td005

[ateratmods]

Test Drive 005

WELCOME TO ATERAT

Here is our Fifth Test Drive Meme! There are a lot of areas of the city to explore, so please have a look around! In case you need a little help getting started, I've included a few prompts below, or feel free to start your own! Exploration and player initiative are the names of the game here!

Helpful Links to Get Started

Arrival & General Information | Setting & Bestiary | Locales & Businesses | Residences & Housing Info | Rules & FAQ (ask questions here!)

I. Crash Into Me

Not exactly, but close enough. You have just arrived and received a strange satchel from a tiny, strange little man and are left more or less to your own devices (more information on what to expect upon arrival can be found here)! Follow directions to the north and check out the housing, or maybe have a look around the Historium and try to get some information from that giant glowing ball, see what you can waste your meager starter coin on in the Market District, or maybe just meet the neighbors.

II. What Goes Bump in the Night

It looks like Aterat proper has a spirit problem. Maybe you're seeing specters, hearing disembodied voices, your windows rattle when there's no breeze outside. Maybe there are cold spots in your place of business (or your apartment, which is so much worse). Either way, you're 100% convinced you're haunted. Hopefully, someone else believes you, or maybe you're used to feeling crazy.

III. A Mean, Green Mother from where now?

There's a pollen problem in the city, and by that we mean it's everywhere. Yellowish green pollen seems to be caked-on everything with the misfortune of being outside, whether it's windows, banisters, carts, you name it. If it's outside for a duration of time, it's a free game to have a layer of dust settled upon it, and it plays havoc on anyone who breathes it in. Allergic to pollen? Your allergies are horrible. Not allergic, well, you might just have the sniffles anyway, and another problem. You seem to be completely unable to tell a lie. Not only that, but you feel the overwhelming need to tell people things you'd usually keep to yourself. Maybe you like to put cream in your coca-cola (you monster) or maybe you've done something terrible and you really need to get it off your chest either in person or over the network.

IV. Try the Network

The Tell-Phone allows for text, video, and audio transmissions to everyone else who has one. Give it a whirl!

V. Wildcard

The above prompts are all options, and there's much more to the setting than what they provide. Do your best (or your worst)!

Navigation

Comments

They are ;A;

[gadaboutdetective]

Llewellyn recognized the behavior quickly enough. He’d practiced it often enough in his youth... Even now, really. It tugged at his heartstrings, though. What had they been through to already be so defensive?? He felt a little angry inside, having very little patience for adults who were cruel to children.

He kept his distance, eyes resting on the dagger. Keeping his arms and hands in full view to not prompt Sole to think he needed to attack, he kept his tone calm. “I’ll stay over here, I assure you. I Um... I don’t mean any harm.” He offered, deciding that sitting on the ground at this point would be easier on his knees in the long run. “I heard the guards while I was out for a walk with my little dog here.” He nodded to Pretzel. The pound was sitting next to him, tail thumping on the ground lightly. “Having... given the runaround to constables in my world as a child once or twice, I um- wanted to see if whoever they were chasing was alright. I and my brothers fell on more than one occasion. Sometimes that hurts.” They had been twins too, which was another small pang in his heart, protective instincts strong.

Carefully, he took a couple of soft pretzels out and wrapped them in the embroidered handkerchiefs, only leaning forward enough to set them on the crate as well... You know, just in case they hadn't had anything to eat, recently.

[sleepingtwins]

Luna's eyes lit up when she saw the floppy eared puppy sitting next to the man. She takes a small step forward, her hand held out as if to reach for the cute dog when Sole stopped her. He didn't know if the dog was a trap to make them come closer to the man and he didn't want to chance anything when his sister was involved.

"Why did you do that?" Sole asked carefully. "And what are those?" He pointed to the soft pretzels. Neither children knew what they were despite living with a cook for a short period of time.

Luna, for her part, listened to her brother but began to pout. Her dark eyes met Pretzel's and she wished that the floopy eared dog would come closer so she could pet him.

