graveyardsmash | JANUARY/FEBRUARY TEST DRIVE

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test drive

JANUARY/FEBRUARY TEST DRIVE

TDM: JANUARY/FEBRUARY

Welcome to the Ryslig Test Drive Meme! Below are a few prompts to get you started, but you may make up any prompt you desire! Please take a look at the navigation page for rules, setting information, and links to reserves and apps. Have fun!

SCENARIO ONE

You wake up on the beach thoroughly drenched, with your mouth full of sand. The salt water is making all the cuts and scrapes on your skin sting and the sand isn't helping. The air is slightly humid, ruining any feeling of refreshment you might have gotten from your dip in the ocean.

There are lights in the distance, but the unfriendly scent of gunpowder fills the air. If you're lucky, you're alone. If not - you might find yourself staring up into a pair of monstrous eyes or down the barrel of a local's shotgun.

SCENARIO TWO

So you've just arrived, and already some of the natives are trying to get on your good side with offers of food, shelter and other luxuries in return for hoping you don't eat them. They even have some helpful pamphlets to share with you. "How To Deal With Changes", "Alternatives to Human Flesh", "What to Expect When You're Expecting (to turn into a monster)" are all on the more informative end of the scale. There's even some detailing certain monsters, and the changes they go through. Some of these seem to have been passed down from one monster to the next.

Among these however, are some... not so helpful ones. "Bunnyipyips And You", "Axe Thief Axehounds," and "So you're becoming a Fur Bearing Trout" among others. Sometimes they have marks on them from previous readers saying they're lies, or pointing out good "jokes."

Then there are the people who aren't happy to see you at all. Glares and silent, judging stares if you're lucky, torches and pitchforks attempting to drive you out of the town if you're not. You may need a friend to help you.

SCENARIO THREE

"Seek us out," the voice whispers in your head, and before you have time to question it you've found yourself in someplace entirely alien.

Maybe it's the Fog God's ghostly town of Dyster, where exultant followers dance around bonfires and sing their praises to the skies above. Maybe it's the Fourth God's arcade, with small robots wheeling about amidst the lights and colors of old pinball machines.

Only one thing is certain: you are not alone, in this sacred place.

SCENARIO FOUR

The time has come and you've found yourself becoming a monster. Is the change instant, or gradual? Are you familiar enough with monsters to know what's happening, or is it a complete shock? Feel free to pick any monster type for this prompt, but note that you may not get the same one in game.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[This sucks, but...some people are handling things better than others. Scout is not having a good time. At all. In the slightest. They can feel their heart beating - not quite pounding, but beating - and there's the feeling of something creeping up their throat.

They feel terrible and they don't even know where to start. Or why. This is all shitty garbage.]

You're going to get your ass kicked.

[They're keep close to Molly, because of course they're keeping close to him. There's a frown on their face - much more expressive than Molly's used to seeing, and they rub at their cheeks.]

[He grunts his acknowledgement, even if it makes him roll his eyes. Scout has...most definitely seen him get his ass kicked more than once, but it was hard to believe any of these spineless humans would be able to match against him. Besides, it wasn't about the winning or losing, not when they didn't know where the fuck they were, really, and Molly was more on edge than ever.

And there was Scout's whole...situation. Eyes narrowing, he looks over to them again.]

Yeah, yeah. Like hell. If I do, keep your fucking distance, alright? Don't go and forget you're cut off from your damn spells, they'd knock you fucking silly.

[If it’s not about winning or losing why even fight in the first place, idiot! That’s just asking for trouble they don’t need!

Their frown deepens, which looks rather odd with the way their hands are on the face. They huff, annoyed, and seem even more annoyed that they’re even doing such a thing.]

I know that! [Geez, someone’s pissy.] Though not having magic is the least of my concerns. I mean, I didn’t always have magic, you know!

[That is very much not the point. Scout’s voice wavers as they complain, and there’s an odd stinging sensation in their eyes. What the fuck is that?]

[sometimes you gotta

He watches a moment longer before retrieving one of the many pamphlets in his waistline to smack the smaller on the shoulder with it. Stop making him curious while also crushing his heart with all those unwanted feelings of sympathy?? Clearly that's their fault.]

Fuck would I know...? That ain't important right now, anyway. If you ain't gonna calm the fuck down and pay attention, we might as well call it for the day. Ain't worth dragging you around if you ain't got my back.

[Did you want to make a (ex)robot cry? Because that’s how you make an (ex)robot cry. Okay, to be more fair to Molly than he deserves, it’s not strictly because of how the half-elf is treating them. It’s more to do with just all the feeling. They’re used to things feeling less...real. They know they’ve been thinking and feeling but it was easier to stay distant from it, without any of the physical aspect of it.

Their bottom lip trembles, but they’re nothing if not stubborn.]

Hey, fuck you, I’ve got your stupid back. And I’m c-calm. [They swallow, scrubbing at their eyes.] This is just... total bullshit.

[Fucking shiiiit... They’re supposed to pull it together and hate him, not...this! He doesn’t much know what to do about crying, even having grown up alongside an emotional sister. Half the time it was crocodile tears anyway.

