TDM (found here) or link your original top-level to continue threading. 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 if both parties agree, and can also be used for bonus points for future item regains. (Additionally: we will not be allowing TDM threads to be used for memory regains.) Write as many or few prompts as you want, tag around, and have fun! As a reminder: as per our app rules, please try not to reference other characters in your threads or in your AUs if that character isn't being applied for! Our favorite example is as follows: if an Elsa from Frozen is being TDM'd, we ask that the player not reference her sister Anna by name unless an Anna is planning to TDM and be part of the same AU. Elsa can reference her younger sister in threads as much as she'd like if she has a sister in her AU, but we ask that names are not specified without having that character TDM'd and without the player's permission. Please also remember that posting to the TDM does not equate a reserve, which open on 1/18. The January 2017 TDM directory can be found here. The January 2017 Workshop can be found here. The mod questions comment is here.

Comments

nobunaga oda / fate

[notbunaga]

[My previous top level is here! and my workshop thread is here! Some things have changed but the general outline is still the same.

New tag-ins still absolutely welcome!]

mitsuhide

[notbunaga]

...now you've just put me in the mood for peaches.

[DAMN YOU JUBEI but not really. It was bound to happen at the rate they were going.]

I'll have to check if the bakery nearby still has anything, once I'm done here.

[Which is her bad habits kicking in. Instead of just buying some peaches she goes straight for sweets.]

karen

[notbunaga]

[WOW ALRIGHT HOLY SHIT. Not what she was expecting??

Carol's successfully caught her off guard here because instead of managing to dodge, Nobu just gets caught by the cart and is rather forcefully thrown into it face first as it crashes into her, with her legs dangling out from the front.

Hopefully her groceries weren't particularly fragile...]

may

[notbunaga]

If that's your opinion, then what's a "meme" [ugh] song?

I thought captain jack would count.

jeanne with one n who isn't french

[notbunaga]

Let's hang out, Aki.

[Or kino or ino

whatever

She just thinks Nobu is too childish since everyone called her that when she was a kid. She hates it now.]

Chloe | Noir

[true_noir]

3)
If there was one thing that Chloe had learned in the last two years of living in this city, it was that life here could get expensive and the 'finer things' required an eye for good coupon clipping. She liked to think she was a bit of a master of this sort of thing by now, and was getting very good at stretching the almighty dollar as far as she possibly could. So, what better way to celebrate Founders Day than being a good little capitalist and popping from Boutique to Boutique and little shop to little shop to find the absolute best deals?

She had a handful of coupons she'd selected for further review already folded and stuffed in her coat pocket and was in between her rush when she stopped to smile and watch the pageant getting set up. It wasn't home, but every year, this place felt more and more like home. The little smile on her face belied the fact that, right about then she was a wee bit unaware of her surroundings...

4)
She'd definitely heard a 'wark!' That was absolutely a 'wark' and she didn't remember hearing anything ever make a 'kweh' sound before in her life. Never mind that the mayor was involved, never mind the crowds. That sound was curious and she wished that she could see. Of course, with herself being a touch on the shorter side, she was on her tip-toes at the edge of the crowd, frustrated and trying to see through to get a peek.

Wasn't going to work, but it was worth a try anyway.

Bonus)
Winter flowers were prizes, but they were also the sorts of things that were bought far more sparingly than spring and summer bouquets. It wasn't yet Valentines' Day, and despite the promotional ramp up at the flower shop she was working at, people were only making very early orders infrequently. Christmas arrangements were done, leaving her life the general quiet that was a florist in January. Nothing to complain about, but also nothing to write home to mother about either.

She stifled a yawn as she heard the 'dingle' of the bell and looked up. "Welcome to Belle's Boutique! Can I help you?" Just as she did, she felt her phone buzz. That was odd. She was sure she'd had it off when she came into work. She glanced at it and her eyebrow raised. It was installing a new app. "Huh, that's odd..." But, putting it down on the counter, she focused her attention on the customer.

Customers always came first.

