APRIL 2022 TEST DRIVE MEME

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APRIL 2022 TEST DRIVE MEME

Another month, another test drive meme! Our test drive memes are open to anyone interested - regardless of whether or not you join our game!

All Test Drive Memes are game canon. Players can choose to keep their TDM threads canon or not. TDM threads can be used for AC and can be used as your writing sample for your application.

Our TDMs serve as a way to build into the actual lore and worldbuilding of Deer Country and we strongly encourage everyone to enjoy and participate! Current players are always welcome to pull prompts from the TDM to reference on the Network or bring into logs as well as tag out to new characters top-leveling on the TDM itself.

Characters will always be able to actively die during TDMs as this is an extremely dangerous world. You can still have this be game canon! Check out how character death in Deer Country works here.

If you have any questions about the TDM, please ask down below!

IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Prompt One
[Image One: Delicious, Gelatinous Fruit Treats]
[Image Two: Women in white dancing around a May Pole (Animated)]

Prompt Two
[Image One: A woman turning away from a mirror. ]
[Image Two: A woman trapped inside a mirror with disembodied hands grabbing at her. ]

Prompt Three
[Image One: A Forked Trail on a Wooded Path]
[Image Two: The Grim Reaper at the end of a sewer tunnel]

[NAVIGATION]

TDM Questions • Reserves • Taken • Applications • Full Navigation

[Jump to Comments]

A MOSTLY PLEASANT ARRIVAL

WHEN: May
WHERE: The Farther Shores/The Boardwalk
CONTENT WARNINGS: Forced honesty, personality changes, physical changes.

---

Congratulations, sleeper! You're one of the lucky ones to arrive in a month that is not awful to come ashore. The transformational process is almost alarmingly quick and painless. In fact, it is so quick that it is deceptively easy to change back into a squid and do it all over again! Partial transformations are not uncommon during this month for the first twenty-four hours after arriving, and even brief transformations of minor facial features like hair color, eye color, height, weight and a few more extreme possibilities have been known to happen. Don't worry, because the transformations are all temporary and none are inherently monstrous (Unless you already are a monster, in which case good luck with that!). Greeters are present in force to help accommodate you as you make your way, your welcome backpack and items all freshly and neatly cleaned and ready for you as they put the robe on. Everything is so welcoming and inviting that it almost seems like they're having a party.

This is, in fact, because they are. The Wild Moon is about and festivities are in full swing throughout the month of Bauphomette. May poles are set up and it is possible to dance around one if you should wish. Doing so can help to ground oneself in their current form, which may help new arrivals settle in a bit better. Even ignoring that, it feels good to sing and dance, and everyone is very friendly. Even the usually grim Hunters who guard the roads and entries to the shores seem to have less stern smiles on their faces, though their eyes are ever watchful to keep the peace of the festivities.

SEASONAL DETAILS ON THE BOARDWALK
Decorations this month are decidedly floral in nature. Everyone is dressed in white, regardless of their usual preferences. Flowers adorn many of the people of Trench and the weather throughout the first week of May is pleasant. Even if it rains, it is a refreshing, light and pleasant rain, and there are many awnings and umbrellas to take shelter underneath.

And of course, there's refreshments. What festival in Trench would be without them? The foods this month have a very floral theme to them. Edible flowers have been grown and prepared especially for this time of year. They've been used to help create infused and gelatinous sweets, Floral spring rolls and edible flower cookies and the like, along with floral teas that are meant to calm the mind. Additionally, the people of Trench will note that any of the foods present can have a beneficial, albeit transformative effect on the mind and body. They promise it won't last long, but if you're really concerned there is hard tack and water available that's quite filling.

