APRIL TDM

[recollecters]

TEST DRIVE

APRIL TEST DRIVE The city of Recollé. A beautiful city you've called home for quite some time. While things can be a little weird, isn't that true of all homes? It's fully spring now, and there are flowers to be found everywhere. April's showers are a familiarity as well, the occasional downpour or drizzle keeping you on your toes. What will you do today? I. April showers bring May flowers, right? Well, there are already plenty of flowers to be had, but that part of the old rhyme being true doesn't save you from the first part of it. While the weather forecasters do their best, their success rate for predicting the rain seems to be about fifty-fifty. Unfortunately, sometimes when they do predict the rain happening, they misjudge how bad it's going to be. Was the sky was clear when you last looked outside? It may not be quite so clear now. Hope you remembered to bring an umbrella today. But it's not so bad, really! Maybe if you forgot to prepare, someone will share their umbrella with you. Not in the mood to talk to anyone? You can probably find some thrifty umbrella vendors on the streets of Tisse. When in doubt, there are always some loaner umbrellas scattered around in Apprassage at the Recollé Library as well. The library asks that you return any of the mismatched loaners found at the door, but it's not like the system is that strongly enforced. Well, other than the library stamp on the umbrellas, that is. If you find yourself in Chata today, you could always buy a magazine off the street corners to hold overhead. If you look like you may buy something, vendors don't seem to mind if you idle under their awnings. Check out the latest fashions coming this spring while you wait it out. It looks like buckles are in, but some of the high fashion clothes look a little odder than usual. The hot, new dresses range from large like a billowing tarp to appearing more like an artfully arranged handkerchief than anything else. Fashion sure is weird sometimes. II. Recollé Square in Tribunal Terrace boasts a huge assortment of flower gardens scattered throughout the district, though they all appear to be whatever citizens felt like planting at the time. In fact, only flowers in Apprassage seem to match, especially around the University. Today, while the rain's stopped, a large group of people seem to be taking advantage of Recollé Square's mismatching for flower picking, crown and wreath weaving, and bouquet arranging. The activities seem to be loosely led by the city's PTA and some of the other socialite groups from around town. Then again, for long-standing citizens of the city this isn't unusual either. You seem to remember that this is an annual sort of thing even though there isn't actually a name for the event. Some booths are set up around the park to swap seeds, flowers and food for cash or gossip, the guidelines a little more loose outside of the business districts. It seems as though lot of families are picnicking this weekend. There's even some kind of contest going on for the best flower crown - though usually the city tends to collectively pick a kid for the winner, so your best artistic talents might not get you the admiration you crave. In addition, there's the most accurately judged flower-growing contest if you've been waiting for this day for a year or more, but that event tends to have the same people involved every year and the majority of Recollé isn't too heavily invested in it. They're here for the picnics and flower crowns, and it seems about the same as it always does. This year, though, there do seem to be more flowers than ever...and for that matter, they're a lot bigger than usual, too. III. Despite some of the fashion fiascos the magazines are displaying, maybe you should spend some time shopping this week. It may come as a surprise to you that your clothes haven't been fitting properly as of late. Those skinny jeans are just a hair too loose, and your favorite shirt seems baggier than it used to be. The problem, however, is that every shop you go to seems to stock clothes with the same issues. You're down a size or two or three, or maybe they're just marking everything down wrong. And surely you don't have the time or money to replace your entire wardrobe...will you take your chances? Complain to the store's manager? Or maybe you're an unfortunate soul who has to try and explain the unexplainable. Maybe offering a coupon will appease shoppers today. IV. Apparently walking around your neighborhood isn't quite as safe as it used to be - or it isn't safe if you want to trust your eyes. One second the little old lady who lives at the corner appears to be walking her pitbull just as she has every day for the last several years. The next, the pitbull is gone and she's walking a rather angry-looking caterpillar. Blink and you'll miss it, but as time goes on you'll see more and more of these larger-than-life insects wandering around. No matter how hard you try to explain it, the only other people who seem to see this as the least bit weird are people with the Retrospec app. Oh, do you not have the Retrospec app? Think again. The sound of chirping crickets will follow you until the next time you look at your mobile device or a public computer, prompting you to accept a profile and upload a user picture. Congratulations! It seems as though you've been selected to be a new tester! ...it's going to be one of those days. BONUS. While the Retrospec app only infrequently has posts from the company itself - and those have thus far proven to be universally useless - this month there is an onslaught of updates. At least once per day there's a picture of a new type of flower or insect, along with a "fun fact" about whatever the company has posted. Did you know, for example, that wasps feeding on fermenting juice have been known to get "drunk' and pass out? Ancient civilizations burned aster leaves to ward off evil spirits. Ticks can grow from the size of a grain of rice to the size of a marble. Roses are related to apples, raspberries, cherries, peaches, plums, nectarines, pears and almonds. Houseflies find sugar with their feet, which are 10 million times more sensitive than human tongues. Praying mantises prey on other insects, and perhaps you'd better watch your step. Wait, what? As usual, any attempt to get the company to reply about the increasingly disturbing information they're sending out is useless. The daily facts grow less and less useful and eventually seem to be nothing but fun facts about how flowers and bugs could kill you or one another. Kind of unfortunate for you, if this is your first time getting any messages whatsoever from the app. How do you unsubscribe? Good luck figuring it out. 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! The April 2017 TDM directory can be found here. The April 2017 Workshop can be found here. The mod questions comment is here.