3

[onceandfuturemascot]

Chloe is hopefully paying at least enough attention to avoid getting run over by a small woman hefting a large, bulky, vision-obscuring box through the crowds on the sidewalks. "Excuse me!"

[scarlet_devil]

[Top level here but can continue here.]

Bonus

[true_noir]

[About the time that someone's phone was going off, someone else's had just buzzed with the update. Chloe was looking at her phone in confusion from behind the counter at the florist's before setting it down and looking up. Needed to be a good employee and pay attention to her customers... oh wait, it was someone she actually knew.]

Well, bonjor Emilie. Comment ce va? Looking for a bouquet for Founders Day, maybe, or getting set up for Valentine's Day? [She leaned over and grinned at her, winking.] Something wrong with your phone?

Makoto Kenzaki | DokiDoki! Precure

[swordere]

( no au workshop link, but basic details: au name is Melody Sharpe, she's a 16 year old high school student from a strict family. has a small claim to fame with her skill at playing the piano, following in her mother's footsteps. she's not super well known or anything, but she's a prodigy and has performed at many a piano recital. )

( a - i )
[All the excitement in the square doesn't draw Melody in too much. Not that she isn't interested at all, but she's not much for participating. She's not one of the people helping out. Rather, she's watching everything for a while, while holding a stack of papers. The expression on her face is... stoic almost seems like an understatement. But after watching this way for a while, she finally turns away and begins to walk off.

But then something goes wrong. It's busy, after all, so it's perhaps inevitable that someone bumps into her. As they do, she stumbles and the papers she was holding onto fall out of her arms, scattering everywhere. Immediately, she gasps and starts trying to gather them all up. Some of the sheets are already flying off. A few are going a little too close to the fountain for comfort.]

Ah, no... Damn it...!

[If you decide to take a look at any of the sheets, you'll find... sheet music? It looks to be mainly classical music, meant to be played on the piano.]

( b - iii )
[Somehow, she got roped into helping... She really didn't want to, but. Well, not like she had much of a choice. Melody is sticking backstage mostly, helping carry things to the right places and that sort of thing. She's not very enthusiastic about it, but what can you do. That's not the important part.

The important part is that as she's working, she's humming to herself. Softly at first. A little louder later. And eventually, if you catch her while she's away from the crowds and in a quiet spot by herself, you may just catch her singing. It's softly and it's not a terribly exciting song - just a pop song, really - but her voice is... surprisingly nice.

Now what're you gonna do with this info, hm?]

( c - iv )
[So this whole situation sure is... odd. She normally doesn't care all that much about these types of proceedings, paying attention more because she feels like she should more than any other reason. But the strange noises coming from that truck.

Melody's busy on her cell phone, reading something intently. It doesn't seem as if she's paying much attention to anyone else, but she'll eventually start talking to you, even though her eyes are still fixed on her phone.]

So what do you think is going on in there? [She's scrolling down a page, still not looking up.] Looks like some people are already tossing theories around.

[Finally, she turns to look over at the person she's talking to. And the following is delivered in a complete deadpan, in such a way that it's hard to tell if she seriously believe it or not:] I heard say it might be aliens.

[a - i]

[clear_eyes]

[Rachel hasn't exactly been having the best day. She's had food hit her in the face, crashed into, lost the things she was supposed to be helping set up, and even broken her own rule about sweets. She's just about to call it a day, when suddenly, a bunch of Melody's papers blow into her face.

Rather than remove them, she just stands there, deflating a bit, the papers covering her face.]

This just isn't my day...

b

[rosettareflected]

[Alicia has also been back here a little while; between carrying things inside, trying to paint, and eventually being on the wrong end of a falling box of glitter, she's had an eventful afternoon. At some point, James came through with a fresh set of clothes from home, but her hands and her hair still sparkle in the light as she moves about and tries to keep getting work done.

As the day goes on, some of the people start to head home, tired of working for the day (or just plain tired). So the stage gets less and less crowded, and Alicia finally starts to get some work done. Although... she feels like she can hear something? It's not Dave, he'd already been working with the sound board earlier. There isn't an MP3 player or anything close to her. So what...?