Changes from Food will last a few hours at most. There are several options available among the drinks and foods. These may be combined as the player sees fit. Drinks have mental effects, while Treats have physical ones, the Trenchies will inform:

Pomegranate Juice: Sweet and tart, anyone who drinks it or has some of the fresh pomegranate and seeds will feel compelled to speak nothing but the truth. Pomegranates are found littering makeshift shrines to Bauphomette throughout the party, and Trenchies insist they are free to take.
Petal Infused Hot Tea: Pungent and aromatic, it is relaxing. The heat gives a warmth and vibrancy that fills a person with confidence, to the point of arrogance and fearlessness, leading the emboldened to try something that they might not otherwise do, even if it's very risky!
Floral Iced Tea: While refreshing, it feels like there's something just a little lacking, and anyone who drinks some will feel that they need more but not what they need more of at first, making them clingy and affectionate towards other people, especially strangers.
Iced Water: It's not the tastiest, but has a way of washing things away. Water can cleanse and remove the effects of other drinks, though it leaves the person feeling emotionally drained if it is used this way.

Floral Spring Rolls: Trying one of these surprisingly edible treats will have the added effect of giving a person plant traits temporarily. Hair may convert into tresses of ivy or carefully manicured moss, or perhaps a mushroom cap! Skin might become bark-like or chlorophyl green. The more that one eats, the more that they change.
Gelatinous Sweets: These curiosities come with a note. “Have you ever wondered what it is like to walk in someone's shoes?” Eating one has a profound physical effect, causing a person's appearance to transform into that of another person in Trench! It may not even be someone they've met, or seen yet! It would be awkward to meet someone, not looking the way you're supposed to, or worse? Looking like them!
Edible Flower Cookies: They come with lovely notes saying “Eat Me!” What could be sweeter? Well, like something out of Alice and Wonderland, eating one can cause a person to grow or shrink by a foot. More cookies can cause the height difference to become worse and worse, though if you're only a foot tall, it's a good way to end up an inch tall! So, maybe eating more to fix the problem is risky.
Hard Tack: Like the water, it can fill the stomach and remove prematurely any physical effects, though if it does so, removing a physical change physically drains the character.

A DIM REFLECTION

WHEN: May
WHERE: Throughout Trench
CONTENT WARNINGS: Paranoia, existential dread, hallucinations, possession-related horror.

---

They warned you about mirrors. Every once in a while, one of the locals in Trench might have whispered it, made a sign of warding when they passed by mirrors, but nothing seemed out of place. They told you that you might see yourself in it, and you would never be the same. However, every time you've looked it's been fine. So, maybe they were being superstitious about something? It certainly wouldn't have been the first time someone had gotten paranoid about nothing in Trench, would it?

How wrong you were. Maybe it was when you were looking down at a puddle rippling in a light breeze. It might have been a formerly polished piece of bronze covered in tarnish that adorned a building. Perhaps it was that lovely bit of obsidian in the shop where you caught your reflection garbled by the shape. It happens only when a reflection is seen in a distorted surface, especially those that are naturally occurring, though occasionally damaged and weathered surfaces that were polished will work. When you were looking at the image, it seemed to look back at you and something was wrong, distorted, imperfect. By then it was too late.

The natives were right. You saw some part of yourself there in the mirror. It might be something that you've hidden from others for a long time, or it might be an exaggeration of a single part of yourself that you aren't proud about. What it is, is a distorted and incomplete part of yourself, something that you try to keep controlled and in check, and it was there, smiling at you and winking. The moment it winked, it was like you were riding in your own skin, watching and unable to act as you changed into a self that reflected that distorted, unnatural and incomplete side of yourself. What shadows do you hide from yourself?

This effect lasts for, at most, one solar cycle. From the rising of the sun to its setting, or the moon to its setting, the effect can last no longer than that. Especially strong-willed people, particularly palebloods, can end this effect sooner through force of will, though it usually lasts at minimum an hour. The character is, for the duration of this effect, changed in personality to behave in accordance with some singular aspect (of the player's choice) of their personality that they do not usually focus on in their day to day behavior. This change can be subtle, or it can be drastic and even dangerous. Its goal is to make sure that everyone sees and witnesses this change, and goes out of its way to impact others in a memorable fact, making sure that they see there is more to the character than what they are revealing. This could be relatively innocuous or extremely dangerous, depending on the person, and the whole while the dominant personality is riding inside their skin, forced to watch what is happening.

