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pixieledmemes2025-03-21 08:39 am
Test Drive Meme #2 - Overflow
🦋 Expand for Test Drive #2 Prompts
🦋 Introduction
Welcome to the Pixie Led Test Drive Meme!
The prompts will always be game canon, provided both characters who participate in a thread are either already in the game, or get accepted in the next application round.
You do not need an invitation to join the Test Drive Meme, it's open for anyone!
Please indicate character name and canon in the subject line of your top-level. For current characters, you may also indicate your character's court.
For prospective players, Invites open on the 18th, Reserves on the 20th, and Applications on the 22nd. Thanks for checking us out and we hope you'll join us!
🦋 The Party
You wake up at a party.
You're not sure how, exactly, you got here. You may have just been walking in the woods or at a meeting for work or doing any other normal activity for you. But you know you weren't supposed to be at this party, you're fairly certain.
Anyone you ask about it will say the party is for you. You and the others also waking up and looking confused. Further questions will lead to the partygoers insisting you have something to eat. You're starving and others are eating the food without repercussion, so you figure there's no harm in a bite. You finish your portion.
It's a garden party at the crack of dawn, with the sun still in its early stages of climbing through the yonder, casting a good mix of pastel hues of blue, pink, and beige on everything. Heralding the first day of spring, the Ruler of the Spring Court has found it fitting to arrange this gathering where guests can feel the blades of grass touching their ankles, as well as the rich soil beneath their feet. Flowers of all kinds surround the party as if they were carefully curated. With spring as the "dawn of seasons," which marks a transition from winter's latency to the resurgence of life everywhere, the Ruler of the Dawn Court has also seen it fit to host aspects of this party during the one time of the year that dawn occurs the whole day. Tall candles and torches grace the outskirts of the garden party, providing warmth and an orange glow everywhere. Not one flame goes out even with the occasional wind, the Duchess always makes sure of this.
There are also freshly picked blossoms and branches with leaves on every table accenting the festive spread of food and drinks. This time, a lot of the food prepared for the Adopted guests are familiar to them with a little bit of a twist. Burgers might come in small packages and in toothpicks, while hotdogs in buns are also diminutive. Cookies look delectable but they have a flowery flavor to them, as if eating freshly picked daisies or daffodils. Fruits that may have been present in an Adopted's home, such as pineapples and watermelons, have seeds in odd places. Picking this selection of food is an attempt to be more welcoming and to appease the lovely guests the fae have invited.
As the party winds down and everyone's eaten, a tall, stately woman stands up and speaks. You feel her voice more than hear it.
I am the Lawspeaker of the Fae, elected by Seelie and Unseelie alike, and you are all, now, subjects of Faerie. You cannot leave this realm once you have eaten our food, and even if you could, there is no saying how much time has passed back where you're from. Your loved ones are likely dead, your problems have likely played out. We require assistance in various matters, and each of you has been chosen for your talent and skill. You will be adopted by one of the Seelie or Unseelie Courts based on your strengths and personality. Your Court will decide what to do with you from there.
As suddenly as she stood, she sits back down.
🦋 Chance at a Dance
A party is not complete without dancing, of course, and while during the last gathering held for the Adopted, different fae danced to music exclusively for them around a glowing tree, this time they are insisting their guests to join in.
This is a party for you, after all.
If the prodding of the different fae hosts won't convince you, perhaps the music will. They play easily recognizable tunes that their wonderful guests must have heard before. These melodies have certain unique effects to their mortal attendees, which are as follows:
- Upbeat Music: You will believe that you and your dance partner have been friends forever and have known each other a long time.
- Romantic Music: You will become amorous and flirtatious towards your dance partner.
- Slow Music: You will develop some tension with your dance partner. It may be negative or sexual; completely up to you.
- Quiet Music: You will assume your dance partner is a threat and try to fight them.
🦋 Flower Power
At the Spring King's behest, every Adopted should wear a flower corsage or boutonnière to the gathering. After all, this is to celebrate the coming of spring and what better way to do that than to honor everything in bloom.
The thing is, though, the King of Spring, while amorous and friendly, also has a penchant for playing with mortals' memories, if not also affect their desires and despairs.
So, mischievous as he is, he made sure to enchant the different flowers present in every corsage and boutonnière for the party with the effects below:
- Rose: You will recall a horrific trauma
- Carnation: You will see a vision of your future, whether it's good or bad
- Orchid: You will remember a time you lost someone
- Chrysanthemum: You will believe someone among the Adopted is your soulmate
- Dahlia: You will believe you betrayed someone important to you, whether you actually did or not
It is perhaps a good thing that no one but the Adopted are allowed to see these visions and memories, but everyone who wears a corsage or boutonnière will be able to see each other's memories and visions when in close enough physical proximity to the vision-haver, for better or for worse.
