❪ test drive #4 ❫

[natha]

YOUR STORY BEGINS     The Storm came. You only remember darkness, but you don't remember much after that. All you know, perhaps, is that it was cold. You don't know for how long you slept, but the dreams were short, at least. You remember the expanse of stars and the universe that came in view. Every world and solar system ever known was displayed in your dreams in careful, pristine detail. You have also witnessed The Storm, which has devoured a fair portion of these galaxies. It was a dark, thick smog — ominous in appearance and ever foreboding. Your Earth and similar planets were immersed in The Storm. Somehow, you knew it would be the last you'd see of it. That was when she told you what happened, and how you could help. You knew that you'd be living somewhere new, even though you never asked for it. The details here weren't clear, but you knew you'd made a deal with Darma. Not long after, you'll wake at Thesa Station — your body is still cold. It all felt like a dream, but somehow, you knew it wasn't — now, will you keep that promise you made to Darma? PROMPT: THE STORM     CW: death You were awake on Thesa Station. But at some point you, like many other new arrivals before you, wandered into the Observation Deck. Ordinarily, this is where images of The Storm are replayed to remind Refugees of the fate they have escaped. The Natha Orbiters' technology has evolved. They are aware of your gaps in memory. You may have doubts of The Storm even existing, or of your world's destruction. Though they do not wish reliving those last moments on anyone, they have created an experience that will do just that. Before entering the Observation Deck, you are warned that what follows will not be for the weak of heart. As soon as you step in, you will find that the walls around you begin to transform and expand. Welcome to the Planet Cespi, in the Circinus Galaxy. Unfortunately, we were not able to save this world from The Storm's Consumption. These are its last memories. You are surrounded by blue, grassy hills as far as the eye can see and a pleasant breeze. The atmosphere is thick with a sickly sweet smell. Before you lays the scene of a quiet village, with its residents going about their everyday lives. You aren't alone, either, with an equally confused stranger (or perhaps you know each other?) surveying the scene. Then the world grows completely silent for a full minute. You and your partner are unable to make a sound, verbal or otherwise. Without warning, a deafening roar fills your ears and forces you to double over in pain. The villagers run out of their homes in a panic, finding themselves in just as much pain and confusion as you do. Where there was no sound before, now there is too much for a normal human body to process. Look up. An expanding mass of energy is swallowing everything you can see. It consumes the earth, the atmosphere, the depths of space — and it is getting closer. Your only hope is to outrun it, if you can. The people in the village certainly try to, racing past you. Their fear is very real. Their bodies are very real. You may be able to run from it for a time, only able to catch glimpses of this dark and sinister force swallowing everything and everyone. The earth rumbles and separates beneath you. Electricity surges through the sky, and then through your very body. You fought hard, but it is impossible to outrun the Storm forever. You too will be consumed. Your death is quick, but not painless. What were you thinking, before you took your last breath? You awaken back in the Observation Deck, next to your new friend. PROMPT: TRAINING MODULES     While it’s all nice and well to familiarize oneself with Thesa Station, it is most advised that new arrivals venture out a bit. Not physically. No one is quite prepared for that yet. However, there will be several virtual reality training programs set for those who dare to be adventurous. For those who aren’t and don’t dare, well — good luck, all the same. Once seated and appropriately strapped in, the system will automatically whir to life. 1. When you enter the Natha's newest program, at first nothing loads. You might think this is an error as you look around in apparent total darkness, only able to see your own virtual body if you look down, but soon enough a voice comes to life as if speakers have turned on somewhere. Long ago, the lands of El Nysa were dominated by the ancestors of the dragons who now live among the people, tamed. It was pretty dangerous! How about a little history lesson? And then the simulation comes to life— a. The lush lands that blossom to life around you all at once are real enough to make you forget you're in a simulation — at least for a moment. Those refugees who have been to the planet in reality before will find themselves in territory as unfamiliar as those who are brand new, as this simulation takes place far back in history. Instead of sprawling cities and civilizations, the most you'll find is scattered villages, many of them no more than nomadic campsites at best. You've been outfitted to blend in with the natives and these simulated people won't react to you as a newcomer, but as a member of their village. Are you a doctor, or perhaps a warrior? Maybe you're even in charge! But they want your help, and they want it quickly: a dragon is coming. The dragon is larger than the mount-sized breeds that exist on El Nysa today — much larger. It's a good six stories in height, bestial, and angry. Maybe it's then that you notice the lands that surround you are littered with scars of scorched earth, some of them several yards across, and there's a reason these people don't live in one place for very long. But don't linger too long on the makeshift grave markers sticking out of the burnt countryside — the dragon is coming. b. If you're looking for something a little less violent, perhaps another area of the historic simulation will be up your alley. This one finds you on a cliffside, waiting among other villagers for an event the people are talking about in hushed whispers, some of which you can identify as prayer. When the white dragon raises its head up from the depths of the ravine, towering impossibly high over you and the others on the cliffside, it's no wonder most of the natives fall to their knees in awe and wonder. This dragon doesn't attack, only looks at the people on land with an ancient and strange wisdom. Then it speaks. Not in words, but the low rumbling sound that starts in its throat and becomes a full trumpeting bellow to the sky seems to have meaning, and somehow, you can understand its cry as it entreats the people to praise and worship. The natives around you are already starting to give offerings with their prayers, food and carvings and — blood? Is that someone's arm being offered up? That's different. 