As the voice rises in volume just a little bit more, she recognizes it for what it is: someone singing, likely while they continue to work. It's a decent song, and the voice is clear and pretty to listen to, so she doesn't object - she simply continues to work, humming along herself when she recognizes what she's hearing, just taking it in when she doesn't.

After several minutes, in a break at the end of a song, she raises her voice in a call she's hoping her fellow worker will notice and not take offense to:]

You have a very pretty voice. I thought someone left a radio on, earlier, but there's a certain... life, I guess, to your sound, something I don't hear often.

[She hasn't moved from where she's in front of a set piece with a palette and a brush, so it probably sounds like someone talking from behind a wall, or maybe over a fence. Her own tone, while appreciative, is a little distant from distraction - can't make mistakes at this late stage.]

b - iii

[strongestheart]

[Maya is going about it much like Melody in some respects. While she didn't get roped into helping, she's doing it kind of quietly (for her), minding her business, using it as a means to keep working while winding down from the "excitement" of the hustle and bustle going around the tent set ups.

She hears the tune drifting back behind her and almost feels compelled to hum along. Almost.]

Ah, wow! I wish I could carry a tune like that!

[For such a throwaway pop song it sounds quite nice coming from the girl, and therein lies one thing Maya will admit she's not good at: music of any form and variety.

And yes.

She actually is aware of and admits it.]

B3

[hopes_wings]

[Considering she's also a 16 year old student, it's no surprise that Hope's at the Atrium helping out as well. Unfortunately she wasn't lucky, or skilled, enough to be picked for any of the performance roles, so she's helping out like this instead. She's a stage hand, helping move set pieces on and off stage between performances. Of course, this means most of the time there isn't really much for her to be doing.

She's wandering around aimlessly when she hears the song at first. It's true, it's not anything spectacular, but she finds herself captivated for a moment by Melody's voice. She searches for the source of the sound, and that's when she finally sees Melody.]

Wow, you have a beautiful voice!

[She says, unafraid of making her presence known. Sorry if she startles you! She smiles unabashedly as she watches Melody.]

Are you going to be singing in the performance today?

Luke Skywalker | Star Wars EU

[force_ful]

[man I need to make a new account. This Luke's in his 40s-50s, aging well but not young anymore, either. Low-details au workshop comment here!]

[Luke is out in a dark blue peacoat, which seems a little excessive for the mild weather, but hey, he's from a desert. The hooks of the prosthetic on his right arm stick out through that sleeve, when it's not tucked in his pocket.

He's at a little stand with flyers about Our Temple services and meditation and self-defense courses, sipping a thermos of hot chocolate and frowning mildly at his phone when there's no one he's chatting with. The stand's not getting a great deal of attention, but that's not what's bothering him.

Alternately: someone else has taken over the booth, and Luke can be seen walking the shops and stalls, stopping at a number of tie-dyed shirts. He holds up one of these, pinching one of the sides with his prosthetic, and marvels out loud.]

It's beautiful! Ah, look at that.

[scarlet_devil]

[ Remilia recognizes him from his temple and interfaith events, besides knowing him though Nina. Though, whatever could be up with his phone? ]

Have you found that new app on your phone too?

Keith | Voltron: Legendary Defender

[temperedwill]

[Top Level here and will include continuation of threads.]

Duo Maxwell

[temperedwill]

[Thread here.]

The library has a pretty large selection of books, but I guess if you've seen it, it wouldn't be really interesting looking on a tour. It's not like you can really browse it and actually sit down and read everything. They've got a good selection of books.

[Or at least, he personally finds the library interesting.]

Aerospace engineering. You're in the engineering department right now.

Neferpitou | Hunter x Hunter | OTA

[playdolls]

I. Tent for Animal Shelter

The group of volunteers from the animal shelter have their own tent that they are affixing. With the cold weather and many attractions they hope for donations over adoptions, but it just wouldn't draw much interest if they didn't bring a few pets along for display, now would it? One of the cats is a chubby ginger beast who lays in full monorail position on the desk next to Pitou. He belongs to the young volunteer, and purrs with thunderous approval every time someone reaches out to pat his head or ruffle his ears. Pitou has a rather catlike look as well, big expressive eyes and a dainty but mischievous set to their mouth.