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

WHEN: May
WHERE: Dream worlds
CONTENT WARNINGS: Existential dread, disturbing visions

---

It happens when you are asleep one night. There is no warning for this effect, and it comes without apparent cause. One night, you go to sleep, and then suddenly you find yourself in a dreamscape, on a path. You can sense eyes on you the whole time that you are present in this field, and though they have a sense of benevolence to them, there is a deeply alien element to the experiment, almost like you are being observed by a scientist through a microscope. You are not alone on the path, either. One, or possibly more than one, other people that you may know or not know, they seem to have entered the same dreamscape. Behind you is nothing but shadow, and before you is a path. Might as well get going if you want to wake up, right? That's how these things work.

Introductions and questions aside, there's nothing but the path and dense, impenetrable woods on both sides, so eventually you and your companion start walking. As you do, shortly you see a branch in the path ahead of you. The fork has two paths, one of which shows the traffic of many feet, footprints grooved well into the worn cobblestones and mud. One of you will somehow recognize that the footprints are their own, and will notice that the other path has no footprints or very few. That is when the compulsion hits. It is inexorable and impossible to deny, the curiosity to see what is down the path that those footprints do not travel.

Travel, walk and taking that path, you will be treated to a vision. It is a moment in the dreamer's life, where they see something that happened in their life, which involved a choice. Did they go left or right? Did they say yes, or no? A choice they made, even one that seemed immaterial at the time, had some profound effect, and now you and they watch as the other choice was taken. And, within the hour, you will see the results, to your horror. Something terrible will happen to them. It could be anything, but it will be life-shattering, perspective altering and ghastly. They might even die from the experience or see a loved one die. The horror of it will still be in your hearts as you stand there for a moment, trapped in the sight of the aftermath, trying to come to terms with what you have just seen, and just at this moment, after a few parting words are said, both will wake up in a cold sweat.

The event that plays out can be from either character. Close CR is not required. Bauphomette has summoned the characters into the dream directly, and is sharing a distorted mirror of an opposite choice that could have been made. Actual “What if” canon events such as alternate timelines in Supernatural could be used for this, or the entire event can be concocted for this scene. The characters themselves are witnesses, and cannot be personally harmed in any physical way, but the horrific ending for the 'vision' version of the one whose dream this can be as awful as desired and take any form wished so long as it is unpleasant. Please be aware and mindful of each other's Content Warning Preferences in setting these scenes up.

CODING

Comments

[belovedscars]

[The distraction is a welcome one, albeit it brings more questions Gilbert cannot quite voice. He stares at the large dog, mesmerized and concerned, but he doesn't feel threatened. It isn't a chain, it doesn't feel like one. It must be something else.

He only tears his eyes away from the glowing ones when Break speaks again. He didn't realize he was staring.]

I-- Red? Why would they be red?

[Alarm creeps in his voice. He's just as lost as Break. But it doesn't take him long to realize the other implications. It's all very overwhelming. Finally Gil's knees weaken completely as he drops to the ground, asking hopefully.]

Break... you can see my eyes?

[payingfordeliverance]

I don't know, this place is all sorts of nonsense!

[But, if Gil is as confused as he is about it, that means he may well be from the proper timeline, and -- his Gilbert. As Gil falls to his knees, Break's hands clench in the fabric of his trousers. Overwhelmed...it's overwhelming. In all the months he's been here, none of his people have ever shown up before now, and while Gil isn't a Rainsworth he's certainly more Break's than Echo is. And, although he's been fool enough to hope every single month, now that it seems to be happening, Break feels as though the wind has been knocked out of him.

That he didn't have the time to get to know Gilbert as the young man he no longer needed to worry about, rather than nervous child he fished out of the trees that day so long ago, is one of Break's biggest regrets in Trench.]

...yes. Here, I can see. [Bereft of any way to handle this gracefully, Break turns to the one thing that always gets him through these kinds of emotional upheavals: Bitching.] You brat. You've ruined our reunion. I've always thought that, if you ever did show up here, I'd -- act all cool, and tell you you were late.