[gadaboutdetective]

Pretzel’s tail thumped a little harder as Luna stretched her hand forward. Pats? He was going to get pats? Awww... The pup’s little head drooped a bit when Sole stopped Luna from approaching. Llewellyn gently rubbed behind the hound’s ear when he noticed. “He’s quite friendly, I assure you.” He commented, “Sometimes I don’t think he realizes he’s a pup and not a person.” He added, hoping to soothe their concerns there. Dogs could be so very good for settling anxiety and calming one down, after all.

Part of why Llewellyn was scent training Pretzel was for if kids ever got lost in the woods or around the city, he could double as a comfort for scared children.

“Me and my brothers? Oh... Well, we didn’t have much at your age. The landlady that took us in was kind enough, but my brothers and I loved stories. I used to read to them? Once for my birthday they mm... took a book from a store to give to me. When I realized what had happened, we had to run around quite a bit. Then there were the neighbors who were... less than kind.” Their kids and they alike. “So I tried to stay close to them, to watch out for them... Which meant often times running together.” Llewellyn was being far more honest about his childhood than he usually was. Not even Rhy got many stories about that time, and his colleagues could only guess from small details. But the kids should know that he understood their position, and he was often far more open about his youth when around kids in similar situations. “Hence why I wanted to make sure you were alright after being chased by the guards. Call it... Mm... An old habit awoken.”

The question about the soft pretzels gets a warm smile. “These are pretzels, they’re a delicious bread treat.” He finally took one out of the bag to take a bite out of himself, proving they were safe to eat. He nodded to the handkerchief wrapped treats. “You’re both welcome to try if you like.”

And while Sole and Llewellyn were talking? Pretzel crawled forward on his belly, one paw at a time, to inch closer to Luna... He wanted attention, darn it!

[sleepingtwins]

Sole watched as the man in front of them took out another one of the pretzels and began to eat it. It looked delicious and he knew that his sister loved flavored bread the most. He glanced back at Luna before taking a quick step forward to snatch the bread from where Llewellyn had left it on the creat. He took a bite and when he was sure that it wasn't poisonous he turned to Luna.

... only to find her petting the dog that had crawled its way over to where they had been standing.

Luna had eagerly accepted Pretzel, kneeling down to be on eye level with him. His breath smelled awful but she couldn't help but smile as the wet tongue licked her face. Even her laughter was silent though there was a small squeeze of surprise when Pretzel half fell onto her to get more attention.

"Luna!" Sole shouted before being stunned into his own silence. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen his sister smile like that.

His grip tightened around the salted bread as he watched his sister. "That means you won't turn us into the guards?" He was talking to Llewellyn, praying that they weren't falling into another trap.

[gadaboutdetective]

Ah, so the young lady’s name was Luna... What a pretty name. Still, he couldn’t help the soft smile that crossed his face as he watched Pretzel flop against the girl’s side, eating up the attention with a delighted, but calm, little whine. “I think he likes you, miss Luna. He’s very fond of pats, and his favourite are pats are around his neck where all the wrinkles are.” Llewellyn commented encouragingly, clearly she was delighted and it was good to see after how afraid and worried she’d looked when he arrived.

The question redirected his attention, though, glad to see the boy had taken the pretzels. “Nope, it would defeat the purpose of having sent them off on a false trail.” He explained with a smile, rubbing the side of his face thoughtfully. “Besides, my little pup there would be quite upset to lose a new friend, hm?”

Taking another bite of his snack, he patiently waited for them both to have something to eat while he considered the kids. He knew Luna’s name now, even if it hadn’t been an introduction, but the boy hadn’t shared a name. “His name is Pretzel, by the way. Since his colouring looks a little like one- I’m not good at naming things.” He added with a comical rise of his brow. “And my name is Llewellyn Watts-Maresh.” He added with a small gesture.

[sleepingtwins]

Luna immediately began to scratch Pretzle around his neck. She hadn't been allowed to have a pet when they lived with their mother in the castle. They had been forgotten and had to live minimal lives in order to have enough food for the three of them. It was luck that the maids had been loyal to their mother and fearless while working in the nearly abandoned castle.