"Come cuddle a sweet homeless kitten!" Pitou calls energetically. "They're chilly today, they could use the attention! You know you want to."

While you pet the kitten, expect to be wheedled for a donation.

II. Street Food & Groceries

In the bulky coat they wear, Pitou is struggling to juggle its overflowing bags of groceries, as well as the street food that cannot be resisted. The bags of groceries are especially large and bulky due to quite a large amount of cat food. The cats back home at the apartment can't be left out of the Founder's Day festivities, in Pitou's opinion. It's a feast.

This does not stop the small individual from trying to balance one of the bags on their hip while reaching excitedly for a grilled fish on a stick, or two. Nor from repeating this maneuver down the line in pursuit of every delicious taste and smell. It is inevitable that someone will eventually jostle the groceries out of their grip, to which a self-centered Pitou will peevishly chastise,

"Hey, watch where you're going!"

Upon noticing that they've also dropped their street food, their despair is almost comical.

III. Party Time, With Interruption

Pitou is dressed in a costume of their own, some cyberpunk mismatch of lolita and nurse, on their way to a dance party when they were called up by a frantic stage director. One of the children had decimated their costume, and emergency repairs were needed.

A.
Which is how Pitou, who is not very good with children, found themselves surrounded by brats ogling and touching the outfit they're wearing.

"Stop that," Pitou bats a hand away impatiently while attempting to pull together an emergency replacement costume from scraps. Luckily children were small, Pitou has made doll clothes from some large mannequin types, although this is a particularly rushed job, and the seamstress bends in close over its stitches, with a frown of concentration.

B.
Finally freed from such a dire emergency, Pitou goes running across town to make the party. Too much time wasted and they would just have to leave to head to the morgue anyway! The work of a mortician never sleeps. Pitou is very graceful, even in ridiculous platform boots, but when they hit a Founder's Day crowd and still can't slither through impatience begins to get the better of them,

"Move, move, move!"

C.
At the club at last, Pitou is ready to dance, have a drink, and chat up any interesting characters. This person has poor respect for personal space, and tact, both.

IV. Bawk Bawk Bawk

Curiosity killed the cat... While searching out the source of the clucking, Pitou lets loose a whole squad of chickens which flood out into the street, wings flapping wildly.

WILDCARD.

Bring it! Or PM me, or comment here at AU Workshop. Current draft of app (WIP) is here.

BONUS.

PITOU B.

is

WORKING LATE AT THE MORGUE AGAIN SOMEONE BRING ME A COFFEE 😿

less than 2 minutes ago from RetrospecMobile

I

[daemonized]

Ardyn never considered himself much of a cat person, per se. He had nothing against the fuzzy little creatures, and he could appreciate their sense of independence, not to mention the entertainment they provided by way of the internet. Still, as he draws his scarf closer to his neck to fight against the chill of the air, it’s difficult for him to not notice the chubby cat sprawled across the desk of the person manning the animal shelter tent. He looks over at Pitou, who is doing a rather good job of grabbing the attention of passerby’s, given the deadly combination of the words “cuddle”, “homeless”, and “kitten”.

Even he has to stop and comment, adjusting the brim of his dark hat out of pure habit.

“The siren call of bleeding hearts everywhere." His tone is casual, flippant. But not necessarily dismissive.

[trecherie]

(No AUW link, but Mordred (AU name maybe later) is basically a delinquent seventeen-year old and sister to Alice Penelope Drake (onceandfuturemascot). Still goes to school but has a bad reputation as a troublemaker with poor grades, loves to brawl, and hangs out with Bad Crowds at night).

[Mordred is having a whirlwind of a good time enjoying everything that the festivities have to offer. By the time she reaches Tesse around midday, she's hopped up on all kinds of delicious sugary treats. If there was something she was supposed to do that day, it's been long forgotten.

