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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.
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[ It might even be panicking a little bit. It's only just started to deal with what it would label as normal enough emotions, this is something different and it really, really, does not like it. ]
How do we stop it.
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[ Castiel doesn't like it either - feelings that he doesn't truly recognize, emotions that he's only barely coming to understand. Caring, yes, he knows that one - he cares for Dean, deeply, and in ways that are very different than Sam.
But this is all consuming. There's a need to be close, closer than they are, and it takes every sliver of his grace to keep from closing the gap completely. ]
I'm sorry.
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βππ£ππ π£πππππ π£πππππππππ₯πͺ ππ₯ π π π‘ππ£ππππ₯ πππ ππ£π π‘π‘πππ.
This is really fucking it up, and it's right there on its face, too. It's never gotten particularly good at controlling its facial expressions when shit is going down. ]
lmfasodakj
I would ask if you're alright, but that seems like a stupid question.
[ Neither of them are, and the feeling of helplessness intensifies when someone bumps into Castiel, sending him stumbling ever closer. ]
You look...ill.
MB: do NOT percieve me!! !
[ Rational, Murderbot. Super calm and collected, really. And why did its legs just unlock, it did not authorize that--
Gritting its teeth as it fights the magic's control, it takes a full step forward. ]
This feels almost like being under a combat override. I don't--
[ βππ£ππ π£πππππ π£πππππππππ₯πͺ ππ₯ ππ π‘ππ£ππππ₯. ]
im fucking wheezing DON'T LOOK AT ME!!
[ Which is infuriating all on its own, but Castiel can't seem to do anything about it beyond take another tiny step. An arms reach away, at this point. ]
I think I understand. [ Castiel really should understand, with the number of times he's had his mind wiped by Naomi, but that isn't a thing he's aware of just yet. ] It feels as if it's out of my hands.
8D
βππ£ππ π£πππππ π£πππππππππ₯πͺ ππ₯ ππ π‘ππ£ππππ₯ πππ ππ£π π‘π‘πππ. ]
If I have an emergency shutdown, do not do anything creepy and weird to me.
[ It doesn't know what that would even be. Just don't. ]
I will know. And then I will shoot you until I feel better about it.
[ It's hard to mean it in the moment, with all this influence clouding its mind. But it still does mean it. ]
π
I won't. [ Castiel is a weird, creepy angel, but at least all he would do would be to throw it in a random room (who cares who it belongs to) and shove a pillow under its head - that's how Dean took care of him, so clearly that's how everyone else should be taken care of. ] That would be understandable. You still can at some point, if it makes you feel better.
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[ Big words coming from someone oh-so delicately brushing the pads of its thumbs across Castiel's closed eyelids.
Thankfully, the compulsion from Murderbot's side seems satisfied by this level of intimacy. It can't seem to jerk away, but it's also not having to fight against the urge to do anything any grosser.
It doesn't touch people outside of an emergency. Especially not with its skin.
But this feels... not as horrifying as it would have guessed. Fine, almost. If the situation wasn't so fucked up. ]
no subject
Still, at least he isn't shorting out and on the verge of shutting down, so at least there's that.
(yet)
He lets a breathy exhale escape through his lips, and keeps his eyes closed. It's fine, this is fine. ]
Alright.
[ It isn't like he hasn't had buckshot put in him before, though that had hurt poor Jimmy far more than it had bothered Castiel. ]
no subject
Whatever.
Castiel is very accepting of potential future pain to make Murderbot feel better, anyway. Murderbot stares down at him with narrowed eyes, and it's... giving it an emotion.
It hates that.
So it drops its thumbs from Castiel's closed eyelids to his cheekbones, and uses its hands to tip this 'Angel of the Lord''s face up. ]
Don't be so calm about that.
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Poor, poor Jimmy. It's for the best he's dead now. ]
Ah...you have my apologies.
[ He's off kilter and wrong footed, lashes fluttering and eyes reopening to peer up, stormy blue and penetrating. But he means it, truly. He doesn't mind being shot at if it brings some comfort to this...thing. Creature. Being. Normally he would not, but this is different. Obviously. Just look at this β¨chemistryβ¨. ]
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Fucking fragile, stupid, dumb, idiotic, reckless humans. Why do some of them have to be nice and ruin everything? It would be so much easier if they were all like the corporation management personnel it had had to obey when it was company property. Then it could turn its back on all of them and just travel around on unmanned cargo transports watching media for the rest of its existence.
But nooooo. Some of them have to be worth protecting.
Assholes.
This is something else it probably would have never done with someone, or at least definitely not anytime soon of its own volition--
Murderbot drops its hands (good!) and grabs Castiel in a fierce, kind of angry hug (bad!). ]
...
[ It's actively being careful with its strength. Thankfully for the body Castiel is currently hanging out inside of. Snapping human bones is less than nothing to a SecUnit, but Murderbot has done enough rescues and grabbed enough humans to save them from immediate peril that it knows how to dial it back. ]
no subject
Were he alive. Anyway.
The being in front of him is quite tall - taller than Sam, which seems impossible, and so when he's grabbed up, he tucks in nicely right under its chin.
Odd. ]
Oof.
[ And its strong.
It's strange thing, to be hugged. Dean's never done it, but Castiel has seen other people embracing. To experience it himself is a different matter, and though while it's rather, ah, tight, it's kind of...nice.
Very slowly and carefully, he lifts his hands and returns the hug, awkwardly patting its back, entirely unsure of the proper protocol. ]
no subject
[ So hey, at least they're both uncomfortable.