[His expression shifts to a ragged grin. Ah, dying and everything since really have beaten him tender. It's embarrassing. The dog, concluding that Break is just having a lot of feelings again and all is well, plops down behind him to chew contentedly on the stick he has found.]

[belovedscars]

I realize that! I woke up and I was a squid!

[If anyone would know why, it would be Break. Gilbert doesn't dwell on that too long, his eyes or this nonsensical place because the man in front of him isn't an illusion or his mind playing tricks, it really is Break. Gilbert may not have shared the same bond with Break as Sharon or Reim, but he was still an important person in Gil's life. The two hadn't had the time to truly talk or say goodbye or even really thank Break, and he understood that at the time, but Gil... Gil hadn't imagined he would see him again.

And not only that, but Break appears well and can see. Gil makes a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sob.]

That's just like you... [Another laugh. Unfortunately, that means Break can see the man break down and start crying. Gil smiles at him, scrubbing his eyes with his palm as he tries in vain to stall the tears, but they won't listen. How embarrassing.] Stupid old man... you're so stupid. You really are the worst, Break.

[payingfordeliverance]

[Eight months. It has now been eight months since Break arrived, and he has had all that time to stew in all the things he could only realize he regretted and wished for after he admitted to himself how badly he wanted to live. That's also given him plenty of time to understand some of the most basic aspects of how this place works, and he knows that there is no guarantee Gilbert will actually be with them here for very long. It's a horribly common phenomenon for Sleepers to wash up on the beach and vanish again almost immediately. The Alices disappeared for a month solid, in fact, though in their case it turned out they'd ended up living in a whale during that time, as one does.

The point is, Gilbert may disappear from them again before they even manage to get him to the house, and Break knows this.

Because of that, when the crying starts, instead of scolding him for being a crybaby Break scoots forward on his knees and wraps his arms around Gil's shoulders, pulling him close in an embrace. Not one of his obnoxious drapey gestures, either -- an actual genuine hug, not all that far away from the way he'd clung to Sharon and Reim at his ending.]

This is the one proper hug you'll get from me. [Trench being what it is, that's probably bluster on Break's part. But his voice is gruff, and he has to save face a little somehow.] And after this, we shall -- never speak of it again.

[The truth is that both his health and his eyesight come and go in this place. But today he is doing just fine, and these are the same strong shoulders that carried a young and grieving Gilbert out of the trees that day, rather than the trembling, fading ones Gil once carried in turn out of Sablier.]

[belovedscars]

[Gil's vision is blurred by the tears, so he doesn't pay much attention to Break's movement until he's being pulled into a hug. He gasps and at first freezes, as he tends to do when any adult figure shows him kindness no matter how old he gets, even when it came to people as warm as Oscar. Gil starts to wonder if he's hallucinating; Break has never hugged him before like this. He's been kind before, in his own eccentric and unspoken way, but there was always teasing or barbed insults. And yet... He suddenly feels very small, like the frightened, confused child Break had rescued that day, a single piece of driftwood when Gil thought he would drown from hitting rock bottom.

And Break feels strong, and not like someone who will, well, break or disappear at any second. The tears haven't stopped falling, but Gil is no longer shaking with sobs. Slow and careful, he wraps his arm around the man who had mentored him and offered him hope at his lowest point, digging his fingers into the fabric of his coat and pulling him closer. He quietly breathes out an amused laugh.]

Who would believe me? [Gilbert isn't a gossip anyway. But as usual, he has to say something sappy while hugging him.] I'm glad you're safe.

[payingfordeliverance]

...yes. Despite the best efforts of this place.

[He lets the hug linger a while, though of course it's Break who lets go first. Being all crotchety and cantankerous even in his softness, he has a little trouble looking Gil in the face as he withdraws, and gives his shoulder an awkward pat. His omen alleviates the issue by inserting himself between them to get attention, oozing himself into Break's personal space as dogs will. Baltus is not a dog at all even outside of being an omen, and this is entirely a cunning plan on his part to mercy kill the moment before it can die a pathetic death on its own.

