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repeter2017-10-17 08:38 pm
recollecters) wrote in repeter2017-10-17 08:38 pm
Entry tags:
OCTOBER TDM
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OCTOBER TEST DRIVE The city of Recollé... When the crypt doors creak, and the tombstones quake, spooks come out for a singing wake. Happy haunts materialize and begin to vocalize...grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize... Every year during the Halloween season, the city of Recollé comes to life with plenty of fall activities for everyone. There's something to do in every district if one were to take a look. What will you do today? I. Family fun seems to be the theme today over in Tribunal Terrace. Several tables are set up and in a semi-circle near Recollé Square with stacks of pumpkins, carving tools, paint and anything else you may need to create your own jack o'lantern. Other stations are set up for face-painting and games to win mini-sized candy bars including a ring toss, bowling, and bobbing for apples. Be careful with the apples though. They like to wiggle and jiggle with their happy little faces staring up out of the water. ...so maybe apple-bobbing is for the brave at heart. Are you the artsy type to carve a beautiful pumpkin? Are you helping to run the games (or even cheating to get more candy)? It's time to relax and let your creativity flow. II. Pumpkin-carving not your speed? Never fear, horror is here. Over in Tisse there's plenty to do for those looking for a little more adventure. Several coffee shops have harvest specials made with pumpkin, maple, and pecan flavors. Over at Flix a monster movie marathon and costume contest are taking place (with a prize of two free passes for the best monster costumes.) But the highlight of this district is the annual haunted funhouse. Anyone daring enough will find the usual spooks and scares in a haunted house, jump scares and fog machines galore. But...the house certainly didn't look so big from the outside. How did you possibly get shuffled straight to the center? No worries. This hall of mirrors will guide you out safely...if the walls closing in don't crush you first. It's a race against time as the halls narrow, and if you're one of the lucky ones you'll escape and exit through the main doors. For those not quite so lucky, the walls will stop just inches from crushing you completely before the floor drops open and you find yourself on a slide, falling through the dark and tumbling into an underground room filled with plastic skeletons, rubber spiders and more. There must be a way out, right? Hopefully you aren't alone and you can navigate the lair with a friend or two. III. Meanwhile, the rest of the city's usual hustle and bustle continues. The shopping districts are busy, students wander the sidewalks after class, and that oddly-shaped ghost appears right in the middle of the crowd. Wait, what? You could have sworn that ghost wasn't there before. Maybe you don't even believe in ghosts. You may blink a few times to clear your vision, but the faint outline of the ghost remains as a few more of them pop up around the city. They won't speak, but they will cause some trouble for anyone who gets too close whether it's by playing pranks on passerbys, stealing items and running away, sitting on a person and applying a gravitational force so they can't move or other crafty, sneaky tactics. Are the ghosts messing with you? Or are you going to find a way to mess with the ghosts? IV. As the sun begins to set, a strange sort of fog rolls in. Several citizens of the city may not even think it's unusual and others seem to capitalize on the weather. The Churchhill Downs Stables are hosting their annual haunted hayrides through Recollé Woods as soon as the sun sets. There are plenty of carts and chocobos saddled up and ready to go. Once passengers are seated the chocobos begin to trot forward into the woods as a pre-recorded ghost tour of the city takes place. The stories range from silly ones about two ghost children who like to play hide and seek in these woods to scarier ones about a jilted lover chasing her husband off a cliff at the edge of ocean. For the most part they're a bit cheesy and in good fun, but something about this haunted ride seems a bit...off. Peering into the fog you may see something strange that follows you, be it a monster or a shadow or an object. You may hear things whispering your name and you may see your greatest fear manifest right out of the fog and chase your cart through the woods. Even worse, it seems to follow you right out of the woods and back into the city. No matter where you run or where you hide, the fears from the fog will track you down and they change for every single person in the city. Will you run or will you fight? You may wish to be careful since the creatures will fight back. BONUS. With only a few short weeks left until the end of October, Retrospec's Halloween Mode is in full swing and popping up on new users' devices. Retrospec users will find their application decked out in cheerful Halloween colors, and their userpics in a randomized (work safe) costume. However, there's always a trick to each treat and this time the seasonal mode can't be turned off for new users. Notifications chime with zombie groans, a rousing game of Candy Crush must be played and beaten before you can use your device again, and the new Trick or Treat function has a few upgrades. When a user enables this function, they will be met with the phrase "Trick or Treat?" Users who select "treat" will get one virtual candy! Yay! The catch though is that they will also find themselves in a costume representing that specific candy. Should a user pick "trick", however, they will find all sorts of harmless but unpleasant things happening to them including but not limited to pranks, being splashed by vehicles driving through puddles of water, being unable to speak in anything but rhymes and other such things. None of these effects last over ten minutes, but the game will show up periodically over and over again and even giving you the option to play the game with others. 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, TDM threads will not count toward your Trick or Treat freebie! Additionally, 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 October TDM directory is here, and your AU workshop is here! Our mod questions thread for this TDM is over here! |
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Mattie?
