TDM #003

[bequiet]

TEST DRIVE MEME
You wake, standing. A thick, muddy red dust coats your skin and clothes - it sticks to your tongue and blocks your vision. Inhale and it chokes you, exhale and your breath puffs out in front of your face in a transparent maroon cloud. It tastes of copper, tangy and harsh. Movement is difficult, every limb tingles and aches. Look to your left, your right. Evenly spaced in each direction stands another person indistinguishable in every way from the next. You're disoriented and lethargic, unable to grasp onto a single thought. A pinprick of light blooms ahead and grows steadily larger; a door has opened.

Hands grip your wrists, push at the small of your back and guide you out of the darkness into a room with four walls and a thin, sagging ceiling. The plaster is peeling, the air is musty, and the floor is slick. White plastic piping juts up from the center and curves into multiple spouts, clean water flowing in uneven streams. Those hands pull your clothes off and clear the dust from your body, redress you in handsewn jumpsuits.

A finger is pressed to your lips. Kind eyes meet your own and a single word is whispered - hush.

Led out of the room in a line, you’re taken down a short hallway and into another, much larger room. There’s a woman waiting for you there, a child hugging her leg, and a cloth bag in her hands. She reaches in and pulls out a device, passes one to each of you. Once finished, she begins to move both hands in graceful gestures, a language. One of the people who helped you lifts their device and the screen lights up, tracks the woman’s hands. Letters appear on the screen and you understand the device’s purpose. She tells you what she knows and it’s not much.

This world is haunted. Noise attracts them, so it is not allowed. Communication is through body language, soundless writing, and the device. She tells you that your feet must be light and your mouth never used. There is a community outside these doors, where you can survive together, but only if you agree to one thing: complete and total silence. You'll have time to talk it over. Acceptance allows you to journey outside. The ground is marked in pathways of sand, lining the paths to each building and everywhere in between. You notice that the locals hold their devices always, aloft and glance to it often. It will not vibrate or make a sound to signal a message.

Notices appear. Rules. Guidelines. Feet on the sand and never anywhere else. To open a door you brush your fingers along the hinges - oiled and you may enter. If not, take the brush from the can sitting nearby and coat the metal with the dark liquid. You're to settle into your new home.

Caught me unawares
Content Warnings: Confusion, disorientation
Themes: Survival, horror, it's like groundhog day

The ending of the floor has caught me unawares. This must be the reason why I’m falling down the stairs.

That night, when you fall asleep, you dream of your life before The Quiet Place. At first it's the happiest moments of your life played on repeat, over and over. Everything good and sweet and fun. The second night, it's much the same. You go to bed anticipating another restful and pleasant sleep. But on the third night it changes.

For everyone, it starts the same. There's a long hallway with a door at the end. You walk towards it with nowhere else to go. You twist the knob and when you step forward, the floor ends and you fall. Falling lasts for seconds, minutes, or hours and when you land, it's with a jolt and a cloud of red dust all around you. There's someone else next to you, stumbling, coughing and choking on that familiar dirt that coats your tongue and mouth. When your eyes meet, everything blurs and you're falling again - this time, when you land, it's inside that dream from the first night. Only you're not alone. They're with you. The only way out is to experience the dream together. And when you do wake up, for real, that same red dirt is on your hands.

Falling down the stairs
Content Warnings: Confusion, disorientation
Themes: Survival, horror, it's like groundhog day

The ending of the floor has caught me unawares. This must be the reason why I’m falling down the stairs.

That night, when you fall asleep, you dream of your life before The Quiet Place. At first it's the worst moments of your life played on repeat, over and over. Everything bad and sour and awful. The second night, it's much the same. You go to bed anticipating another restless and dreadful sleep. But on the third night it changes.

For everyone, it starts the same. There's a long hallway with a door at the end. You walk towards it with nowhere else to go. You twist the knob and when you step forward, the floor ends and you fall. Falling lasts for seconds, minutes, or hours and when you land, it's with a jolt and a cloud of red dust all around you. There's someone else next to you, stumbling, coughing and choking on that familiar dirt that coats your tongue and mouth. When your eyes meet, everything blurs and you're falling again - this time, when you land, it's inside that nightmare from the first night. Only you're not alone. They're with you. The only way out is to experience the nightmare together. And when you do wake up, for real, that same red dirt is on your hands.