He’s not sure that Scout currently has the capacity for crocodile tears, with how overwhelmed they obviously are. Much as he wants to blame them, if only to have someone to blame, it wasn’t like he wasn’t overwhelmed as shit, too.]

Just...

[He doesn’t continue, since he doesn’t know what he even wants to say. Instead, he crumples the pamphlet and drops it so that he can rightly wrap his fingers around Scout’s forearm and tug them along more hurriedly. Molly’s goal is to find an alley, one dodgy enough for regular citizens to want to avoid but not so obviously a deathtrap waiting to happen. There’s sure to be plenty of those... Heck, he’s already seen evidence of old blood caked between cobblestones, along the cracks that the rain had a hard time reaching. This isn’t one of those alleys, probably.

He just...needs to bring them away.]

Scout. [His voice is softer, when there’s no one around to overhear. He’s stupid that way.] I don’t need you to be an idiot... I need you to do what I do, alright? It’s a fucking order, or whatever.

[Would being the closest thing to their commanding officer even matter here...? No time to dwell on it. He just needs to firmly hold them in place, one hand against their shoulder and the other taking one of theirs to hold against their stomach, and take slow, exaggerated breaths.]

Breathe so you’re bigger here. Otherwise you’re fucking doing it wrong.

[The worst part is they’re trying to pull it together, but all they can think about is how they’re fucking everything up. Everything is ruined, now, they’ve gone and torn it all to shreds. They don’t know how they’ve done that, they just know that they’ve really gone and ruined things.

Their breathing is shaky and shallow, but they don’t let out more than a token protest as Molly drags them into an alleyway. If they’re lucky, he’ll leave them behind. Find someone better. Someone smarter, who knows how to deal with things like emotions and feelings who doesn’t start sobbing at the first inkling of an emotion. Someone who isn’t pathetic like Scout is.

They bite their bottom lip, trying to focus on what Molly’s saying. He’s acting like he knows what he’s talking about, which means he either does or he’s completely out of his depths. Still, the fact he’s trying to help is comforting, and they try to follow his advice. Their breathing is still shaky, and they hiccup a few times, but eventually they calm enough where they can speak again.]

I hate this.

[Their voice is small, and they sniffle noisily.]

[He'll take it. With a final sigh out, Molly let's himself feel a touch of relief that something at least has worked out, and he nods.]

Yeah. Not alone there.

[Thank the gods he wasn't suddenly drowning in new and confusing sensations. Emotions running high was never a good look on him in the past, and usually had been punctuated by the extra regret of having to wash vomit out of his dark red curls. All in all, Scout was doing pretty well against the sudden onslaught. That's a military robot for you, he supposed.]

We've got enough for now. It's gonna take some fucking time to figure out a safe place to hole up, anyway. We can stop. Let you just...try to figure some shit out instead of diving straight into the usual shit. Who knows, maybe it's all just some fucking bad dream.

[...He's pretty sure neither of them dream, but he's desperate here. Let them wake up from this, for fuck's sake.]

[Hhh they really do hate this, and they don't hate a lot of things! For a moment, they did, fascinated by the concept of hating things, but that moment was brief and they moved on from that.

But this, though? Suddenly being flesh and blood with just the inevitability of being some sort of monster? This they hate, deep in their brand new bones. The added fact of losing their magic is just insult to injury, making this perhaps the most miserable experience they've had yet. And they haven't even started the monsterification process! Things are just going to get worse!

They sigh, nose wrinkling afterwards because they definitely didn't want to do that, before nodding.]

Okay, except I can't even sleep, so that kind of ruins that whole dream theory. [Sorry, but sometimes Scout is a realist.] We shouldn't count on this being fake, anyways. Prepare for the worst, right?

[They brush their hair out of their face, squinting up at Molly.]

...We should find somewhere quiet. Just. In general.

[With a sigh, he reaches up and ruffles their hair, ruining their efforts to brush it away.]

Turn off that big fucking brain of yours for two seconds, would you? Fucking hell.

[Be comforted by the stupid things he says that don't make any sense... He supposed that's the benefit of him being an idiot, even if he still didn't often let himself relax.]

I don't fucking trust the locals... Unless you're dying for a real bed, I was gonna set us up a camp in the forest. Ain't like we haven't dealt with monsters before.

[They squawk at the hair ruffling, raising their hands to swat at Molly’s. It feels strange, having their hair touched. Is this what having hair is like...?]

One of us has to use our brain!

[And history has shown that it’s not going to be Molly.

They press their lips together, not looking impressed by his suggestion in the slightest. Sure. Monster infested woods when Scout can’t defend themself. That’s just great.]

Uh...yeah, I don’t think that’s a good idea. What the fuck am I supposed to do? Scream for help?

[It's most definitely not gonna be Molly, and he doesn't look offended at the implication. Instead, he saves that for the sarcastic suggestion.]

No, you shut the fuck up and stay hidden while I take care of it. Come on, Scout... I can't stop gods from fucking with you, but dumbasses that think they can take our camp is another story. I ain't gonna let them hurt [you] -- us.

[A roll of their eyes, and they scoff.]