Murderbot visually looks like a very tall human, but with all this contact and even the patting to its back, it'll be obvious there's spots under that jacket that don't have any give to them. Like patting an anvil with a coat slung over it.
Its forearms, too, since they're currently cinched around the awkward angel. There's give like normal muscle in spots, and zero give in others where the built-in energy weapons are tucked away. ]
I don't like this.
[ A lie. Part of it does, but it's the part that's being influenced by whatever's got ahold of them. And surely only that part. Definitely. For sure. ]
no subject
[ An anvil with a coat hugging a slab of marble with a coat. Aren't they just immediate besties? ]
I don't...hate it.
[ Maybe it's the influence, maybe he means it. Castiel is not used to physical touch beyond Dean slapping his shoulder on occasion, patting him on the back, things like that. This is something entirely new for him.
And...no. He doesn't hate it. ]
no subject
This feels... weirdly not tense.
Almost relaxing. ]
I.... might not. Completely hate it.
[ It really, really needs to set that one-second delay on its mouth. ]
no subject
Castiel can feel tense muscles start to ease, his weight sagging a little against the taller frame he's pressed against, eyes sliding shut again. ]
Admittedly, I've been through much worse.
no subject
Don't issue any challenges to this place.
[ It doesn't relax physically, but its body isn't really designed to without it doing it on purpose. Breathing is weird, shallow, no lung capacity to speak of, but it also needs less oxygen. There is a heartbeat... sort of, but it's decentralized, multiple circulatory systems doing their things inside.
They're both weirdos, but Murderbot's also in a weird body. ]
no subject
[ Smart, considering they'd fought a dragon a month ago. He's not sure what the future will bring, but tempting fate (Atropos doesn't seem to be here, but she likes to lurk in the shadows) isn't exactly smart.
Two weirdos in weird bodies, having a cuddle in the middle of a. weird party. It's fine, this is all just fine.
Nice, too. ]
no subject
There's another component, this... fondness. It's a little like what it feels about ART, except ART is a massive ship's too-smart bot-pilot, for lack of anything that can actually describe it.
And despite how nearly-incomprehensibly powerful the damn thing is, Murderbot has, in fact, still murdered the ever living shit out of some people who'd hurt it, before.
It's feeling similarly about Castiel, right now. Like if someone harms this person, it's going to enjoy ripping their limbs off one by one.
Now, protectiveness over humans? Weirdly normal for Murderbot. Even humans it just met. No, it doesn't understand it either.
But this degree? It's making its performance reliability sink just considering what sort of bullshit might befall this guy here, in this weird-ass party full of what it can only assume to be rampant alien remnant contamination. And contamination isn't something Murderbot can just... kill the shit out of. Or even protect anyone from.
It may even be a vector itself, by now. It could be contaminating Castiel even as it considers the danger.
βππ£ππ π£πππππ π£πππππππππ₯πͺ ππ π‘ππ£ππππ₯ πππ ππ£π π‘π‘πππ.
This is not good. Murderbot has no idea how to process panic that it can't do a damn thing about, and it's sending its whole system into a tailspin. ]
I am-- emergency shutdown.
[ Time to warn its... person, though its ability to process outgoing speech is breaking up. ]
I will-- limp for-- minutes. Just let-- drop. Heavy.
no subject
But instead he simply sags against its frame, cheek resting on its chest as his own rises and falls with breaths he doesn't need to take. ]
Oh. [ Words pull him from his reverie, and he eases back, jaw working, forcing the haze from his mind best he can. ] That's alright.
[ Weight isn't a problem for Castiel - cars, several ton anvils, iron, it's all fine. ]
Do what you must. I will catch you.
no subject
βππ£ππ π£πππππ π£πππππππππ₯πͺ πππ₯ππ€π₯π£π π‘πππ ππ£π π‘.
πππ¦π₯ππ π¨π.
βππ€π₯ππ£π₯.
--going absolutely limp.
All around the party, a lot of tiny little drones freeze in place, hovering where they are. Those nearest Castiel and Murderbot, a small cloud of them overhead, continue to act as though nothing's different, not having been under Murderbot's direct manual control at the time.
And it is heavy, a hell of a lot heavier than a human even of its height would be, and completely dead weight, every joint unlocked. But it's not remotely a several-ton anvil. So. At least there's that. ]
no subject
Carefully, he lays it down, shedding his trench to shove a makeshift pillow up under its head, and then he waits. It's all he can do, he supposes.
Of course, if it takes too long, he may well begin to get anxious and panicky, squirming where he sits and start thinking about calling for help. ]
no subject
No breathing, no weird disjointed pulse. But then those systems kick back on, and several entire minutes later, all at once, Murderbot's eyes open fully. The drones around the party resume moving as it picks up all their inputs again. ]
Fuck.
[ The organic part of its brain is still flushed clean of influence, for the moment. It runs analysis on what had happened before the effects, and after .5 seconds it grabs the flower off its own jacket and hurls it away.
Where is Castiel's? There. It can't reach it from here, so it shoves its sleeve up out of the way, opens the gun port in its forearm, and shoots the flower off the human with a narrow energy burst dialed to be just strong enough to get the job done. This takes only another half of a second to happen, in total. One second since it cursed.
Slow, but it just woke up from a hard shutdown, fight it.
And it could almost do surgery with its onboard energy weapons, so at least there's no danger that anyone could be hit. ]
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