Comments

[buncho]

[ He's laughing again and Mafuyu can't do anything but wait it out. It's not like she thinks he's laughing at her or anything, but people laugh at funny things like comic books and good jokes, but when she can't understand the reason like now, she's just thrown for a loop ]

What's a social worker do?

[ She tightens her grip on the bag of candy, as if waiting for an answer that will decide whether she'll return it or not (she's not going to return it) ]

[flowrite]

Well... we help families and children who need our assistance. We help connect people with the resources they need, like food or clothing or shelter. We assist with adoptions and foster care. We help victims of abuse and neglect find a safe place to live and people to care for them. Or at least that's the goal.

[And hey, if she doesn't know what a social worker does, at least she (hopefully) isn't already prejudiced toward thinking them completely ineffectual wastes of space the way some people seem to feel.]

[buncho]

[ Foster care, abuse, neglect, all of this is a whole other world for Mafuyu, who has parents that leave her alone for the most part, and she liked the independence growing up. All this stuff is well and good, but they don't apply to her in any way, so she can't be a client and she can't claim to deserve the candy and— Oh. There is one word in there that she can latch onto.

Mafuyu slides into the seat on the other side of the booth and sets the bag of candy back down on the table. Still in front of her. ]

I got a resource you can connect me to. I want a bear claw donut.

[ She's hungry and therefore this counts as a desperately needed resource ]

[flowrite]

[Blink.

Blink.

After a moment or two of surprise, Fai presses his lips together to keep from laughing again. When he came to the cafe today he definitely didn't foresee making a new friend. Even if she's only in it for the donuts.]

Well, how can I say no to that? Wait here, I'll be right back.

[Before he slips out of the booth he grabs the small stack of case files and tucks them under an arm. There's confidential information in them, it wouldn't be safe to leave them laying around. Everything else is fine--there's not much left in his messenger bag, his trinkets are just trinkets, and his wallet is in his pocket. He does, however, completely miss that the romance novel is still on the table as he moves away to ask for a bear claw at the counter. Oops.]

[buncho]

[ It's a good thing he took it, because Mafuyu would have undoubtedly flipped through the papers, just as she flips through everything else that Fai owns the moment his back is turned.

Without any reason to be secretive about her actions, it's clearly obvious what she rifles through, as she picks each item up one by one and sets them back down off to the side, without bothering to place them in the same position in which she found them. In the short time that Fai leaves and comes back, Mafuyu has helped herself to a piece of candy that she rolls around in her mouth, one of the stars on that sticker sheet is missing, and she's too busy doodling flowers on the back of her hand with his feathered pen to notice his return.

The romance novel? It'd been flipped over face down and shoved across the table because lmao ]

[flowrite]

[At least she's not actually reading the novel. That would have been really embarrassing. This is just kind of funny.

He returns a few minutes later with a bear claw on a little paper plate and a carton of milk, pausing at the side of the booth for a moment to crane his neck over and see what she's doodling on herself.]

Before I hand this over, do I at least get to know my new client's name?

[buncho]

[ The badly drawn flowers— some with four uneven petals and some with six depending on how much space her poor planning allots— are all forgotten for the arrival of the bear claw and milk. If she was going to be difficult and withhold her name, it's the extra milk that wipes all thought from her mind. ]

Mafuyu Kurosaki! Who're you?

[ She sweeps her arm out across the table like a windshield wiper to clear out the space in front, then holds her hands out to receive the food. ]

[flowrite]

Fai Lachance. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mafuyu.

[Still only amused, even at the careless handling of his own things, he hands over the plate and the milk and then slides back into the booth on the other side, where his own sugary iced coffee and pastry are waiting.]