I’m not gonna let you get yourself killed like a dumbass.

[They know that Molly can fight - they’ve seen him fight plenty of times but that seems irrelevant in a place like this. They’ve been stripped of their magic, and they know Molly doesn’t rely on his nearly as much as they do on theirs, but still. They’re weaker, here, and they don’t know what the people who might wish to harm them are capable of.]

Look, why don’t we just...Find someone who can help us?

[Getting in with someone who’s more established could help them - knowledge is power, after all.]

[Molly steps away again with a sigh and a wrinkle of his nose, letting his back rest against the opposite wall of the alley.]

...Yeah, that'll go real fucking great. Someone might let you in easily enough, but not when you've got me at your heels. And like I said, I don't -- fucking trust them. Human or monster. It might...be best you try to sweettalk your way to someone's bed for the night while I keep an eye out for someplace we'll be better off.

[Scout was attractive enough, and as much as a brat they were, Molly's confident in their persuasive ability even from the little bit he's seen. Not a plan that makes him feel good on any level, but...they'd be safe at least, right?]

[There’s a pause as Scout just... Stares at Molly. They don’t understand what he means, for a moment, too flabbergasted to be offended. There’s a lot to unpack here. Just...seduce someone to find a place to stay? He can’t-]

You can’t be serious.

[A beat, as they stare at him.]

I’m not- I’m not doing that.

[ughhhh he shouldn't be relieved... He offers a shrug instead as he stares down the alley to the mouth, keeping an eye for people slowing down in for than just a moment's curiosity as they pass.]

Just saying it's one of the safer options for you right now. We don't have fucking money, Scout.

Okay, but we can get money.

[Their gaze follows Molly’s, but they don’t know what he’s looking for. Something that Scout doesn’t notice, something that doesn’t register as a threat to them. Though now that they have to run off of instinct, not programming, would they even be able to see a threat coming?]

Just...Trust me, okay? We can work this out.

[mmm, the T word. It makes him want to cooperate even less, instinctively rebelling against the notion of trusting someone else rather than relying on himself alone. But...it was Scout, and they'd been the closest thing to a friend he'd let himself have in a long time. He had their back, they had his. That was how it worked in the time they'd had together. The only difference now was that Scout was choosing to protect him, instead of doing it out of obligation.]

Whatever. That shit's your territory, not mine, so... I'll follow your lead, I guess.

[His acquiescence is a relief, and Scout sags just a little bit. They look a little less stiff, and they bob their head.]

Maybe I’ll even find someone you can punch. Best of both worlds, yeah?

[They smooth their hair out, brushing it out of their face even though it just ends up falling back into place. They make a face, briefly annoyed. They know why they look the way they do - they’ve dabbled with magic enough to settle on a human enough appearance, which seems to be what they’ve ended up as. Somehow, having hair in their face when they actually need to use their eyes to sense what’s around them is annoying.]

[Once satisfied with the privacy of their current surroundings and confident enough he can look back at Scout without breaking something, he returns his gaze to them and huffs out a single, soft laugh.]

Here...

[He still has the thin strip of leather he was using as a hairtie in his hand, and he steps forward again to slip his fingers through their hair and fix it out of the way. It even looks nice, not that Scout will be able to tell immediately.]

You know I'll punch anyone the fuck out to help. [Or not help. Whatever.]

Don’t laugh at me.

[That’s rude. They stay still while Molly fusses with their hair, looking up at him. Because they’re curious about what he’s doing! Not because they think he’s handsome or that they’re glad they’re with him and not, like, Remus or Abigail. Not that there’s anything wrong with Remis or Abigail! (Though what would happen to a vampire in a place like this?) Their relationship is just...different.]

But thanks. And I’ll try to make sure you only punch people who won’t eat you.

[That only makes him want to laugh more? But things aren't quite nice enough even with this moment to make him as carefree as he'd need to be. Instead, he settles into a tired smile, finishes tying the strip off, and tips his head to examine his work. Nice. Good thing he was bullied into playing dress-up with Monarch whenever it came time to prep her for a date. He does damn good work!

But he's done now, and he steps back with his arms folded across his chest.]

Hey, I'll punch a -- whatever the fuck. I dunno, the specifics require actually reading the fucking papers they keep shoving at us. Remember that gnoll pack lord? They definitely coulda eaten me if I gave 'em the chance.

I’ll read the papers.

[They hold their hand out, raising an eyebrow. Give.]

And, yes, I remember the gnoll lord and how it took a fireball to the face. [Molly is very lucky Scout is precise with the magic and aimed just behind said gnoll lord.] But there aren’t any fireballs here, so we have to be careful.

[Sure, sure... He grabs hold of the stack of pamphlets jammed carelessly under his belt and offers them out.]

Go to town, fucking nerd.

[This commentary is slander, though...]

Uh-huh. And who the fuck kept the whole fucking pack off you so you had the space to spell without getting caught the fuck up in your own effects? You cut the brawl short, is all.

[Reading is so slow now, this is bullshit.

They’re going to let the nerd comment slide.]

I saved your life. It wouldn’t kill you to be appreciative!

[They’re not seriously mad about it. Probably.]

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