[ Somehow yet, she's here all the same.
Glancing up at the younger student with bleary eyes, an unfocused gaze, he makes a play at enacting a sheepish smile, canting his head to the side as he touches his fingertips to his hairline, somehow unsurprised when they come away stained with red.
Ah... That's no good, he'd hit the wall rather hard, hadn't he? ]
Not yet, I'm afraid.
[ H'aaaaah, she'd find that funny, wouldn't she? A hand pressing to the wall behind him, he makes to use it as support to rise to his feet...!! ]
Though perhaps my own clumsiness will lead me to the grave, one day. Please take mercy upon your poor student-teacher and tell not a single soul about his embarrassment...!!
[ Or the creature which he'd thought to be worth confronting. ]
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You know I can't make that promise, [she said gruffly, offering a hand to help him to his feet and a shoulder to support him as they trudged to somewhere a little safer... a little bit less off of the beaten path than they were.]
I've seen too many people get their head smacked hard and not get it looked at to know that it's bad news-- [she said, referencing the many fights and off color situations she had been in over the years.] I won't tell people what happened, but you're getting to a doctor.
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I won't tell people what happened, Mattie's said, and Sion cannot be certain that anyone would believe the tale. ]
Surprisingly... you're quite the stick in the mud.
[ Softly, he laughs, the sound naturally accompanied by a shake of his head—a gesture which Sion immediately regrets, for quite suddenly he finds himself swept up in about of vertigo. It's a blessing, he thinks, that the apparition from before has vanished.
Like this... he isn't sure he'd be of much help to Mattie, were it to appear again. ]
Isn't it the job of the senior to scold his junior? Instead of you telling me to see a doctor, I should say: 'Mattie, it's getting late, let's see you home before your mother worries'.
[ It is late, after all, and Sion is still the responsible party between the two. ]
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Quit your complaining, or I'll give you a real reason to complain!
[She blustered, cheeks flushing in embarrassment at being caught like that as she braced his slender figure against her's. He really was too light for his height, she noted-- Rail thin and delicate-boned enough to look better in a skirt than she did.
With the way Sion wavered, Mattie wondered if it wouldn't be wiser to just carry him instead.]
Consider yourself off the clock, [she added, her voice taking on an oddly gentle tone.] Mom knows I can take care of myself by now. She won't like it, but when she hears why I'm late this time I'm sure she'll understand.
It's either I take you to a doctor, or I take you back to my house... and I think the doctor is the better idea.
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Mattie, for all her boisterous tendencies—how easily, he'd rankled her, her cheeks flushing in a way he hadn't the right to call endearing—cared tremendously for the people who surrounded her. For her classmates and for her mother; for her numerous attempts at securing a part-time job, and for her graduation in the following year. She brought her passion to everything she touched, and in the here and now--...
She acts the part of his brace, as though she were worried he just may blow away in the breeze.
(Foolish, stubborn girl.) ]
Better still, how about we take care of one another? [ With more gusto, now, he makes to match her step as they traverse down the street. Notably, though, instead of allowing for Mattie to lead, Sion careens them in a different direction entirely. ] If we venture back to my apartment instead, I will be able to assist you with the chemistry homework you've yet to complete.