"Yeah." Sole spoke softly. "Just- don't hurt my sister. Okay?" He didn't care if this ended poorly, as long as his sister was okay.

The young boy stepped forward and gently separated Pretzel and Luna enough for her to eat the salted bread that Llewellyn had to give them. She hadn't eaten since the day before and Sole knew his sister's body was weaker than his. It was only after she ate that he let her go back to playing with the dog.

"My name is Sole." Which was Italian for the sun. "And my sister's name is Luna." They were the sun and the moon. He didn't want to tell anyone their last name. Sole barely knew what to call himself. Their father had left them and their mother in the abandoned place.

[gadaboutdetective]

Pretzel melted under the attention, yes, this tiny human was a very good tiny human! Someone new to play with when his fathers were busy with their boring work!

The soft request gets another serious nod. “You have my word. I won’t hurt either of you. It’s my job to make sure kids are alright, after all.” He responded, though it was less in his job description and more of a personal belief. They didn’t need to know that, though. They only needed to know they were safe and that he didn’t mean any harm.

Even the thought of him made him feel rather ill.

“Sole and Luna... The sun and the moon.” He commented thoughtfully with a soft smile. He wondered about the names... Wondered if it was a coincidence, or if the Italian name was given because they were Italian. It was one of the many that he was fluent in, and it hadn’t come in handy since he left his world. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both, though I’m sorry for all the commotion and scare earlier. I presume you’re both new, and uh- that’s not a good way to spend your first day here.”

[sleepingtwins]

Sole's head dropped when their names were spoken. It was a strange and cruel reminder of the situation that they were in though he knew that his sister didn't see it that way. She didn't listen to the maids or read more than the fairy tales that their mother had so fervently told them.

"Yeah. Our mother was in a deep cursed sleep but she woke up when we were babies and named us after the sun and the moon." Because the children that she hadn't even known about had somehow saved her.

Sole let Luna focus on the puppy, his little hands curling into fists. "I know." His sister hadn't wanted him to go but he'd wanted to get her something that reminded her of their mother. They didn't have anything and he didn't know the value of the money that they'd been given. He was lucky just know how know to count.

[gadaboutdetective]

A cursed sleep... That sounded like something out of a fairy-tale. Which, honestly, wasn’t nearly as surprising to Llewellyn as it once would have been. Now that he knew how often other worlds could be full of magic and curses, and that many stories in his world were real in others.

The only thing he knew was that it was both worrying and confirmed some of his fears. These kids had been through a lot of bad things, and it was no wonder they kept their distance. He didn’t blame them in the least.

His tone is soft as he nodded, “Names are gifts our mothers give us, thoughtful and important. I’m glad that she awoke from her curse to give them to you.” He tilted his head slightly. “Mine gave me my own and changed our last name to make us fit in to where we moved.” The question was, what had happened to curse her, and what had happened after she awoke? Clearly, the children had still had a difficult life after the fact.

Rhy... He was going to have to talk to Rhy about this. His husband might even have some insight on things like this, given there was magic in his world.

He looked at the instrument again, having connected the dots. Sole was definitely the one who’d stolen it, and he’d done it for Luna... A sweet gesture, but dangerous for having just arrived. “I assure you, no one will bother you about that again.” He commented with a small nod to the item, “I think it suits Luna, anyway, and instruments are meant to be cherished and played, hm? Better than sitting in a shop window.” He commented with a lighter smile. The detective was absolutely going to go back to the shop and pay for it, so the shopkeeper would call off the guards.

He needed to consider how to keep them from doing that again, though... It reminded him too much of Felix back in Toronto, who he’d ended up visiting with books as gifts to keep the boy stocked up without a need to steal more. “Do you like the pretzels?” He asked, deciding that might be a good place to start. Start with food, and hopefully work up to making sure they had more that they needed or wanted. Trust, in his experience, was a slow thing... You needed to be patient, to build it up.

Even he had taken months to accept that Mrs. Young, the landlady, wasn’t just going to throw him out when she realized he was sometimes a difficult child…