thetube | Test Drive Meme: Feb/March 2016

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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.

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Pleasure's mine, ma'am.

[ His handshake is firm, the sort he usually uses for clients and his hand is rough and calloused from work that definitely isn't scholarly in nature. Plus there are more than a few scars if she cares to look closer. ]

I'm a private detective, I go where there's work for a man like me. And I had some folks tell me there was a need so here I am.

[ More specifically he's looking for the low-down son of a bitch who'd take a little girl but that's a bit too heavy for a five minute date.

And he's aware of the lion's den, but it's easy enough to play ignorant. He's well used to trouble and knows when to keep his head down. But for now the biggest lion is the one making smalltalk. ]

What about you? I've got a few guesses, but I'll keep them to myself.

[Yes, kidnapping and human trafficking tend not to be the ideal subjects for speed-dating with the supernatural, but there are worse things one could do. For example: blithely speed-date with the supernatural as a regular human. Scars or no scars, unpreparedness is real.]

Oh, that's no fun.

[Very much interested in his assumptions she reaches for her drink, drumming her fingernails on the glass. Contrary to popular belief and/or unsavoury stereotypes about witches Evelyn is not overtly secretive, and prefers a forthright approach.]

I'm from here, originally. I've been out of the country for several years.

[Archaeology isn't going to get itself done.]

Hazard a guess where, detective?

Well...

[ He stretches out the drawl a bit as he gives her a look-over. It isn't the undressing sort of look. It's the quickest way to get a drink thrown in his face and he'd rather avoid a dry cleaning bill. ]

You've got a tan, and I'm gonna assume it's natural and not from a tanning bed.

[ Which eliminates most places a smart lady might go in neighboring countries. This time of year an old tan would be faded... ]

I'm gonna hazard a guess somewhere pretty far south, maybe not even Europe at all. You seem too adventurous to stay someplace close to home.

[The once-over isn't offencive when she invited it, waiting patiently for him to draw some sort of conclusion about where she's been. The summation of Booker's performance piece is actually mildly impressive, but then, they're all here, aren't they?

Adventure and curiosity go hand in hand, and she would know.]

Egypt. [She informs him with another smile, settled neatly beneath a freckled nose.] For work. I'm an archaeologist.

Huh, I would've pegged you as a professor. I guess you can't win 'em all. It sounds like interesting work, though. Definitely more exciting than catching cheating husbands.

[ But it fits her all the same, and he can't help feeling impressed by it. Archaeology was never something he'd been interested in, and he never would have been qualified for it anyway. ]

What brings you back to London? You find something interesting? Or did you come back to try and get more funding?

[He's not too far off - if she wanted to spend a year acquiring her teaching license, she certainly could. Evelyn already has the doctorate under her belt. (The important thing here is that one really has to wonder how often Booker takes "cheating husband" cases in his line of work.)]

I was homesick, [she replies with a little shrug.] Although we did have some interesting finds. I'm one of the very few in archaeology who doesn't have to resort to fundraising.

[Which by definition makes her piss-rich, but it's difficult to tell just by looking at her - digging up old artefacts isn't a lucrative field. Evelyn rests her chin in her hand.]

So. Why'd you drop into this little fête? You don't really seem the type.

It's not usually my scene. But I'm new in town and this sounded like a way to get out and find some new watering holes.

[ Not that the local pubs are bad, but it's always good to know a nicer venue to meet clients in when they don't want to go to his office. Plus the local scenery wasn't too bad either.

He doesn't miss the implication about her finances. It's a little surprising she's so open. Speaks of a certain confidence that he doesn't mind. ]

What about you? You don't seem like the sort of lady who needs to go picking folks up on microdates.

[ The fact that she doesn't have eggheads lining out the door for her is surprising. ]

[Isn't honesty the best policy for a reason? With an overabundance of confidence that stems from a winning combination of extreme ambition and financial privilege (along with a healthy helping of genuine hard work) Evelyn knows that she has more to prove in her field than others might. People expect great things from you when you've got the opportunity, and she's been wresting it toward her in fistfuls since she could read.]