🦋 GEIS
You feel a vibration in your pocket sometime after the Lawspeaker addresses everyone. When you search for the source, you will pull out your Leaf, the device the Fae use to stay in touch with each other. Anyone who's used a smart phone will easily recognize how it works.
Greetings, Adopted. This is your Lawspeaker.
Tell us all of a time you gave someone a gift. Perhaps a bouquet of flowers or a box of chocolates. Was it appreciated or not? A reward might await the most meaningful gift given.
no subject
She sounds vaguely skeptical, a well-honed defense mechanism more than anything else: if she doesn't believe it, she doesn't have to be disappointed if it ends up untrue. But the thing is, no matter how much a part of her wants to shut down, tell herself it doesn't matter, she obviously can't, because for all of her internal bluster about wanting to get angry and indignant all she really wants to do is give him a hug and plead with him to never run off again.
Nothing about their current situation is ideal for that. But she can improvise. They're outside, in a garden, and while they can't leave, they can at least get to the fringes of it and sit down, even if it's on the grass. Rogue tilts her head, gesturing in the direction of a spot that looks empty enough. "C'mon. I hate crowds." It's muttered, soft, but she knows he can hear her.
no subject
"Yeah, I ain't keen on them either." His eyes follow her line of sight, noting the emptier space towards the back of the garden. He takes a step behind her, his hand instinctively brushing against her lower back. It's a simple gesture, one he'd made a hundreds of times before, but now he feels unsure about it. His fingers curl away and he clears his throat, his voice dropping to a murmur as well. "Not to mention half of the folk here look...downright unnerving." Fucking weird more like it. But he hold his tongue on that thought.
no subject
"Unnerving. Right." She's being deliberately clipped, not saying what she wants to because she feels like she's going to crack if she does. Parroting his words feels safer. This can't be real. It has to be a hallucination or dream. It'll morph into some of Erik's or Logan's more violent memories soon, the ones that usually have her waking up in a cold sweat.
And if it's a dream, there's really no point to grilling him, there's no point to any of it, honestly, it's just her brain's neurons firing to sort through all the stuff tangled up there.
Still.
Once they reach the edge of the garden, she turns back to him, eyes still too wide. Except now they look hurt instead of startled. "Where were you?"
no subject
"I–" Logan exhales a sharp breath through his nose, his jaw clenching slightly. How was he supposed to even begin answering that question? It was so simple and direct, and yet there was just too much to unpack. "I left after alcatraz. Spent most of my time in Yukon." Pause. "I couldn't stand the looks of pity and...fear."
Because even though killing Jean had ultimately been the only way to end the terror the phoenix had unleashed, people had started to fear him. The phoenix was eviscerating people left and right, and him, The Wolverine, was the only one who had the ability to withstand her power.
He swallows, hoping to ease the dryness in his throat. "But it wasn't just that...I just..." He shakes his head, "wasn't the same. Nothing was the same." His eyes shift to meet hers, his fingers twitching at his side as if wanting to reach out, maybe brush her shoulder like old times.
"And you were gone too...I figured you had found your place somewhere else."
no subject
And she’d felt even guiltier when she’d heard how that fight had gone down, realized that Logan had had to be the one to physically stop Jean.
She’s spent a lot of time thinking of her powers as largely useless in the field, especially when she compares them to Bobby’s or Kitty’s or Piotr’s. But that one time, that one specific time, if she’d been there, could things have ended differently? Could she have gotten close enough to Jean to drain her powers so they would have at least had a chance to talk her down? And, even if not, could she at least have borrowed Logan’s powers and done what he’d been forced to do instead? Maybe actually have been the one to protect him for once instead of the other way around.
Possibly. Maybe. She’ll never know, though, and the hurt fades further, replaced by the guilt that’s welling up in her chest.
Even worse, she’s gutted to hear that he’d actually thought her taking the Cure meant she’d leave all of them, and him especially, behind. “I was always coming back, Logan…” It’s soft, more thawed than the way she’s been speaking to him so far.
“And I wouldn’t have been afraid of you. I don’t know how to be afraid of you. Never have. Never will.” That much is constant, anyway, even if her powers and the state of the world back home aren’t.
no subject
However, if he were to look back into how he felt that day at Alcatraz, maybe he did wish she would have been there – fighting alongside just as she'd done through countless drills. But at the end of the day, wishes and what ifs only made the swirl of all these emotions and regrets worsen, causing an unpleasant tightness in his chest.