[ Where her tone gentles, so too does his own, though it still rings resonant and sure— ]
And as for myself... you need only to ensure that I don't fall asleep for the next hour or so. ☆
[ Fair trade, right? ]
If I do need to pay a visit to the doctor, we'll know by the time your assignment is done.
[ ...because if his symptoms are going to worsen, they'll do so by then, but this he refrains from saying!!... ]
no subject
[That fool. Did he not realize that head injuries were the ones that bled the worst and the ones that needed to be treated the quickest? Best case scenario he simply needed stitches; worst case he had a brain bleed that wouldn't be detected for months and would wreak havoc on both his balance and his focus with increasing severity until they found it.
She only knew this because she had seen it, and watching the progression was far from fun.
Trudging along, she once again pondered the merits of just carrying him. Neither of them might be able to focus on anything once they got to whatever destination they chose, but by God it would be faster.]
Chemistry's the least of your worries, you idiot-- but you're not going to take 'no' for an answer, are you?
1/2
He doesn't speak of the enigma which wore his Father's face.
He doesn't breathe word of his own mother, he only walks just a bit faster (and a little bit closer to wearing himself out... goodness knows, he might actually be tired enough to actually sleep when they reach his apartment!), for he can hear the impatience in Mattie's voice as well as glimpse it in the furrow of her brow.
(Though that might also just be the physical manifestation of her exasperation with him?!) ]
It will be nigh impossible to sway me now, it is true.
[ Besides, the student-teacher always knows best??? Something like that, at least...! ]
Pity, that you're stuck looking after me. But then again, were any further harm to befall my person, you'd need to find a new tutor.
[ And come up with a story to tell the paramedics on her own.
But as luck would have it, there will be no need for Mattie to spin such a sordid tale: they arrive at the apartment sooner rather than later, and--...
It's funny, isn't it, that when the lights are turned on, the space is actually quite spartan. Utilitarian. Like it's barely lived in at all. (Spoilers: the residents are both crazy workaholics.)
Glancing down, Sion makes to catch Mattie's eyes—and in the light, it might be of some reassurance to find that Sion's honeyed brown eyes are not dilated. Really, there's only the matter of all that red-crusting-over-to-brown in his hair. That...
Yeah, that's awful. ]
2/2
There are snacks in the kitchen, perhaps a pre-packed lunchbox or two. [ Things he'd made for his roommate, when the fancy struck. ] Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go wash up...!
[ Goodbye??? He'll be slinking away now. ]
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[His honeyed eyes were clear, which was a good sign-- but the amount of blood was nothing short of alarming and, ignoring the offer to snack in the kitchen, Mattie followed Sion through the spartan apartment instead.]
What'll the kid's at school say if you fell and hurt yourself in the bathroom? They won't be happy, you know!
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[ When Mattie happens upon Sion (now, for the second time!), she'll find that he's begun to delve into the washroom's cabinets, fishing for medical supplies: a pair of tweezers, a package of cotton-balls, a roll of first-aid tape, and a patch of gauze. These things, he lays atop the vanity counter, giving pause before he considers her sentiment: ]
If I were to be absent due to my injury, I'm quite certain that you could substitute on my behalf for the day.
[ Altogether, it would be a good exercise, he thinks—if one is able to present upon newly learned material, the more it is likely to be drawn upon again at a later time on another day. ]
But... since you've followed me here— [ Instead of settling in. ] —perhaps it's time that you learned how to patch someone up.
[ To his credit, he does his best not to (gracefully!) evade the weight of her eyes; her verdant stare. Logically, he knows he needn't shy away from her—already, she is well aware of his wound—but somehow yet...
He wants to hide away from her, his junior, the person he should never have had to rely upon. Not like this. ]
For all of the rough and tumble situations you've witnessed, it will be a good skill to have in the event of future occurrences. [ And besides... ]
You also have me, you know. Just in case.
[ That he is indebted to her now goes without saying. ]
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[She said, flustered once again by how this man always so singularly made her feel like she was one of the most important people in the world with just a few shared words. Her mossy eyes darkened a moment before she glanced away, unwilling to show the depths of her waverng uncertainty at opening herself to someone who was sttill practically a stranger to her in many respects.
