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?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Mm, probably. Wouldn't want to be associated with him after all, he's complete rubbish.

[Casually says these things about her own father, yes she does.]

And I mean the male one. I don't know their names, but one of them looks like a boy not much older than I, and the other one... well... how to put it? She looks like the King of Knights, but clearly is not.

You...don't need to tell me that.

[Agrees with her, he does. Even if he shouldn't since Kayneth is...was...his master. Was. Why should he continue to have any loyalty to one so willing to throw him away?]

Do you have any idea how confusing this is for me? Names would be useful, but it cannot be helped if you don't have them. Whoever he may be, if he so freely associates with Kayneth then perhaps he deserves whatever betrayal inevitably comes his way.

[Diarmuid's words seem unsure, not because he doubts there will be a betrayal, but because he is surprised at himself for being so willing to let another servant suffer the same fate as he did.]

Yes, actually, I do. You think I came here where there were strange Servants running around and everyone kept asking me why I'm not a boy and thought it was such a walk in the park? Well it isn't.

[Waver gives him an odd look, and then starts to rummage in her bag again.]

I've spent years being treated like I'm just some doll because I'm a girl, you know? Shut up, Waver, girls don't need respect, they need to sit there and look pretty until they get married off and have a child. And now I don't even get that! It's why are you not a boy, Waver? You're supposed to be! --Wait, what betrayal?

[The small magus cuts her own ranting off to blink at him as the rest of his words finally sink in.]

[Diarmuid's gaze drops away from her for a moment.]

I don't suppose it really matters now...

[Of course it does.]

...but he betrayed me at the end of the war. He...gave up all we were fighting for and...force me to kill myself in the middle of honorable battle.

[His voice becomes harder for a moment.]

Servants are just tools for him. Any servant. I fully expect that if times get tough or he has the chance for a better servant come along he will throw away this Saber as well.

[He pauses, shaking his head and pulling the topic back to her rant instead of his. His voice is considerably softer once he speaks again.]

For what it is worth, I am glad you fought them. They have no right to force you to be what you don't want to be.

[Waver doesn't know what to say, so she stares at him for a while, cheeks turning faintly pink.]

That isn't how your defeat happened in my reality, but I'm not surprised by it; Servants, illegitimate children... he'll use and then toss out whoever he finds inconvenient. Still, I wonder what happened to make him throw away his chance to win the War like that...

But regardless, thank you. I don't hear words of encouragement very often.

That is something I would like to know as well. I know he had been injured, but that was his doing not mine. I was fighting another servant when he took it upon himself to battle a master behind my back. It is hard to protect someone when you are not told what they are doing. When they, in fact, purposely wait for you to be distracted before going about something.

[Diarmuid shakes his head and then gives Waver a curious look.]

What happened to me in your world and what do illegitimate children have to do with anything?

It...isn't right you weren't encouraged more.

[His expression suddenly brightens.]

I will have to see about changing that.

I don't know what injury you're talking about, but if what I've heard about your Waver is true, I'm probably the reason for that. He spent the majority of the War trying to chase me down and force me to team up with him, though obviously I wouldn't. You were defeated in battle by Saber while Rider and I saved that idiot from the magus killer.

[She sighs, disgruntled, and puffs her cheeks out. It seems Kayneth just doesn't change in some respects, regardless of circumstance.]

I'm a mistake of his youth, you see; he tried to remove the problem by getting rid of my mother and I, but was only half successful, and that sloppiness came back to bite him in the arse when I entered Clocktower. His fiancée was able to use the scandal to call off their marriage and illegitimate or not, if he dies, I'm stuck as the next head of the family. If you think Kayneth is awful, you should meet the rest of them. Terrible lot, really.

[As to the rest of his words, well... Waver doesn't know what to say, so she says nothing.]

[Waver's explanation only gains her another confused look from Diarmuid.]