I told you, [comes the airy response, and Evelyn waves her hand.] I just got back to town. I wanted to meet people.

[Non-academics, in the parlance of her kind, because there comes a point when even the highbrow language employed by her peers starts to grate. Mostly they're just social climbers with a desperate need to measure their pricks if given half the chance.]

Do you think I'm picking you up?

Honestly? If you're really looking to pick someone up you could do a hell of a lot better than someone like me.

[ It's said with the honesty of someone who knows himself all too well. A failed marriage, a relationship with alcohol that was a little too friendly and a new knowledge about how goddamn little he really knew about the world all mounted up.

He takes a sip of his drink, considering his options for a second. What the hell, he's gonna go for it. ]

But, that ain't gonna stop me from asking if I can get your number.

[ Because as far as he sees it, the worst that happens is he'll get shot down. He'll probably never see her again after tonight anyways if she says no. ]

Edited 2016-05-01 18:37 (UTC)

[He doesn't bandy about with words and neither does he hide behind them, choosing instead to exercise a straightforwardness that she appreciates. No lies from his end - she doubts he could manage one without being caught in the act. Booker isn't remotely close to her usual fare and perhaps that's for the better.

Nothing quite like a man who knows his faults and willingly admits to them.

For a long moment, and partly for show, she contemplates over the request before retrieving a pen from her purse. Reaching across the table Evelyn takes one of his hands, turning it palm up and depressing the end of her ballpoint.]

If you're going to call me, [she begins while writing, and ten digits later finishes with:] Don't ask for anyone else's number tonight.

[Not simply because she would rather not beat around the bush, as it were, but because games are for children.]

[ That moment before she writes her number across his palm he wonders if Evelyn is going to tell him to get lost. But then she's doing it and he can't help the warm flare of surprise. ]

Yes ma'am.

[ There really is nothing quite like a woman who takes charge. Booker looks at the number but doesn't immediately add it to his phone or test to see if it's the real thing. He's only known her a little while but if she's confident enough to command him to not ask for any other numbers she would have been confident enough to say no in the first place. ]

Any times I should avoid giving you a call?

[Booker appears pleasantly surprised and Evelyn basks in his astonishment, because there's very little more satisfying than taking hold of a situation by the horns and directing it precisely where she wants it to go. She clicks the pen once again and leaves it on the table.]

Standard work hours.

[Lacing her fingers in her lap Evelyn contemplates the likelihood of him actually calling her. This far into the conversation and it seems a sure thing, surer than any other encounter thus far.]

I'm free on Saturday.

I'll keep that in mind.

[ Irregular hours were the watchword of PI work, but it came in handy when he could give himself a day off and not have to worry about the boss getting pissed about it. Barring someone offering a fistful of cash he knows where he'll be on Saturday if he doesn't screw this up in the next few minutes.

He hopes to god he doesn't screw this up. ]

Got anything I ought I ought'a know about your eating habits? I'll look pretty stupid if I go taking a vegan to a steakhouse.

[ It's happened. He didn't get a second date. ]

[Booker doesn't look at his hand to verify what she wrote but that alone is charming, an itinerant trusting enough to believe she wouldn't give him the runaround (and she wouldn't, not unless he'd earned it). With business concluded she lets her eyes wander over the sharp line of his shoulders as they shift a little, still uncomfortable with the venue.

Nothing Special at all, no glamours or prickles of power. Just a good-looking human in the wrong bar.]

I...like spicy food, [she responds almost demurely, leaning in to rest her chin in one hand.] But no restrictions to speak of.

[Evelyn bites her lower lip around a smile.]

Surprise me.

[ So much for the night being a waste. He's still not entirely sure how it happened but he's not going to go questioning it. At the very least he can tell Elizabeth he went and talked to people. It would go a long way towards getting her off his back. ]

I get the feeling you're a hard one to surprise. [ He pauses. ] Not that I won't give it a shot anyway.

[ But he think of a few places that might make for an interesting first date. ]

I'll give you call tomorrow with the details.

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Test Drive Meme: Feb/March 2016

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