Aware of this, Break huffs a sigh, and grants his weird shadowy noodle horse a solid pat. Baltus thumps his tail pleasantly against the sand and plants a paw on Gil's knee, so that he will feel included.]

There are a great many people here who make it all...tolerable.

[Translation: There are several he's already gotten aggressively attached to and would go to hell and back for, as is his wont. He can think of two who would just nod and smile at the idea of Break cracking and hugging Gilbert, on account of they have him wrapped around their little fingers.]

And...with all the brats in need of looking after here, I'm never permitted to be bored.

[Translation: He has many fun activities he enjoys, and his days are pleasantly busy.]

[belovedscars]

[Gilbert refrains from clinging more as Break pulls away, despite the fact that he wants to. He doesn't want to be alone, not when he's just found out that he isn't. Break being Break would be the one to end the hug first, so in a way it's reassuring because it helps convince Gil his mind isn't playing tricks on him. He wipes at his eyes with his sleeve and looks surprised when Baltus puts a paw on his knee. Smiling gently at the omen, he cards his hand through his fur and starts petting him behind his ears. It helps soothe his frayed nerves.]

I'm glad you've found people who can put up with you.

[He teases, but he is glad. Break seems healthy and happier than Gilbert has seen him in a while.]

You're never going to retire, are you Break? [He complains, but he's so happy.] You even got a...a pet? He's not a chain, is he?

[payingfordeliverance]

Oh, I'm definitely retired, at least from Pandora sorts of things. It's terribly easy to make a career out of hunting vicious beasts here, and I take care of the ones around the house, to keep my hand in. But, ah. Mm.

[Break has the grace to look a little sheepish.]

...I've spent my time here learning to cook, actually. I even -- work in a bakery, if you can believe that. I've done various brutish things on my boss's behalf in exchange for lessons. Picking up bags of flour half her size and putting them down again, you know. Shady deals down at the docks for ingredients. [Probably all this makes more sense when you find out that part of Break's culinary education has involved sword diplomacy with thugs. But, more importantly:] Anyway, the kids who've been around with me the longest are Oz and the Alices, so -- no way was I leaving them to barter for every meal they get. Absolutely no way in hell.

[The way the Hunters work -- it isn't quite Pandora, in that they'd actually offer Break a great deal more freedom than Pandora ever did, and it hasn't escaped him that taking Gil out on his own excursions would be very much like the good old days fighting Chains out on the field in the years before Oz returned. But, with the knowledge that Oz and not one but both the Alices are around, no doubt Break's life choices here become completely clear. Gilbert has seen for himself what Oz and the darker Alice are like when set loose in a town, let alone the former Will of the Abyss.

Baltus, for his part, accepts these pets from Gilbert in his chill doggy way. He is very aware of his position as an emotional support omen, and often leans on the people Break likes for exactly this reason. One simply feels better when one can pet a nice doggo.]

This one here is what's called an omen. All us squids have one. You do, too. [Another solid pat to the dog's flank.] Summoning them out like this is not unlike calling for a Chain, but there's no strain involved. Since that's the case, and because he helps me to look after the kids, I simply never bother to put him away.

[belovedscars]

Thank goodness.

[Gilbert's relief is premature and short-lived. He's drawing a blank as to what could leave Break to look sheepish, but when the man speaks he can't believe what he's hearing.

Gil is silent as Break explains. Not out of any sense of politeness, but because he's too stunned to say anything. Break...Break, learning to cook. Gil finds himself blushing in embarrassment and stammering, his pitch rising and upset.]

You're not making fun of me, are you? T-This isn't the time for jokes!

[He curls his fingers into the robe, a bit defensively, waiting for the punchline, but then Break mentions the Alices. As in, both.]

Alice-- the other Alice, she's here too?

[He doesn't sound upset so much as disturbed. Gil leans over a little to peer at Break more closely while still petting Baltus.]