2. Let us now travel forward in time, shall we? a. The Olympian settlement around you is quiet — until the screaming starts. Guerilla fighters from Wyver flood the streets, knocking civilians aside and breaking down doors and windows when they find their way barred. They move methodically, advancing toward the nicer parts of town where the politicians reside and leaving terror in their wake. They're here for the politicians, people say. They're here to punish the people who made the decision to advance into Wyver in the first place. Blood for blood, as the saying goes. Where they'll be taking them once they have them is anyone's guess. A soldier emerges from a building, dragging someone in elegant clothing out by the hair. Looks like they've found one. Will you rescue them? Make a run for it yourself, lest you be mistaken for one of their targets? Or maybe they've already caught you and some other unfortunate Refugee who's been dropped into this simulation, and the two of you need to figure out a way to escape. b. CW: branding You find yourself in the midst of a bustling crowd gathered at the Temple of Thesa. Robed acolytes stoke fires on either side of the altar at the front of the temple, where miserable-looking people who seem to be from a village in Wyver await, bound in ropes. The priest, at the front of the crowd, picks up a metal brand from the altar and gestures for another acolyte to bring a prisoner forward. The crowd watches with interest as the prisoner is forced to kneel in front of the altar, their arm laid out flat on the marble surface. Another cry — "For the glory of Olympia!" — and the crest of the city is burned into the prisoner's arm. The crowd cheers, deafening the cries of pain. The priest ushers forward another prisoner, and then another. Is that a familiar face you see in the lineup, thrust into this bit of history by the simulation's whims? You have to do something. Or are you unlucky enough to find yourself bound? ...Well, hopefully someone else in the crowd has more scruples than this priest. 3. And now, the present. After all those enlightening scenes, the simulation finally brings you to a more quiet area of Olympia. You are deposited out somewhere in The Outlook, a place the very first group of refugees had to trudge through before they found their homes. You've arrived in the early evening — but sunlight is waning, and soon you'll be under a sky full of stars. Luckily, their old campsites aren't too overgrown. The intention here is to get you familiar with some of the local flora and fauna. What sorts of plants will you encounter? Do you find yourself under a Verillum Tree, suddenly compelled to be painfully honest and truthful in conversation with a complete stranger? Find yourself behaving erratically in the presence of Whistleweed? Or perhaps you'll have to break the spell of being trapped in a Vena Amoris' vines... with a kiss. PROMPT: STASIS UNIT     You have found the massive section of Thesa known as the Stasis Unit. There’s no special access required to enter this part of Thesa Station, but refugees are warned that it may not be for the faint of heart. Here, in large pods that nearly cover every square inch of the space, are all of the people the Orbiters have managed to rescue. Your loved ones, your greatest enemy, your next door neighbor — you might find them here. These people are in a state of deep cryosleep. Due to the damaging effects of The Storm, their bodies are not yet ready to be awoken. PROMPT: OMAGE     Upon receiving your mobile phone, you will be asked to set a username. Voila, you can now access the network! You can choose to send a message to the entire network, specific usernames, or you can try out the Orbiters’ service, Omage, which connects you to a random user. They thought this might be a good way for their new guests to make friends with each other... Connecting to server... Looking for someone you can chat with... You’re now chatting with [username]... Say hi! PROMPT: WILDCARD     You are welcome to write any scenarios in Thesa Station! Characters have been granted temporary access to the Observation Room, and are encouraged to study it carefully. FINAL OOC NOTE     These threads may be carried over as game canon if players choose! Players are encouraged to submit TDM threads as application samples, but they are not required. Please direct any OOC questions to the questions thread below! An AC-length thread may be submitted for 2 NATHA ORBITER REPUTATION POINTS after acceptance here. Please submit by February 18th. We will no longer be providing overflow posts. In an event where the post hits CAPTCHA, players are advised to move threads to an overflow post on their character journals or create their own catch-all post. These threads remain eligible for REP. There will be an application cap of 60, and no reserves. Please read here for more information. QUICK NAV premise ● faq ● lore ● map ● npcs taken ● atp/emp ● application ● rep/acp calendar ● hiatus/drops ● modbox [ FULL NAVIGATION ] elnysa nysalogs nysaisles nysaooc elnyan

Comments

[reek]

[ They were at war over it, actually, but NOW SHE HASN'T EARNED THAT INFORMATION. ]

Why is that? Because it's correct?

