testing_the_box | TEST DRIVE MEME

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TEST DRIVE MEME

Starting now, we'll put up a new one of these very month! Feel free to use the current setting of Pandora (Christmas in July) or make up your own! You can also use the following scenarios if you'd prefer:

1. Mushroom Kingdom

Have you ever wanted to be a fairy? Well now you are, even if the answer was no! The City is a big, big place, all of a sudden. Houses are roomy affairs inside giant mushrooms, there are colorful flowers everywhere you look, and the animals are always friendly! Unfortunately, the only food items being sold in the market this month are fruit, fruit, and.... more fruit.

2. School Town

You may be too old to attend the academy, but that doesn't seem to matter; your attendance is mandatory anyway. Or perhaps you're there to teach, because you're the only resident of Pandora that possesses a certain skill. It doesn't matter if it can't be learned; you have to come up with a lesson plan anyway. At least the uniforms aren't some god awful color, right?

3. Zombie Apocalypse.

There's no coming back from death in Pandora, so you'd better do all you can to survive. Three quarters of the city are already infected, and this is the last stand. Are you going to pool your resources and try to make it together, or is it time to stop trusting others and go it alone until the month is over?

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Well, when I first settled here, it was a gingerbread house. All the buildings were. I thought this one looked the least like someone's dessert of all the other homes I'd seen at the time. It was during a winter festival of sorts. They called it Christmas. The city's appearance changes from time to time. In a few weeks, I suspect the mushrooms and flowers will be something else.

[ She pauses just past the threshold. ]

Are you coming?

How...annoyin'. An' I thought the Fae were bad. Ya should tell whoever's decidin' this stuff that food's for eatin'. It don't really make good houses...

[Cu Chulainn looks back at her and notices she's waiting for him. A few quick steps brings him to her side.]

Sorry, Lass. Got distracted. Lead the way.

[ Cecil lets him inside, then shuts the door behind them. The house actually looks decently normal on the inside besides the obvious fact that the walls are made out of mushroom. There's normal furniture, book shelves holding books and decorative knick-knacks, and there's even artwork and photographs hanging on the walls. The paladin walks to the kitchen, thinking about what she should cook—

Ah! Right... They haven't actually properly introduced themselves to each other.. ]

Unfortunately, I don't think Management takes suggestions. My name is Cecil, by the way.

Cu Chulainn...

[The answer is distracted since he is distracted looking around the house. Besides, he doesn't tend to actually use people's names all that much. He only does if they have earned the highest levels of respect with him and he hadn't known Cecil long enough for her to have done that.]

They probably should. Inside's not so bad. Suppose that's cause it's your doin' not theirs. Still...mushroom as a building material. Of all the bad ideas...

[One track mind. He has one...]

[ The paladin laughs softly as she opens the refrigerator, taking out the cut of meat she had removed from the freezer earlier to allow it to thaw out. Despite all the fruit in the markets, she still had meat-- not because she had hunted, but because she had some still preserved that she'd bought before the recent theme change. She takes the package to the sink and begins to open it under the water to clean and trim. ]

The mushrooms really bothers you. At least it's likely not permanent. Of course, we don't know what they will switch to next. I suppose it could be a giant boot next time.

Boot would be an improvement, Lass. It's made outta leather. Least that has a little toughness to it!

[Cu Chulainn starts poking at a nearby wall.]

Mushroom ain't got nothing to keep out the weather. Nothing to keep the animals from eatin' it either!

[ Cecil catches a glimpse of him poking at the walls again over her shoulder. She washes her hands, but leaves the sink running to continue rinsing the excess blood from the meat. Not bothering to dry her hands, she walks over to Cú Chulainn and grabs his wrist gently to pull him back from the wall. ]

If you please...

[ Then she lets go. ]

So far, the animals have only been eating the plants outside— tree fruit and flowers. But yes, sometimes it gets cold at night, especially if it rains.

[The blue-haired man chuckles under his breath when he realizes what he is doing and then gives her a totally unapologetic look.]