"I didn't know... I thought you were goin' to try and find a home somewhere else. Away from the madness that comes with the territory of being a mutant." He shakes his head, letting a soft huff of air through his nose.
His eyes soften as well, a mixture of his own regret and guilt plaguing his gaze. Because if he would have kept his promise to her, if he would have had the balls to communicate what he was feeling, if he would have seen past his own misery, then maybe things would have been different. He wouldn't have wasted so much time wallowing in his self pity. And there they were again – those useless maybes, could haves, and should haves.
He swallows, his eyes softening further as he hears her soft reassurance. Or what he perceives to be a reassurance. In a way they were very similar, in the sense that not once were they ever afraid of each other, regardless of powers and accidents. He had full on stabbed her, and she had drained him of his life force. And yet she never shied away from him, and he had still been willing to die for her in that torch.
"I know Rogue. You've never been scared of me. Not once. Not even when I was a stranger with knives comin' out of his knuckles in some bumfuck bar in the middle of Canada." With a soft breath, he sets his hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for that...for not bein' afraid of me. But still kid, I chipped a little piece off myself the day I killed Jean. And I didn't know...how to deal with it. I ain't sayin' that to justify how I left, but I just would have only brought more misery to an already broken place."
no subject
But, as bad as losing them had been, the real sucker-punch for her had been losing Logan.
Rogue glances away, jaw working, knowing that the just fine facade she's been determined to present for the past five or so years will be threatened by seeing any more of his expression reflecting the thawing in hers.
"I'm sorry," she blurts out before she can reconsider. "I should've been there. On Alcatraz. With you. With all of you. Maybe if I had been..." Her eyes swing back to his, and the guilt's back. "I heard what happened. It shouldn't have been you." To have to stop Jean the way he had. "I know no one else there could have done it but... I could have. I should have been there."
She's been so focused on the fact that his absence had left a gaping void, and that she'd needed him -- when she'd broken up with Bobby, when her powers had returned, when the world had started to get even more frightening for mutants -- that she hasn't really considered the ways she hadn't been there for him.
no subject
He too, had focused on all the wrong things. He had been so caught up in an unhealthy fixation on a woman who had been long gone and had shut the world away, little by little. It started the moment he realized Jean was alive, and went on after he killed her. And by doing so, he allowed his pain to blind him, not allowing him to see that there were people who were alive and breathing that needed him. That cared about him.
"No, no don't apologize kid." He pauses for a moment, searching for the right words to ease the guilt reflected in her eyes. "Yes, there's a part of me that would've wanted you there. But not for these reasons that are eatin' you up."
"I would've wanted you there because you would've kicked some ass. I would've wanted you because maybe then, you'd be able to see that you were just as much part of the team as everyone else." He realizes his hand is still on her shoulder, and slowly brings it down, giving her upper arm a gentle squeeze.
"But I want you to understand somethin'. That burden of killing Jean wasn't anyone's but my own. I wasn't goin' to let anyone stain themselves with her blood. Not to mention, I woulda never allowed you to get close to her. When I went into that fight, I knew in the back of my mind what the outcome would be. In some way or 'nother. But if you would have tried...and gotten hurt...or worse, that's not somethin' I—" Logan stops talkin', unable to verbalize anymore. Because if Rogue had been there, if she had gone up against Jean the potential of her getting hurt or killed, well that was an outcome he would have never wanted to think about.
no subject
"You can't protect me from everything, Logan. Would've been my choice anyway." Something twists a little in her expression before she adds: "And if I'd realized I had a choice between doing it myself or leaving it all on you... well. Being a little scared of getting hurt wouldn't have stopped me."
If she's learned absolutely nothing else from him (and that wouldn't be accurate anyway, because she's learned plenty from him) it's the value of self-sacrifice. Especially when it comes to the people you care about.
Her gloved hand comes to rest on his hand on her upper arm, the fabric probably giving away that the Cure's long since stopped working, assuming he hasn't already pieced that eventuality together from how colossally it had failed with other people. Really, the whole thing had been ill-conceived and even more poorly executed. And, somehow, no one had caught that it wasn't even going to last.
It might be a blessing in disguise; she'd regretted taking it, even if it had given her back the ability to touch people temporarily. Had felt like she'd taken the easy way out, and for what? A guy who'd been making eyes at a mutual friend? She'd been frustrated, sure. And insecure. And jealous. And that had all led her to act irrationally. So at least it hadn't been permanent. Even if she's still struggling with accepting her powers years later.