No, Waver had nothing to do with what happened on my world. In fact, teaming up with Waver was the last thing on his mind. He was much more interested in making the student who had stolen his relic suffer and die in agony than anything else.

It was the magus killer--Saber's Master--who injured him so badly. I was out fighting Caster with Saber and only arrived just in time to save his life. I only spared the life of Saber's Master because she had allowed me to go save my own Master.

[His expressions darkens.]

I should not have done him the courtesy.

[As Waver explains her position further, Diarmuid can't help but frown.]

Terrible indeed. You are better off without them. I am the last person you will find pushing you to return to such a situation. If they do try to force you, know you can come to me. I will see that they learn the error of their ways. However, I am not so sure you will need my aid. You seem to be doing quite well on your own.

Ah, I meant it's likely my fault he didn't suffer any injuries in my reality, being as wrapped up in my own affairs as he was. In yours it seems he had little to distract him from making poor decisions; his antagonism with the Magus Killer seems to be as much a universal constant as his affections for Lady Archibald.

[Serves him right too, as far as she's concerned. Waver would even shrug if his reassurance didn't fluster her so much.]

I... thank you. That's very kind.

[Diarmuid laughs, slightly embarrassed.]

My apologies. I misunderstood you. With so many confusing things for me to take in right now, I can't say I am surprised I messed something up.

You don't have to thank me, though. No matter the circumstances of your birth, you have just as much right to your freedom and the chance to make your own choices as anyone else.

[He grins at her.]

Though, I might recommend longer skirts in the future...

No, it was my fault. I wasn't clear as I could be.

[Waver shakes her head with a slight smile, but then just looks confused.]

What's wrong with my skirt?

[Diarmuid looks uneasy...not sure how to try and explain what bothers him without possibly upsetting or embarrassing her.]

Doesn't it feel a little...drafty to you?

Wool tights.

[She thinks of everything, you see.]

Wool tights?

[Diarmuid raises an eyebrow at the quick answer, but in the end doesn't argue with her. It's not worth it and would probably just end in embarrassment for one of both of them.]

If you don't mind me changing topics from your choice of clothing... It sounds like you have been here long enough to be pretty settled in. Could you suggest to me where I should start getting settled in myself?

Mm, they're very warm--

[Oh, he wants to change the subject? Waver thought he was genuinely interested in the usefulness of wool.]

Ah, deciding where you're going to stay is probably prudent. There's a city-wide curfew.

A curfew?

[For a moment, he almost doesn't think he has heard her right, but considering how little seems to make sense about this place, perhaps he shouldn't be so confused.]

Why is there a curfew? Or maybe a more important question would be, when is the curfew?

Starts about two in the morning or so. Everything closes off until dawn.

And the penalty for ignoring the curfew?

I've never been punished for it, but things get... very odd after curfew. I don't know how to explain it.

That is all right. Your expression tells me a lot of what I need to know. It is not a time during which people should be out even if they are a servant like me.

[He nods in acknowledgment and then moves onto his next question.]

Where might I stay during the night, then?

Any place you care to, honestly. Most of the buildings are abandoned, but in perfect condition. We're expected to simply find one that strikes our fancy and take up residence.

So simply? I don't need to ask anyone or let anyone know? It can't be that easy. Nothing in this place is.

[He pauses in thought a moment before speaking again.]

What about rules? The people who talked to me when I arrived mentioned there are rules. Do any of them pertain to housing?

Yes, that simply. Though you're correct about the rules-- you'll be expected to live with two other people. New arrivals are given some leeway to find a situation they're pleased with.

I have to live with two other people?

[Diarmuid crosses his arms over his chest. He doesn't exactly look happy.]

How much leeway are we talking? I don't exactly...want to be around others right now.

[And with his curse, it would probably be better if he wasn't.]

[Waver wouldn't have expected he'd be antisocial, but she can't say that she blames him. The magus simply shrugs.]

I live with Archer and Rider, but I come and go as I please and I've never been punished for it.

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