That's a lot even for you. Are you alright, Break? Are you sleeping and eating enough?

I have one too? [It's a lot to come to terms with. Wincing at the word "squid"--that's not something Gil ever wants to relive again--Gil looks down at the omen, feeling a bit breathless and disconnected. Is this but a fraction of how Oz felt, when he came back from the Abyss and everything was different?]

It's all so very strange. But I'm glad, Break. Everyone is safe here.

[payingfordeliverance]

I wouldn't joke about something like that!

[Break's inclination is to keep nattering about it all, which is very weird. Of course he hasn't been completely unaware of how potent the lack of Gilbert has been -- one of the first conclusions he came to in this place was that Gil is the one person he was allowed to wish for without guilt, because with Oz and Alice here, probably he'll be legitimately happier in Trench than he would be waiting a century at home. But now that Gil is actually here, with his unfamiliar red eyes and the robe Break has seen over and over when he scours the beaches for his people and finds none of them month after month, it's just...it's all too surreal, and Break finds that he has even more he wants to tell Gil about than he thought he did.

About how he was blind when he arrived, but he needed to learn anyway, so he invited himself into the kitchens of his favorite restaurants and made a flirty nuisance of himself until they taught him the basics. And how aghast he was a few months ago when Lysithea left him in charge of her bakery while she ran off to participate in a fight against a horrid sea monster without him, and how he's met a scarlet witch not at all dissimilar to the Will of the Abyss who uses her powers chiefly for things like conjuring donuts.

Break wrangles himself back in instead. No doubt these things will all come pouring out of him later, perhaps during their inevitable territorial spat over the kitchen, since Break has found he enjoys certain aspects of it too much to surrender it entirely. There's a much more important point to get across, and Gil needs to learn it now, much the same way Break let Oz witness an Illegal Contractor's terrible ending early on to drive home the reality of what he'd stumbled into.]

"Safe" isn't the right word at all. Gilbert, I cannot stress this enough. It's a wicked place, and it will do its damnedest to rip open every old wound you have. It will corrupt you if you let it, and it will terrorize you with illusions. One of the first things that happened to me here was getting kidnapped by a flock of ravens and tossed into a boat with a guy I scarcely knew as it sent us down a river of illusionary corpses.

[Baltus moves his head from beneath Gilbert's hand and shoves it under Break's instead. This is apparently one of his frequent and solemn omen duties, because it calms Break almost immediately. If we are being honest, this is probably a much better display of how he is doing than the questions about eating and sleeping enough, which Break is ignoring. Look, whatever else is going on, Break at least has his very own emotional support shadowy soul creature.]

...the good of the place is that...it lets you choose what you'll be. The Will of the Abyss is "just Alice", here. Just a deeply strange little girl who likes to paint skulls. No more of this nonsense of -- of children having to sacrifice their lives to clean up a giant mess they didn't make.

[belovedscars]

[Gilbert tries to hide his horror as he listens to what Break has been through while here, but he's never been a good liar or actor. What sort of madness had Break and all of the people dear to Gil experienced while here? What had Oz been through?

He's grateful for Break's honesty. Oz would probably hide anything he thought would upset Gil in an attempt to protect him, but Break didn't shy away from any unpleasant realities. At times it seemed unnecessarily harsh, but right now Gil is counting on it.]

I won't allow anyone use my mind against me again. [He looks down and smiles to himself. His own mind and heart have always been his enemy. But his mind is made up and he grasps onto that determination he has found, meeting Break's eyes with stubborn red ones of his own.] And we've fought impossible things before! If you're right and I have an omen, that means I've gotten stronger. You needn't fight, Break, I'll learn to use these new abilities and do as much fighting as it takes!

[No, Gil wants to let Break rest, as much as his family, old and new, will allow him. More than that, Gil wants so badly to be useful. If he cannot adapt to this place, then he will only become a burden...and what good would he be to anyone if that were the case? If Break can learn to cook without burning down the house, Gil can learn to fight a different sort of monster. He simply has to. There is no other option that he will entertain, not when he has regained what he lost.

