Test Drive Meme: Feb/March 2016

[undergroundmods]

"Pulp - Common People" (Watch on YouTube)

Welcome to the Underground test drive meme! This is where you can try out the AU version of your character, start some potential CR and get a feel for the world of the game. Choose your character's species, read up on the available factions and you're ready to go. Put your character's name in your subject line when you post, tag out, and have fun!

Note to current players: Activity in this meme counts as game canon! So you can use it for activity check. If you end up playing anything that you can't or don't want to use as game canon, it's fine to ignore it. (In that case you shouldn't submit it for activity check.)

Here are some prompts to inspire you:

1) COMMON PEOPLE. What do normal Londoners do every day anyway? Sometimes you just want to blend in with everyone else. Make friends with humans. Talk about the weather. Go on, try it.

2) PENTHOUSE SUITE. But wait. Maybe you want to see how the other half live. The elite of the elite. You've been lucky enough to be asked to a meeting, or a luncheon, or a date. Find out what the most powerful people in London are really like.

3) GET OUT YOU FILTH. Supernatural prejudice is a regrettable fact of life in London. It doesn't matter what you are, there's someone out there who hates you because of it. They'll shun you, heckle you, even hunt you down and kill you. Of course, you're probably not immune to a few prejudices yourself.

4) SPEED DATING. Oh god. Why did you sign up to this. You should have known it was a bad idea when someone mentioned it was supernatural speed dating. Help.

5) THE REAL UNDERGROUND. Down in the darkest corners of the Tube, there are supernatural vagrants of all kinds, especially vampires. That friendly busker may well be a fae. That girl waiting for the next train is a ghost. Once you've seen it, you can't escape from it.

6) IN THE SUPERMARKET. On the other hand, you never know what you might find just walking around your local supermarket. You haven't forgotten how to do normal things like groceries, right?

7) A CURSED EXISTENCE. Maybe you literally are cursed. Maybe you just feel like it sometimes. There are things you can't do, weaknesses that normal humans aren't subject to, but they make everyday life in London that little bit more difficult. Try not to get too mad about it.

8) CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE. Anything goes.

Comments

[outstandingbalance]

Natasha's been here for almost an hour, and she's here two or three nights a week since she moved into town. He's not the first person to engaged her, but... he's the first person to engage her when she got the clear impression he didn't want to.

Shrugging in response to his question, she says, "No, not really." Her English is good, but she's clearly not from around here. "There's not anyone to wait for. What makes you ask?"

[iustitiae]

Connor is a little surprised at her accent, but living in an international city like London meant hearing a lot of languages and a lot of accents. It's weird having to explain to her what makes her seem quite so interested in finding people. He kind of thought it was obvious. Now he feels awkward for pointing it out. "I don't know, you've been looking around for a while. Like you might find someone important, I guess." There's a pause, where he tries to figure out how to make this less. Just less. Then, a little more lightly, he adds, "At least you haven't been stood up?"

[outstandingbalance]

"I do have that going for me." He's not wrong. She has been looking around. Looking around, and trying not to show how her hunger is tugging at her. Is that what he's seeing?

That would be disappointing. Natasha thought she was doing better at passing for human than that.

"Maybe it's because I'm new in town," she suggests in an attempt to downplay her own strangeness. "I don't think I've ever been stood up."

[iustitiae]

"It's definitely a lot to take in," he can't deny that. And while he's very much on edge, he's not necessarily suspicious of the general world or of her in specific. At least not yet.

He offers her something of a smile - it's the kind of smile straight men give to gay guys when they want to make sure what they're telegraphing is 'I'm nice, but #nohomo, so don't get any ideas.' "I can't imagine people turn you down easily."

[outstandingbalance]

"Only when I'm really not their type." Gaydar effectively pinged. Congratulations. She's not really disappointed by that. If he were interested, in her current mood, it might be too much temptation.

She sips her coffee again.

"I'm used to a lot, but it's still different. Very different. Seems like you're used to it, though?"

[iustitiae]

"Not being their type can't really be helped." Connor shrugs, looking down at his own coffee. "But yeah, big cities all kind of feel the same after awhile. It's nice when you still have the veneer of it seeming new, though"

[outstandingbalance]

"You think so? Have you been to many of them—big cities?"