Walking around one of the squares, she had come across some game booths and festival games, including one of those old-timey "Test Your Strength" machines. The stall owner probably hadn't anticipated such an... antagonistic response when he had called out to her, and took more than a few steps back when Mordred started swinging the heavy steel mallet in her hands with a dangerous twinkle in her eye.

Feeling the weight of the mallet, Mordred swings to build up momentum and smashes it down onto the trigger. The pin leaps up, straight past the "Best Record Today" marker and into the bell with a satisfying ping.]

Hell yeah! Mordred wins, again!

[She turns around to see if anyone is looking, grinning like a cheshire cat. A few onlookers clap, but the sound is lost in the general sound of festivities. A small, irritated sigh later, she takes out her phone to take a victory selfie. As soon as she presses the button, the owner of the stall dumps a massive cuddly toy into her arms.

The hell is-

[She turns it around and stares straight into the vacant grinning face of a toy lion, almost as big as she is. It stares back. She stares some more.

She turns to complain but the stall owner has already moved onto the next customer and the crowds are starting to push her away. Her eyes flick towards a nearby dumpster.]

Damn it... [She faces the toy.] You are dumb and very lucky, you hear? [Guess she's lugging this thing on her back for the rest of the day.

She'll keep an eye out for any more interesting game stalls or food stands, while hoping she doesn't run into anyone she knows.]

[true_noir]

Who is?

[The voice had a bit of a french accent to it, the s's closer to z's, the r's trilled and rolled. There was a girl standing not far from her, looking up at the strength tester and thinking better of attempting the mallet. After all, she'd just hit the bell, so there was no way she was going to beat that record.

She looked at the slightly younger woman, smiling lightly and a bit curiously while she looked at the lion.]

Is it mister lion who's the lucky one? [She hazarded a little giggle.]

Alice Yotsuba | Dokidoki Precure

[rosettareflected]

[Overflow from Alicia's original top-level, which is here; her workshop top-level is here. I'll continue existing threads here, but I'll take new threads too!]

Rachel

[rosettareflected]

(« thread from start)

Perhaps not... [It comes out absently, from the racks, and by the time she returns she's already forgotten all about it.]

If you'd like? Even before that, are you okay with any of this? You can wear the most beautiful dress in the world, but if you're not comfortable in it, you won't shine. So I'd like that, yes, just to see how we're doing. But if you're not in love with what we're pulling, we can keep looking. Above all else, don't just try things for my sake - I can handle being wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.

[There's a pronounced shiver; Papa was right to cut that scene a few years ago. Whoever thought that color would look good there... ugh. Wrong, wrong, wrong. She'll conveniently pretend it wasn't her.]

Mana Aida | Dokidoki! Precure

[strongestheart]

[Continued from this top level over here! Continuations will be here and new threads are welcome.]

Alicia

[strongestheart]

[Continued from here!]

[As Maya runs back, she watches Alicia climb up, staring out across the festival. It makes her stop short for a moment, before shaking her head vigorously and running back up as Alicia comes down. She opens her mouth to say something, when--

Ah. Yeah. Scatterbrained. That's her.

She smiles sheepishly, offering some of the box's contents]

Yeah, I-- guess that's it. I just kind of get excited about doing things sometimes, and I get... carried away?

[She's not sure why she's being so open, but the girl had been nice to her so far...]

Genesis Rhapsodos | Final Fantasy VII

[rhapsodist]

II.

Genesis had been lucky to have made it out of the grocery store alive. He didn't exactly need a lot of groceries, he'd stocked ahead of time, but there had been a few essentials he wanted to get. Namely fruit and a few pastries, things he tended to go through fairly quick. Fruit as a snack throughout the day and pastries as an impromptu breakfast. It was something he developed during high school but had broken out of since joining the army, now that he was out of the service, he went right back into it. He liked his sweets, whether natural or not.

Of course, he also had an obsession with apples. Maybe an unhealthy one. Regardless, even with his bags of apples, other fruits, and pastries, he decided to linger a bit. Free samples were never a bad thing, and Genesis did enjoy trying out the foods the residents created. It felt like a much larger farmer's market during this time and it reminded him of home. And when thinking of home, he tended to not see where he was going and felt an impact against his chest.