Oops?

But see, you prove my point! If it's cold when it rains, just 'magine what it will be like when it snows! Well...

[Suddenly, he winks at her.]

...'less you have someone to help keep ya warm that is.

[ Perhaps predictably, Cecil turns red at the last remark and the wink. She doesn't point out that others in the city probably don't have that problem, since there is a law in place that has caused most — herself excluded obviously — to share a home with at least two others. Instead of commenting on the matter herself, she goes back to preparing the meat. ]

I don't think mushroom is good to make houses out of either, but as it's unavoidable right now, we must make do with what we have. I don't think it will snow. The season they've chosen for the month seems to be spring.

[ She turns on the oven to preheat it, then goes to a cupboard to gather herbs and spices and vegetables. The last thing she gets is a knife so she can trim the fat and veins off the cut of beef. Cecil isn't particularly talented in cooking and she's certainly no royal chef, but as a soldier, she was taught the basics of preparing meals in order to help her survive out in the field and she's learned a lot more since having to survive by herself in Pandora as well. ]

So they pick the seasons to match? Well, that's somethin' at least.

[What he doesn't say.]

Anyone tried to eat the mushroom yet? Think it tastes any good?

[For some reason, the mention of eating finally focuses him on something other than the absurd building material that was chosen for the houses this month. Cu Chulainn walks over to where Cecil is working and peers over her shoulder.

Personal space? What's that?]

Speakin' of food... Whatcha cooking?

[ Fortunately, Cecil has a minimized sense of personal space herself, having grown up with a boy who didn't really feel a need to respect it when it came to her. The paladin isn't bothered by Cu Chulainn suddenly being right behind her and somewhere around her left ear -- yet. She glances at him with a little bit of suspicion. ]

I am broiling a steak for you so that you won't eat the animals in my garden. I would feel my efforts slightly wasted if you decided to eat my house instead.

[Her glance is met with a wide grin. Why so suspicious, Cecil? There is no reason to be. It's not like he's touching anything. In fact, his hands are clasp innocently behind his back at the moment.]

Nah, mushroom ain't my thing. Most of 'em do funny things to your head. 'Sides, who'd want somethin' like that when meat is an option? Would be better if it was fresh and cooked over an open fire, but...

[ She's not worried about his hands right now-- she's worried about her mushroom house, considering the question he asked. ]

Do they not have markets where you're from?

'Course they did!

[Cu Chulainn laughs, stepping away from Cecil so that he can poke around the rest of the kitchen.]

Not that I spent much time in 'em. Emer liked visitin' 'em, though.

Is Emer a family member of yours?

[ She doesn't know whether or not she feels more relaxed with him wandering around than she feels with him nearby. At least with him close to her, she can keep a closer eye on him too.

In any case, she finishes seasoning the meat and sets it in a skillet, basking it in red wine before she shuts the oven. ]

[Cu Chulainn pauses a moment as he pokes around her kitchen, a nostalgic look entering his eyes.]

Yep, that she was. She was my wife. Really kept me in line, that one. Ain't ever gonna see the likes of her again. Too bad...

[ The changed tone of his voice makes Cecil pause in her movements. She looks over at him, sees his face, and recognizes the expression almost immediately. She saw it much too often back during her last few months on the Blue Planet. Cecil knows what it means and she lowers her eyes to the towel she's used to dry her recently washed hands on. ]

I'm sorry.

Eh? Whatcha sorry 'bout?

[Cu Chulainn's voice is confused. It's almost as if he's not aware of how he looked and sounded for a moment, and the truth is, he probably isn't. He's usually a lot better at hiding things like that, but his sudden arrival and all the strange things he's run into since seem to have thrown him off balance more than he realizes.]

Your wife. That you'll never see her again.

Oh...

[Ch Chulainn reaches up and scratches at his head, embarrassed. Then he laughs.]

Got a little mopey, did I? Ain't done that for a while. Emer, she's been gone a long time. Like thousands of years. Don't worry 'bout it.

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TEST DRIVE MEME

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