OOC
From your mods:

Please remember to mark your content in your starters or subject lines as material comes up. The threads on this meme can be used as game canon. Feel free to thread out arrival style meetings as well! If you have questions, pp the mod account, use the faq or comment below. Have fun!

NAVIGATION

---

Comments

[vdova]

[ She's going to answer — honest — but that's when the car drops, and her 'I really am' turns into a soft shriek of surprise. Her dusty hands grip at the bar in front of them, and she lets out a soft curse, screwing her eyes shut. ]

Why are we in this death trap!?

[paragon]

[ Steve's breath of laughter is entirely lost to the rush of wind in their ears. That reaction is answer enough for him, because now he knows for sure — never in his wildest dreams would it be this. ]

Natasha Romanoff, scared of a little roller coaster?! [ he yells over the wind and the rail, and if she manages to open her eyes his arms are in the air, something both nostalgic and nearly buoyant in his expression. He can blame it on the dream later, and maybe it will even be true. ]

[vdova]

It's hardly little, [ She snaps back, although it's softened minutely by her opening one of her eyes to peer at him. She's never seen him this... jubilant before. Steve is a man who doesn't tend to hide his emotions well (if at all), yet somehow he's still reserved. He plays his cards close to the chest — this is the first time Natasha's truly been able to see his full hand.

She doesn't say anything else until the ride comes to a stop, and she's out of the car as fast as she can be, stopping when the brunet boy and the skinny blond boy pass by her, the brunet's arm wrapped around the other boy's shoulder, teasing him about throwing up. A good friendship, she thinks, glancing up at Steve. ]

You and Barnes?

[paragon]

[ It's hardly the biggest roller coaster either, but it'd always seemed like quite a thing to him, too, so he won't tease her anymore. Once the ride stops and his arms are down he's back to what she would call reserved, the enjoyment he'd taken (whether as himself or some remnant of memory from the day) contained in his expression. His eyes follow the boys, but he doesn't make to follow them, not this time. ]

He was one of the only people who didn't act like I'd break if I rode a roller coaster. [ He looks at her again. ] What are you doing here?

[vdova]

[ He doesn't look so fragile to her, she thinks, as she watches the boys go. Her face turns up to him at his question, and she can't answer right away. She looks down at the dust on her hands, lifts her palm up to him. In answer and surrender. ] This, I think. There was... a door. And I went through it, and then I was here.

[paragon]

So not just a dream.

[ He doesn't just mean Natasha this time — but her presence and the rust on both of their hands (any other remaining dust on their bodies was blown away by the ride) means this isn't just coming from inside his own head. He's not sure if it's a relief or not, that this is why he keeps coming back here.

He doesn't look at her hands when she lifts them. He doesn't need the proof, just her word, and it's not as important as her demeanor when she gives it. ]

I didn't tell you before [ the last time he asked her that question ] it doesn't mean you're not welcome.

[ He looks at her for another second longer. ] C'mon. [ He turns toward the exit, not trying to catch up with the boys. Just to leave the roller coaster platform with her. ]

[vdova]

[ Natasha startles at that admission — she'd have to be completely tone deaf to not know what he meant by that, and it takes her a second to follow him, staring after him in unbridled surprise.

She catches up to him in a few strides, dust shaking off her boots in soft little red clouds, arms crossed at her chest. ]

Did you come here often?

[paragon]

[ He smiles slightly, just visible from the side, and refrains from pointing out that it sounds like a line. He was never so lucky here. ]

Whenever we had a penny or two of pocket change. [ Which wasn't all the time, at least as far as Steve was concerned, but they usually found a way to make it work. Now that they're out in the crowd, jostling the occasional elbow, he looks at her and isn't surprised that she doesn't entirely stand out among them. It's Natasha's job to fit in wherever she goes so that only the small details of how she styles herself would give her away, but it's not just that. He's always found something timeless to her. ]

Want me to show you around?

[vdova]

High rollers, [ she says with a grin, gazing out at the crowd around them. it takes her a second to look up at him at his question — she's trying to absorb as much of this as she can. Steve doesn't talk about this aspect of his life much. She gets the feeling she's viewing something private. ]

I've never been to Coney Island before.