After all, school had only just started, and Sion was a transplant from out of town. His accent alone gave him away.]
But I'm not taking your place tomorrow, either. The kids want you, Sion Astal-- one of the prettiest faces to enter the high school. Not Mattie Camlann, the kid who once took a police chocobo and dressed it like a lion.
[Frowning, she reached out and wet a washcloth with the faucet and began trying to clean up the mess on his face.]
.....Okay. Where do you want me to begin?
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Truly, though, it's a bit difficult to imagine formality when the boundary between student and teaching assistant has all but vanished, and the extent of both Mattie's care and patience (how has he not managed to exhaust it?) for him is--...
Undeserved and troublesome; heartwarming and sincere.
(Perhaps he should have relented and made way to the hospital. In a manner of speaking, he gave her no choice in accompanying him home, staying with him here.) ]
Not so pretty now, I'd wager. [ Lips curving into something of a wry smile, he makes to seat himself upon the tiled floor, sighing lightly once he's off his feet. The pounding ache in his head tells him that the swelling of the injury will likely travel, perhaps bruising into his eye, and if that should happen, he won't at all be able to live up to the title Mattie's appointed him to—'one of the prettiest faces'....
(Did she think that, about him? Is she just teasing? She's probably teasing.) ]
Chocobo theft is, by and large, far more exciting. [ So it is true, then, the rumor which he'd heard about her—even the part about the lion costuming. ] Knowing precisely when to take a risk in order to achieve a goal is a key quality for leadership.
[ Chuckling (and immediately wincing because of it), Sion gestures to the tweezers, the cotton balls— ]
If I pull back my hair, would you be able to clean the wound-area?
[ And already, he's doing just that, combing through ash-blond strands and simply parting the hair where it hurts—he's no need of a mirror for that. ]
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[She argued, her brows furrowing in concentration as she gently wiped the blood away from his hairline and the refined features of his face as he made himself comfortable on the floor. His attempts at helping, by pulling ashen hair out of the way so she could better see her work, were effect insofar as she was able to see the extent of the damage. A gash, longer than it was wide, made a clean slice across his fair skin-- deep enough to possibly need stitches, she noted, but also just enough on the borderline that they might be able to avoid it with some careful bandaging.
Even like this, bloody and unbalanced as he was on the bathroom floor, Mattie couldn't help but notice how the teaching assistant was stil almost pretty enough to be a prince. Almost.]
...I don't plan on leading anything, [she commented, drawing the washcloth away and rinsing it off in the sink before she returned for more clean up.] I'm just trying to get through school, nothing special.
Besides, you're the one with the face and the personality that people love.
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[ It isn't the 'stupidly pretty' remark which causes him to blush (...though she gets credit for ease of that delivery. who couldn't she win with such piercing eyes and unwavering certainty?...), but rather what she chooses to say last.
Sometimes, he wonders if he truly is the person she's described: the student-teacher, respected and well-liked, who hadn't a worry beyond running late to class (and on account of working extended hours at the high school, no less!). How different he is, than when he'd resided with his father and elder brothers; how he'd nearly forgotten them, until the events of earlier-on in the night.
Letting her work, he falls silent for a moment, perhaps two, lashes falling to half-mast as fatigue begins to weigh upon him. ]
Shall I tell you a secret? [ A secret, because it hasn't gone unnoticed, how Mattie neglects to speak of herself. Funny, that while they've met a fair amount outside of school hours, they do not know much about one another outside of what is immediately obvious and apparent to the eye.
By sharing some small facet of himself, perhaps it will make it more comfortable (or so he hopes). ]
It was only after moving to Recolle that I began to feel comfortable in my own skin. That it was okay to be myself, and pursue all the avenues which I had once thought to be unattainable because of my family name.
[ Notably, though, he does not care to elaborate on 'my family name', instead shifting ever-so-slightly to reach atop the vanity (his fingers just skirting over the marbled edge!) to fetch a tube of neosporin. ]
Truth be told, I think your tenacity inspired my own. [ In a manner of speaking. ] I want to graduate, and get through school, but...