He grunted, unsure if someone bumped into him or the other way around at this point. His tone was a bit indifferent, as he instead checked his bags to make sure his food hadn't been disturbed. "Er, excuse me-"

Bonus

Genesis squinted at his cellphone, a book in hand. He didn't mind the bustling cafe, that's what his headphones were for. And he'd been in the zone of the novel he was reading when his phone vibrated rather incessantly in his pocket, causing him to sigh in irritation and pull it out. What was the emergency?

"Hm?" Dog-earring the book, he set it down on his lap to unlock his phone. There was no notification when he looked at it, but upon going to the usual phone screen, there was a new application and with it, several notifications as indicated by the red dot in the corner. He didn't remember installing this app, but he opened it anyway and found the reason for the notifications. New statuses and friend notifications from people he knew and he didn't know. "What the...?"

He wasn't always up on the latest fad app but none of them ever self-installed.

Taking a chance, he updated his own status for now (he'll figure out his profile later since several attempts at deleting the app didn't work and people were already finding him):

Since when do apps install on their own. I better not be charged for this nonsense.

II.

[glacian]

A quiet gasp escapes Gentiana when someone suddenly bumps into her causing the poor woman to push forward. She didn't mean to be so close but trying to maneuver through this dense crowd is quite difficult. The black-clad woman turns slowly to face the young man who addressed her. She gives him an apologetic smile and a polite nod. With Founder's Day so close, Gentiana should've known better than to venture out here. If there's one thing Gentiana dislikes, it's the hustle and bustle of the holidays.

"My humblest apologies." The black-haired woman says with a proper bow once she was awarded more room to do so. There's just so many people out here, too actually. Gentiana scarcely wonders if she'll be able to find anything through this dense crowd. As much as she enjoys browsings through the vendors' wares, Gentiana is almost tempted to take her leave of here. "Seems neither of us were ready to brave through such chaos." Her accent is thick and odd just like the rest of her. She's dressed from head to toe in black sporting a pair of open toe-heels, a black mid length dress and a dainty white shawl over her shoulders. She might look a tad overdressed for the occasion, almost as if she's out on a date but she seems alone.

"...Apples?" A smile touches her lips once she caught a glimpse of something red within his bag.

[hopes_wings]

II. Hope wanders around the food stalls eyes wide with wonder. It doesn't matter how many times she sees it, each year she is awestruck by the amount of wonderful and delicious foods that can be found right here within the city. Her eyes water with desire as she stares at delicious treat after delicious treat. She only has enough money, and enough room in her stomach, for something small, but what should it be?! She talks to herself in her indecision.

"Well, this stand looks really good, but it is greasy and they say grease isn't good for you, but what's so wrong with it? Does it make your skin oily? Oh, maybe I should get something else."

BONUS:

Hope sips her hot cocoa, as she watches the snow fall outside. Though she hates the cold, she enjoys watching the flecks of white slowly drift to the ground. It's calming. What's not calming is the huge shock of static electricity she feels coming from her phone. She flinches, spilling some of he cocoa on her hand and hissing in pain from the heat.

"Ow..."

II

[clear_eyes]

"Greasy food does more than make your skin oily. It's calorie-dense, which goes without saying. Not to mention, it contains dietary fats that contribute to elevated levels of cholesterol, among other things."

The words come from a 17-year old girl standing a few feet away, staring at the same food that Hope is currently salivating over. Her tone is matter-of-fact, and her expression flat... though she appears to be staring herself.

"You, uh. You should be fine in moderation, but if you're concerned, there's someone selling kebabs with fried vegetables nearby."

jack >>> gabe

[flank]

(thread)

[fortunately for gabe, the smile slips past jack's notice pretty easily. he just can't read people like he used to. if he could, though, he would understand the sentiment. after being dumped by the military, he had spent the year before recolle stubbornly alone.

seeing gabe again is... well, it's not a perfect feeling of happiness, but it sure as hell beats never reconnecting with him again.]

Gabriel, if there's anything I've got left, it's time.