[paragon]

[ He wouldn't exactly call it private. He wouldn't call it anything, which is probably what she's mistaking for privacy. There are a lot of things he doesn't readily talk about, and a lot of reasons for doing so, not least of which is that it's painful to dole out these pieces of his past when it's already something he struggles to keep close. He doesn't begrudge her the knowledge, though. ]

If you had I'd accuse you of holding out on me.

[ He's leading them away from the roller coaster, in a different direction than the one he knows the boys have taken. He's not sure how well the rest of the dream will hold up by his doing so, but he'd wandered this place often enough that he knows it's all in his head in one form or another. ]

[vdova]

[ She laughs at that, though she does glance over her shoulder at the directions the boys have gone, wondering. But Steve clearly has no interest in following them — not surprising, she supposes. ]

So what do I need to see first? Or should we get more cotton candy?

[ She grins up at him at that. ]

[paragon]

[ He's followed them before, but he doesn't think he has the heart for a guided tour down that particular memory lane. It wouldn't be fun for either of them. ]

Or hot dogs, [ he says, ignoring the tease. But he glances down at Natasha, smiling slightly. He knows her. ] Cotton candy it is.

[vdova]

[ Her grin gets a little wider. ] Think you can keep it down this time?

[ He does know her. She's teasing him, but she's glad for the suggestion. Coming here, to a place he used to spend time as a child — she didn't have this. And her line of work now doesn't leave her a lot of time for games. She doesn't want to think of it as a date, but it's about the closest she's come in a long time. ]

[paragon]

I'll do my best.

[ It doesn't look like a photograph from his time, imperfections masked by graininess or yellowed and faded edges. It's just people, and children making noise, and the sun on his neck. Some of the stalls and rides around them are new, some are showing peeled paint and rust around the edges. Even the smells of sugar and exhaust and beach probably aren't that different, though he couldn't say for certain. He hasn't been back here since the ice.

He offers her his arm without forethought or regret. ]

[vdova]

[ She takes it without forethought, looking down at their intertwined limbs like she doesn't quite realize how they got that way. But she doesn't step away.

For her, it's all new — the smell of fried dough and sugar, the smoke and exhaust from the rides, even the salty air blowing in. There's no nostalgia associated with her small smile. It's the pure enjoyment of someone seeing something for the first time.

She pauses them briefly in front of one of the target shooting booths, slipping her arm out of them to walk up to it. Her eyes are glued to a large teddy bear sitting just off to the left of the carnie manning the game. ] It's so cute!

[paragon]

[ "Win a prize for the pretty dame?" Steve's already looking askance at her, the smile on his lips a little indecipherable except maybe that he's perfectly aware she's capable of winning it for herself. Still, he lets them wander closer and pulls his arm from hers to reach into his pocket for the right change.

He can't pretend he doesn't enjoy hefting the plastic rifle against his shoulder, that he hadn't always wished he could do this instead of just watching and heckling Bucky, to have a girl to win something for.

He knocks down every successive target the carnie sets up for him, to the man's increasing surprise — well, he's just a kid, really, and doesn't seem too put out about it, either, merrily grabbing a pole to unhook the bear. ]

You can give it right to the pretty dame.

[vdova]

[ She watches him, a mixture of amusement and fondness, standing at his shoulder. Natasha is anything but surprised that he hits each target square in the center; she could have done it just as easily with comparable accuracy, but there's something in the air. Maybe it's the fact they're surrounded by other couples, children, families, everyone here to have a good time and forget about troubles (both theirs and the world's). It causes her to not say a word, her smile wide and happy as the carnie hands her the bear with a "Here you are, ma'am". He's back to barking at the others in the crowd as she steps away with Steve.

The bear is white, with a bright pink bowtie, and is just large enough that she has to carry it on her hip like it's a small child. ]

Thank you, [ she says, holding it out in front of her. ] I'll treasure him forever.

[ She pauses for a short time, and considers the bear. ] I think I'll name him Styopa.

[ And she reaches up and playfully bops Steve on the nose with it. ]

[paragon]

[ He manages not to cross his eyes when she touches the bear's nose to his, looking at her instead and only closing them briefly when the stuffed animal obscures his view. When she takes it back into her arms he's smiling in the vague way of someone unsure if he's being made fun of or not. ]

Styopa?

[ His tongue doesn't trip over the unfamiliar name, at least, repeating her pronunciation to a T. ]