Do you make a habit of shaking random people down for donuts?

[buncho]

No?

[ She's too busy opening the carton and tearing the bear claw in half to take offense to the accusation. These are just precautions so that Fai can't go back on his word and return the food; Mafuyu looks up and answers properly once she's done, and before she starts eating. ]

Sometimes I want burgers, or sometimes it's pizza. More people say yes to pizza because there's either slices and they can spare one or two. [ It's not always donuts ] Also, most people don't get shaken down so easily.

[flowrite]

[Fai just folds his arms together on the tabletop in front of himself and smiles blithely. He could explain that it's not necessarily getting shaken down if he sees what's happening and lets it happen anyway, or that he'd rather shell out a few bucks and feed a girl who might need it than act like a jerk and tell her to take a hike, but it's not necessary right at the moment. Maybe later.]

And do your parents know about this? Conning food out of strangers?

[He still doesn't sound angry, just interested.]

[buncho]

Hmm...

[ Instead of answering right away, she takes a long draft from the milk carton, like she's wondering whether her parents know, or how to lie about it because they probably do know... But she's bad at making up elaborate lies that aren't full of holes, so that pause only lasts two or three seconds before she shakes her head. ]

Don't think so. I don't have any reason to tell 'em. And it's not conning— [ she brandishes half the bear claw his way, crumbs falling onto the table and missing the plate ] —I ask, and they say yes! Out of the goodness of their hearts!

[ And sometimes, it's really like that! But sometimes it's blackmail and arm twisting. ]

[flowrite]

[Well, at least there are parents in the picture, however involved they may be. That's a start.

He sips at his coffee as she talks, though when the crumbs start flying he slowly begins to migrate the odds and ends from the table back to his messenger bag, still listening.]

I'm sure they do. People are generally much more generous than we give them credit for. So do you just not eat enough at home, or do you have the metabolism of an Olympic swimmer?

[A more diplomatic way of asking "Do your parents not feed you or do you just eat everything in sight?" Look, he didn't go into this business for nothing, okay. He has questions.]

[buncho]

[ There are too many questions. Even one question counts as too many when Mafuyu just wants to eat in peace, so it's the span of eating a mouthful of donut that she ruminates over the generosity of human kind (which she grudgingly admits is surprisingly abound) and the definition of metabolism (stomach... capacity...? reasons like this are why she shouldn't be frequenting cafes during school time hours). ]

I dunno what you mean. [ Just going to bypass that big word right there and answer the rest as best she can. ] I only eat breakfast at home, sometimes dinner, and I play baseball. I don't swim. Why d'you care?

[flowrite]

[He shrugs, still smiling.]

Just curious, if you're going to be my client! It's my job to make sure you're in a good situation with home and school. Otherwise I wouldn't be a very good social worker, would I?

[Hey, he's willing to exploit this little farce about her being a client if it helps. Plus it's kind of cute. And he can't legally or morally ignore the potential that there might be something going on here.]

So... I'm guessing you eat lunch at school? Or would, if you were actually at school?

[The question rolls off his tongue as casually as the others. He's trying not to seem pushy, but. Why aren't you in school, child?]

[buncho]

[ But does a good home/school situation or a bad one make her a better client, Mafuyu wonders to herself, as social work is still this nebulous grey area of adults who she might go to for meals. Lunches at school though, makes Mafuyu wrinkle her nose a little. School lunches suck! They were bad in elementary school, worse in middle school, and now that she's in high school, she doesn't want to see cold, soggy tater tots or florets of raw broccoli again. ]

No way I eat at school. I save my money for juice or crackers from the vending machines instead.

[ Vending machines that are off campus instead, so... no. There's nothing really she likes at school, not classes and not lunches. She knows where this question is going though, so she's just going to cut him off here. ]

It's not a big deal though— I know the school gets paid for attendance, so I go to the first class!

[ And just the first class. Officially, her attendance isn't something to call home about, but... she gets calls homes a lot. ]

[flowrite]

[See this? This is a look of concern replacing that ever-present smile. It's hard to keep smiling in the face of child who does not attend school and begs meals from strangers. Still, he's not going to get anywhere by badgering her. Not that he has any illusions about changing her mind about her current lifestyle, but maybe he can find out enough to call her parents or something.

So a moment later the smile is back, although subdued, and he plays with his straw while he talks.]

So what do you do with the rest of your time, when you're not attending first class or scoring free pizza off strangers? If you don't mind me asking?