He looks down at Baltus and then at Break as his omen moves and clutches his robe again in an attempt to calm his own frazzled emotions, wrapping it around himself, but relief washes across his face when he hears that the other Alice is just that now. He's still a little intimidated, but she deserves a chance for normalcy.]

This can be a second chance for all of us.

[payingfordeliverance]

[Stunning, how Gilbert can so innocently say some of the words Break has hated the most during his time here in Trench. He already had his second chance when he had the sheer dumb luck to fall into Rainsworth instead of one of the other Great Duke Houses, and it was far more incredible than he ever deserved and he didn't treasure it enough and only at the very end was he willing to admit that he didn't want to go. Trench is Break's third chance, and the way so many people talk as though he should treat that as a gift in the face of what he lost to get here feels like a slap in the face, still.

But it's not as though he's unaware of the inherent miracle of being here at all, crossing paths with souls he'd never meet at home and has already come to love deeply. So he's been making the best of it, since it's not like he has a choice, and he very rarely brings up his lingering bitterness. Cagey as ever, Break doesn't want any of the kids who need their second chance, who thrive in it, to feel sorry for him in his grief. Rather than address any of Gil's heartfelt little speech and risk letting him catch on not five minutes in, he holds up a hand, and fizzles of purple light gather in his palm.

When they first met, he let a dove fly out of his hat, and poured a bit of candy out. It was his flashy attempt to win over a frightened, grieving child. Now, in an echo of that moment, he conjures up a rose of such a deep yellow it's almost gold, Gilbert's proper color. Once the petals have unfurled to his liking, he holds it out in offering.]

You may well have more new abilities than you know, yet. However, if you're going to go about swearing to do battle in my honor, I think we'd best find you some trousers.

[belovedscars]

[Gil is no longer a frightened child, nor is he grieving anymore, but he is a confused adult caught in a whirlwind of renewed determination who has just been reunited with his family. And he is just as shocked and enchanted when Break conjures the rose out of nothing, and he takes it, treasuring the flower in his palm.]

Break...

[He gasps in realization, looking down and then curling up into himself. His face is furiously hot and red and he starts stammering, wishing the ocean would swallow him whole. This is so embarrassing...!]

Ah-- I-- You...why didn't you say anything before?!

[He wails.]

[payingfordeliverance]

[Break smiles serenely. The answer to this is that he honestly forgot it was a problem. This is simply how it is for Sleepers. You wash up naked and you get to wear the robe and deal with sand in your unfortunate parts for the following week.

He has long since accepted this, but even so, that familiar and beloved whining does a lot to soothe the bit of him that's still mad that he turned back into a human while he was still in the ocean, which subsequently bashed him around on a bunch of sharp rocks and left him coughing and sobbing and frightened and blind with his wet exposed everything in sorry need of rescue from strangers.

This is way better.]

Well, I don't exactly make a habit of ogling your legs, you know, Gilbert.

[belovedscars]

[His frustration and embarrassment around Break feels so familiar and normal that Gil wants to cry. How had he taken this torment for granted before, not knowing how easily it was to lose? It's not that he enjoys Break being the source of his humiliation, it's just...

He missed the stupid old man. But before he can get sentimental, he looks absolutely scandalized and gasps before he curls up more in shame.]

I would certainly hope not!!! [Who is he trying to convince? Break, or himself? Ah, but now he's blushing more.

With a pathetic whimper, Gil stops talking and hides his face in his knees, covered by the robe. He doesn't care if he looks like a loser. It's much better than letting everyone see him.]

Why must you say such things...?

[payingfordeliverance]

Because I've dearly missed those musical screams of yours, of course!

[And the rest of him but we won't talk about that because it's gross. Break already gave him a hug. He has surpassed his own limits here.]

I've had to find others to tease in this place, but nobody flusters quite like you do. Did you know, young Alice hasn't hissed at me in two whole days? Now that I'm a decrepit old squid I'm afraid I'm losing my edge.