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pixieledmemes2025-03-15 08:32 am
Test Drive Meme #2
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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.
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.
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.
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
[There's an absurd urge to ask Loki if he checked up on Clint. A childish desire to ask if Loki ever even thought about him after. Like that would change things, somehow. Like that would make things feel a little more worth it, in retrospect. If he had left any kind of impression.
But it's not his Loki. Apparently. And furthermore, it doesn't make a lick of god damn difference, and he needs to keep those thoughts as inside thoughts before he makes himself sick with incredulity at his own subconscious.]
no subject
[ the tree shatters into green sparks that fade in the air, and loki twists his fingers back together again in his lap. one thumb rubs against the other one, looking oddly anxious for a moment before he stills his hands again. ]
Sometimes, I follow one person's life from start to finish. It's a little voyeuristic, but I can't leave Yggdrasil, so I don't think there's any particular harm in it. [ he pauses for a few moments, opens his mouth, closes it again, pressing his lips flat. he regards the other man silently for the space of several breaths, then tries again. ] I won't tell you anything about your future, if that's what you really want to ask. Those decisions are yours to make.
no subject
In fucking Yggdrasil.]
No. I don't want to know about my future. [Because what he'd like is for it to be 'you stay retired and everything goes great and you live just long enough to see your kids grow up to be happy adults and then die in some spectacular freakshow fashion because you were never going to avoid that, now, come on, be serious', but he doesn't want to know. He's not sure if that screws up time. This probably screws up time. Everything he's being told probably screws everything up, unless it doesn't, and that's why Loki's telling him? Mostly, mostly he just wants to know if Loki understands him, where he's at right now, the reasons Loki isn't the worst thing to happen to him anymore, but the more Loki talks, the less it seems like it matters. Certainly not on a cosmic scale.
Which. Is sounding more and more like the kind of scales Loki works with now.]
Obviously someone figured out a way for you to leave. Unless you tossed an illusion of yourself here for fun.
no subject
and more importantly, while he's here, he doesn't want to know. ]
Mm, [ he agrees, brows knitting as he shifts in the chair, planting his elbow on the arm and his chin on the backs of his fingers. his eyes are drawn back toward the fae officials attending the party, expression taking on a worried hint. ] Somehow, they've stabilized the tree without me being physically there, but I don't know how. [ he can still feel the threads of the tree woven through him, through his magic, so he hasn't been cut off from it, at least. that would be.. disastrous.
it's nothing he wants to consider at the moment, though. instead, his gaze returns to the other man, the worried look smoothing into question instead. ] Barton-- [ he hesitates, straightening again. ] Be careful here. You'll want to be cautious of the court rulers, as well as what you say to the fae and how you say it. [ a beat. ] There's also another Loki here-- [ well, there's sylvie, too, but she doesn't identify as a loki, and he wouldn't warn people about her anyway. ] --and they seem to be fairly well-meaning, but.. [ a click of his tongue. ] .. still a Loki, yes?
no subject
A guy that lives in a tree in the center of all realities or something, but it's apparently made him come out the other side way more chill than Clint ever knew. That and his oddball temporal caseworker team that used to erase timelines and now protects them. For reasons.]
Is this your version of apologizing? [He wishes it came out snappier. Would an apology help? No. If he's honest with himself, it wouldn't mean a damn thing. It happened what feels like a lifetime ago, and he built himself back up, put himself back together, and moved on. Still, the idea that Loki would want to give helpful warnings to him is difficult to reconcile with.] Are all Lokis, you think, like you? Like you were, anyway. [Even a well-meaning Loki is still a Loki. And here Clint thought he has self-image issues.]
no subject
If it would help to hear one, it's the least of what I owe you. But no, I'm telling you this because it's information that you ought to know, and that I hope will help you while you're here.
[ he shifts in his seat, foot bobbing again at the question, a small grimace twisting his expression. ]
.. Most of us are, [ he admits. ] There are a few exceptions, from what I've seen, and some of us do change-- [ the old man. the kid. sylvie. loki himself. ] --but by and large, we're villains. [ his mouth quirks in a crooked not-quite-smile. ] It's not.. written in stone, not anymore, and I hope to see more Lokis rise above the role of the villain. Eventually.
[ though he's not holding his breath, either. lokis are chaotic by nature, and chaos doesn't lend itself well to neat, orderly ideas of morality. even with all the eternity he's had to grow and change as a person, loki wouldn't call himself the heroic sort, and none of the others have the benefit of his experience beyond time. ]
Anyway, [ he adds after a moment, ] as much as we both know I love to talk about myself.. may I ask about you? Where you're coming from on the timeline, I mean. And if you're feeling a bit better. [ he doesn't look quite so shaky now, at least. ]
no subject
But if that's the wording Loki wants to use, he can have it.
And maybe a little warning is appreciated. Sure. It's the least Loki can do.
He finally picks up the glass when the attention turns to him proper, takes a swig, and it's cool and refreshing and probably not poisoned or drugged, but would it matter all that much at the moment if it were? Loki as a distraction has worked, the jitters and the awful churn in his gut and the drums pounding in his chest slowed down, focus and focus and focus instead of spiraling off.]
So you've actually been checking in on me, actually know my history? I just met Kate. I brought her home for Christmas, with the dog. [Does it matter? Does it matter to Loki, for Loki? Does it matter to him if Loki who oversees countless timelines now apparently knows?] If that means anything to you. [More mumbled into his glass. Maybe he'll have to flip through thinking what all the other Clints Bartons have been up to. Maybe he's not exactly unique in the universe.
A humbling thought.]