Natasha has, but this is the first time alone. Maybe that's what makes the difference. She was always part of the entourage.

Starbucks hadn't exactly been on the itinerary.

"New isn't the word, though. London is old." Maybe she shouldn't have said that, but it's true. She imagines she can feel how old sometimes. Would humans see that? "I don't think anything could actually make it feel new."

[iustitiae]

He laughs a little, lightly, at the way she puts it. "I mean, I guess that's true. But it's a new experience, right? So sometimes that feels like the same thing. Keeps it exciting." Honestly, he doesn't like the idea that things can't ever seem new again. it sounds thoroughly unfun. "All my university work has been in big cities, so."

[outstandingbalance]

"So that's a yes." She pauses, considering letting the conversation die there. For some reason, she finds herself asking another question though. Not quite ready to let go of the interaction. "Are you a student?"

[iustitiae]

Connor nods, "At King's. I study law. What about you, what brings you to our fair city?"

[outstandingbalance]

A law student, huh? That was exactly the kind of thing she needs to hear. That's a person who has a goal, who expects to have a future. Someone who doesn't deserve to be treated like their only potential is being turned, or as food.

His question throws her off a little, but she pivots. He's not the first to ask that.

"Fresh start," she says. "You could say I just got out of a long term relationship."

It's not a lie.

[iustitiae]

At least he looks appropriately sympathetic. But sympathetic in the way you'd look if someone told you they'd just gotten over a bout of the flu. Like he's allergic to the idea of long term relationships.

"Sometimes that's for the best. And you definitely could've picked worse places to do it."

[outstandingbalance]

She notices his expression, and wonders if it's because he's not really interested or not really interested in relationships. A little forward to ask that when they've just met, though.

"I haven't regretted it. It was the right time to leave."

That's also not a lie.

"I didn't mean to interrupt you, though."

[iustitiae]

"It's fine, I'm pretty sure I was the one interrupting you." This is what you get for being a paranoid jerk, Connor.

[outstandingbalance]

Natasha shrugs that off. "You can't interrupt someone who's not doing anything. Other than drinking too much coffee, all I'm doing is people watching."

Maybe actually talking to people is a good step? She's not sure that argument is convincing, but it's good enough for the moment.

[iustitiae]

The argument is definitely good enough for Connor, and he nods, holding up his own third-cup-too-many of coffee. "I sympathize."

[outstandingbalance]

She sips from her own cup to cover her skepticism at that. She really, really doubts he does. He means well though.

"So what about you?" she redirects the conversation after her drink. "What were you doing, aside from staying up all night?"

[iustitiae]

"Studying --" there's a beat, and he laughs a little, "Or pretending to study, I guess. Which ever one seems more realistic to you."

[outstandingbalance]

Natasha snorts at that, not quite laughing. "I think maybe you were ready for a break."

[iustitiae]

Connor smiles and then sighs, well, that was probably true at least. "A student's work is never over."

[outstandingbalance]

"I hear that's a thing when you study law." Not that she has much frame of reference for that, but she fakes it well. It's a good skill for a spy, or a vampire. And not as though she's lived under a rock.

"Do you like it?"

[iustitiae]

"I do," it's a lie. She'll probably be able to tell that. It's not that he doesn't like it, per se, but all the circumstances around it have gone downhill so quickly. He's scared - terrified - of his professor. That made for an unfun experience. It was stressful. He probably needed something stronger than coffee to make himself happy.

[outstandingbalance]

She can tell. And she's not sure why he does, aside from the fact that she imagines people are supposed to enjoy it. There seems to be more to it than just lying, though. If it were nothing but a platitude, she probably wouldn't have noticed, or considered it just a social convention.

What makes it stand out is the sense of anxiety. She's good at picking up on fear.

She doesn't know him well enough to pry, but it does make her curious.

"Yeah?" she says. "That's good?"

[iustitiae]

"Yeah, of course," he tries to project confidence, but at least he's always been good at faking that. "It's a challenge, and I like that a lot."

[outstandingbalance]

Her lips twitch. Nice recovery. She can appreciate a good front.

"I can appreciate that. There's something to be said for aiming for something challenging.You get a lot further that way than being comfortable not trying."