It's also okay to dream bigger, if you wish to. There's no crime in that.
[ No, not at all. Not where either of them are concerned.
A beat, before he switches the subject. ] ...does the cut look that bad? You've been quiet.
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Such a thing was hard to imagine from Sion. Very hard to imagine. Even if she closed her eyes, somehow she wasn't certain that she could envision it.]
I'm fine with keeping my head low, [she said simply.] If it helps Mom get onto a better career path, then I really don't mind it at all.
[Which, after years of being a pain in the ass to the general establishment, was saying something.
But, since he so delicately had to switch subjects, Mattie reached out for another cloth to start drying the wound. Blood continued to seep out, but more slowly now-- which was a good sign. But still...]
...You really ought to get this looked at by a pro. If this were somewhere else, I'd say we could try to wing it. But a wound this deep on your head? Is a problem.
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To this day, remained caught in a volatile marriage if only so that her son might be free to live a life away from the crimes his father had committed.
Before he's thought much of the gesture, he's reached out to touch Mattie's arm, fingers curling there in a gesture of comfort and of reassurance.
(He understands.) ]
Tomorrow. [ —he relents at long last, shoulders sloping with a soft sigh. Her concern for him is something he cannot so easily dismiss. ]I will have it looked at tomorrow. From my volunteer work at the hospital, I've become acquainted with a number of the staff there.
I will find someone who will not draw too much attention to how I managed to hurt myself.
[ Privately, he is glad that Mattie has also refrained from asking. ]
...if the area is clean enough, we can apply the antibiotic, and then the bandage. [ Neosporin? Handed to his caretaker. Meanwhile? He will work to secure the proper amount of gauze and clip small sections of first-aid tape. ] Afterward, I'll tie my hair so none of the gauze or medical tape is able to shift.
[ Flicking his eyes up, he looks to her, then, choosing his words carefully: ]
From where I'm sitting, your head isn't low at all. [ And then, he glances back down, taking care not to make any gesture too quickly. ] ...thank you, for putting up with me tonight, Mattie.
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After all, hadn't she seen it one too many times, from people on the street and the man who dared to lay claim on the role of 'father' in her life? Hadn't she seen what happens when people were simply disrespected to their very core?
A light flush touched her fair cheeks at the offhand compliment Sion had paid her before his declaration of thanks and, though she brushed his fine hair out of the way and continued to work, she managed somehow to sputter out a reply.]
It's only natural to help someone who needs it, Sion. There's nothing you need to thank me for.
[Frowning, she dabbed once more at the wound and applied antiseptic before reaching for the gauze.]
Just don't wear out your welcome there. Folks don't like repeat patients, you know.
1/2
[ Here, for all his weariness and pain under injury, Sion's smile manages to delve into the realm of mischievous, though perhaps as much will go unnoticed for Mattie, now, seems to have eyes only for finishing her work—Sion hands her the patch of gauze, and shortly thereafter it is placed, the segments of medical tape.
And no sooner than the trappings are fixed in place, he unbinds a hair-tie from his wrist to fasten his hair into a ponytail, the fall of it draping just-so over the shoulder opposite of the wound in some (mostly hopeless) endeavor to preserve the integrity of Mattie's bandaging—he would hate it, if all her time and care for him went to waste. ]
I, Sion Astal, fear no peril, and vow to always overcome bodily harm, so that it might please this good friend of mine.
[ And so too allow him to continue volunteering at the children's wing in the hospital! ]
2/2
I'm grateful that you did, even if I have asked far too much of you.
[ And he'll be standing up, hand once again bracing against the vanity as he finds his (wobbly!) way to his feet, before he sets about cleaning up: anything blood-covered or otherwise cut and clipped in order to fashion together a bandage is unceremoniously swept into the waste-bin. ]
...please, wash up. [ —his voice is quiet, then, his gaze falling upon Mattie's hands, her fingers stained with red (his blood). ]
If you do not wish to continue on with studying, I will not keep you from your mother for any longer.
[ No, that would not be right. ]