[meme] test drive

[citycouncil]

A bit late. Sorry, folks!

Tag into this post with characters you're thinking of apping to the game (characters who are not currently in-game or currently reserved by someone else). It can be just a tag, a brief EP, whatever you want. You can be new to the game, or simply want to test out a fresh pup. Tag each other with these characters or those already in game, and have fun.

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[secunit238776431]

I didn't quite understand why I have to go to a "train station" to receive a "welcome packet". Perhaps the feed was down temporarily and the data needed to be manually transferred with a data chip. It would explain why I could not contact any satellites for media, weather, or even general system updates.

"Thank you. I would appreciate that," I replied, and opaqued my faceplate. It was only wise when confronting a new situation with unknown risks. It also allowed me to focus less on my expression if this human said something exceedingly stupid.

[roadside_rose]

Her eyebrows creep up a little at Norah's snippy response. At first, the ignorance surprises her more than the defensiveness, but 'haunting place' does provide a little clarity. If any kind of ghost can fairly claim ignorance to what's going on in the rest of the twilight, it's a house-haunter. They don't get out much. And they skew close enough to homesteaders for more mobile ghosts (especially the ones that want to stay mobile) to keep a respectable distance.

They don't get out period, actually, which makes Norah's newfound freedom both interesting and potentially alarming. "You can leave?" Rose asks, sounding about as dumbfounded as Norah did a moment ago. It doesn't sound like said haunting-place was destroyed (a word which only means anything in the daylight, anyway), and it takes Rose a dragging second to imagine another reason why a house-haunter might find herself suddenly at liberty to wander. Her expression darkens. "Shit. Were you exorcised?"

[auctionofinnocence]

"Hm," Larita agrees, her tone fond. "That's the way of if, isn't it? Finding the time." She has a lot less time to tinker for fun than she used to, but she wouldn't trade a bit of it. The racetrack, Greta, the girls, it's not something Larita saw for herself when she found her feet leaving Surrey and landing in Darrow, but it's all so lovely and domestic.

"Where are you headed, anyway? Or where were you headed before you found yourself in Darrow?"

[echokeeper]

It is interesting — and indeed, telling — that Rose seems to take Norah's freedom of movement as a bad thing. As something that should disturb Norah herself, perhaps. The question, though, can only make her chuckle dryly.

"Certainly not," she says, "though I did chance to meet a self-described exorcist. That was surprising." She gives Rose a look, as if to tell her not to get any ideas. "He was only interested in sharing his company, and bringing me music to listen to. It got quite dull and lonely before I found myself able to move freely. Which I accomplished by pure accident. I had not been able to leave, and then I simply left. It was a bit overwhelming, but has made things much pleasanter for me in the long run. I take it that is not something you expected to hear?" She raises an eyebrow, halfway challenging the girl to make more wild guesses as to the details of her existence.

[roadside_rose]

"Detroit," Rose answers, the lie easy. She's at least gathered that she isn't there now, which should make it plausible enough. "I've got family there."

"Not that I'm asking for such a long haul in this grand dame," she adds, giving the upholstery another fond, light touch. "You can take me as far as is easy for you, and I can make my way from there." There's still no scent of lilies and ashes on the wind, and this ride doesn't feel like anything but a kindness. She'll take whatever distance she can get without complaint, but she also knows she can only expect so much from someone with a car like this. It's the kind of vehicle that gets brought out for shows, polished up for admiration on a Saturday afternoon, not a dedicated long-hauler.

And a little distance is all she intends to ask for, really. But then her stomach lets out an audible rumble.

[roadside_rose]

"I guess bringing you music does sound nicer than trapping you in a Seal of Solomon and flaying you to the edge of nonexistence before putting you back together so they can do it all over again," Rose snaps back. Yeah, it's an asshole thing to say, but it would take a house-haunter to be so goddamn sheltered as to cozy up to a fucking exorcist, of all people. Norah has no idea what the living are capable of when they have the time and motivation.

"And no, it's not something I expected to hear. The twilight has rules. Or it did the last time I checked." She scowls, really not liking how little those rules seem to be coming into play here.

[auctionofinnocence]

Lari's eyebrows tick up a fraction. It could be the truth. Larita isn't prone to assuming everyone has ulterior motives — especially not underdressed girls hitching on the roadside. But coincidences aren't coincidences in Darrow.

"Unfortunately, 'easy for me' is nowhere near Detroit right now," she starts, and then smiles when she hears Rose's stomach. "And even if it were, I'm certainly not sending you anywhere without some food," she adds with a laugh. "I was on my way to the racetrack. The clubhouses have a nice menu you can pick from, and then I'll tell you the whole kit and caboodle."

[roadside_rose]

"Oh, I couldn't," Rose starts to demur, color rising to her cheeks. "I mean, I'm sure I can't afford clubhouse prices." She can't afford anything, in fact. And even if she pulled a crisp fifty out of the pockets of Larita's coat, spending it would only get her a plate of food that tasted like ashes. It needs to be offered freely.

And 'freely offered' is an easier ask when the prices are low to begin with. That's why she usually tries her luck at truck stops or greasy spoon diners. She's never actually been to a proper racetrack before — a track isn't a road, and it's a guarantee that no one there is going to pick her up — but she knows it's not a cheap hobby, and the clubhouse burgers probably cost four times what they'd go for at a dive.

[auctionofinnocence]

"Oh, stop," Lari says, playfully scolding. "My treat. Really, you'll be doing me a favor if you say yes. I'm testing out some new plates for the menu, shake things up — you know how it is." She gets them down the stretch of road leading from city proper to the countryside. She only speeds up a little.

[roadside_rose]

"Thank you. That's really kind." Rose allows herself a smile. And if a different driver had picked her up, this might be where she coyly suggested that surely they can work out some kind of payment, but she likes to think she's good at reading people, and Larita doesn't seem like the type to press an advantage. Maybe she won't get that far down the road, but she's getting a coat, kindness, and a meal, and that's really all a girl can ask for.

She leans back against the upholstery as they move out of town and farther into the countryside, the rolling landscape as reassuringly familiar as any other stretch of the east coast. Her curiosity piques at Larita's comment, and she looks over at her. "You're making it sound like you own the place."

[echokeeper]

Norah opens and shuts her mouth quickly, her eyes widening at the sudden escalation. She had been annoyed, and rather trying to provoke some sort of reaction, if she's really honest with herself. It was childish, and she probably deserves the vitriol to some degree. But she hadn't anticipated it to come with quite so much severity. It takes her a moment to recover, simply staring at the girl. She stays silent a little longer than is strictly comfortable, in fact, wanting as much to let things cool as she does to get her words exactly right.

"I do know how matters stand where you come from," she says carefully, "but I believe it is a safe assumption to say we do not hail from the same sets of rules. I did not believe there was any such thing as an exorcist where I come from, apart from charlatans plying their trade to the gullible. The man I met is not from my world, and it certainly doesn't sound as if he's from yours, either. I also did not believe in ghosts, until I became one. I was the only one I knew for a long time. No one ever told me there were rules. And now, each new ghost I have met seems to have an entirely unique experience to go along with it."

She fixes Rose with a steady look. "I am sorry to be the one to tell you, but you have been waylaid. This is not the world you know. There are new rules, and you shall have to learn them as I did."

[auctionofinnocence]

"Am I?" Larita ways with playful coyness. "Hm." Then she laughs, like Rose is an old friend who's always been in on the joke. "Oh, I can't tease you too badly, since you're new and all. I do own the racetrack, in fact. A friend left it to me when she left the city."