Rogue frowns a little, squeezing his hands with her fingers. "You said you were on your way back. Did you figure we needed a little of that misery you think you bring with you? Or did you realize you were wrong about that?"
no subject
He allows his features to relax, almost to a smile and yet it seems like his facial muscles have forgotten how to complete it. He feels the soft material of her glove over his hand, and yes it had been one of the first things he had noticed. But he had been so used to seeing her covered up, that it didn't click that the cure had failed. Of course it had. Magneto had shown up in that airport afterall, controlling the metal within Logan.
It was even explained to him, by the Professor. But now it clicked. Then again, it didn't matter to him. Cure or no cure, powers or no powers, she was still Rogue, the person who took a chance on him when he wasn't even willing to take a chance on himself.
"Well, I did spent 'nough time wallowin' in my own bullshit." He rumbles out, and although it's meant as somewhat of a joke, all he manages is a short huff of air through his nose.
Logan turns over her question, his hand flexing in her smaller fingers and realizes his answer is probably not what she wants to hear. Because yes, he had been coming back. But technically because he was met by Charles and Erik, asking him to join a fight against a company he still didn't have the full details of. But he would have headed back eventually.
"The Professor and Erik came to find me. Said there were forces plottin' the downfall of mutants or somethin'. I didn't get fully briefed before I wound up here."
no subject
It's not important enough to make a big deal of, and it sounds like he doesn't know much about what's been going on at the school anyway for it to be anything but faint background noise compared to everything else.
"They've been working on getting the Sentinel program up and running. Looks like it's gonna pass too." Maybe it has by the time he's picked up by the Professor and Erik.
He's right; it's not exactly what she wants to hear. Isn't entirely sure that, if he hadn't, apparently, been found, he would have actually planned on coming back at all. But--
That also doesn't really matter. He's here now, wherever the hell here is, and she's here, and they're both stuck here, with Sentinels and the school and Alcatraz all a world away.
Rogue gives his fingers another quick squeeze and then she's moving to give him a hug in the same careful way she'd done numerous times over the years, wary of exposed skin but comfortable enough with him not to be skittish. "Don't you tell me you're wanting to protect me if you've got any plans to run off again the second we get out of this place."
no subject
But he doesn't continue speaking about it, because at this point in time, wherever they were stuck in, well it didn't matter. He couldn't do anything about it anymore. But the hope that everyone back in their world and time remained safe stayed in the back of his mind.
Before he can say anymore, she's pulling him close into one of her measured hugs. A hug — something he had wanted to give her since the moment he saw her, but feared she would reject him.
His arms wrap around her as well, but he foregos the carefulness, knowing well the angle would protect him from her skin, not that he feared a little zap. And it feels warm, and like no time has passed. She still smells sweet like peaches, and still holds him like she did all those years ago. Yes, wary of her own skin but never of him. He even lifts her a just a bit off the ground, "I'm done runnin' kid." His arms loosen slightly, not wanting to overwhelm her, "And.. I'm sorry for bein' a shit friend."
no subject
“You don’t have to apologize,” she says quickly. He really doesn’t. She might have been hurt. Might have taken it a bit personally. Might have even been angry about him leaving. But that doesn’t mean he’d actually done anything wrong. In a lot of ways, he’s the least selfish person she knows, and had simply, finally, hit the breaking point.
She can’t begrudge him that.
Doesn’t mean she wants to risk him disappearing again.
Still, her arms eventually loosen around him too and she leans back a little so she can look up at him. “Don’t actually need a lot of protecting these days.” Her smiles a little wry, a little lopsided. “I’ve spent a lot of time in the Danger Room.” Mostly to keep busy, to feel useful. To keep from brooding and overthinking. Bruises and sore muscles had been easier than feeling.
“Doesn’t mean I don’t want you to anyway.”
no subject
He exhales a soft breath, briefly grazing his chin over the top of her head before she pulls back. And when she mentions her training, his eyes sweep over her briefly, before giving a slight nod. "Oh yeah?" Logan brings a hand over to her upper arm and squeezes gently, "Hm, yeah I can see it. Buildin' up those muscles."
The moment has grown lighter, and despite that, he knows what it's like to lose yourself in the physicality of fighting and training. He knows, that most likely than not, it was a way to keep herself occupied. Not only that, he wonders how long the impending dangers of the Sentinels had been held over the mansion before Charles and Erik reached out to them.
With a slight nod, he runs his hand down her arm, "I got you, kid. Made a promise a long time ago didn't I?"