[logpose]

[ Rude. Don't shout at her. Thankfully, he eventually sees her point, so she doesn't have to try matching his volume in an exclamation in return. The other man sure looks quite worn out, though. She doesn't blame him; a grand display of power like that could probably exhaust anyone. ]

Are you always so dramatic? It's normal to be tired after a fight. [ Normal for her, at least, and she is a normal person. Curling her fingers slightly over his arm, she gives him a nudge in the direction of the hallway. ]

Come on, we can celebrate beating that game with some food.

Eponine Thenardier | Les Miserables

[knowsherway]

The Storm

[ Eponine was a hard one to scare, or so people said. And it wasn't so much that she was scared as it was that she was certain a place like this should not exist, yet from what she could tell, everything felt real enough, at least. The ground felt solid; she herself felt solid, and there seemed to be no arguing the point that for whatever reason, this was real, and she'd been brought here for some purpose.

Upon entering the Observation Deck, Eponine looked about her, trying to determine what might be happening, but before she could even begin to grasp what she was about to see, the walls of the room seemed to change and a terrifying scene of great power and destruction unfolded in front of her. By the time it was over, Eponine looked considerably less brazen than when she'd started, appearing decidedly shaken by what she'd just viewed, but- It was just an image, something not at all real. Except that had happened at some point, had it not? That was what the description seemed to imply.

Eponine shook her head, her mind too full of thoughts about what that might mean for her. She was none too fond of her own world, with all its troubles and people who would bleed you dry if you let them, but to think of that world being destroyed? She did not like to think about it.

Instead of doing that, then, she turned her attention to the individual standing next to her. ]

What do you think of that?

[ Well, that wasn't going to stop her from thinking about what she'd just witnessed, but the words left her mouth before she had gotten her mind and her tongue around them. ]

Stasis Unit

[ Sometime after her ventures around the Observation Deck, Eponine found herself in a different part of the station, a much more unsettling part. It didn't take her long to realize there were people contained inside the pods. ]

How strange.

[ Eponine muttered to herself as she padded along, doing her best to not be noticed. It didn't entirely work, as there was little in the way of things to hide behind, and more importantly, the space was largely empty anyway.

But it was a force of habit, and in a place like this, doing one's best to keep to the shadows, so to speak, seemed like the better option. That is, until Eponine thought she spotted a familiar form contained inside one of the pods, and all thoughts of staying unseen or at least unobserved flew from her mind. All but pressing her face to the glass, she stared and stared again, until it was clear there was no mistake. ]

Oh, monsieur, what are you doing here?

[ There was not much that made Eponine sad, but the sight of this face in particular did not make her very happy, even if she'd once thought of the two of them dying together. Or at the very least, with her dying before him, and him following after. Or perhaps it was that he hadn't died at all, but without knowing the outcome of the students' revolution, she had no way to know that particular detail. ]

I do hope you awaken soon, sir. I have many questions.

[ She'll linger in front of this particular pod for a lengthy period of time. Feel free to engage her! ]

Omage

[ It is by accident that Eponine stumbles on this particular service. At first, it bewilders her, as she is vastly unfamiliar with such technology, but she manages to set a username through mostly blind button pushing. ]

You’re now chatting with Jondrette... Say hi!

Oh how fascinating

[ There ought to be some form of punctuation in there, but this business of typing is odd, and any responses from Eponine come slowly, because this is very unfamiliar technology. ]

Hello
Is anyone there
Have you seen the people in those chambers
When will they wake up

Mess Hall

[ To Eponine, food is a rarity, something scrounged off the street, or begged for, in times of desperation. To find a place dedicated to the serving of food is quite a bit beyond her comprehension.

She lingers by the entrance for a moment, watching people enter, obtain food, consume said food, and leave again. This must be a trick, or something not meant for people like her. It seems too simple, and yet too much of a luxury. A person passes by her, and she quickly reaches out for them with one hand extended, not intending to stop their progress, but to ask before they go: ]

Who is this all for?

[ It might seem an odd question, but people are not welcome in certain places, and Eponine would rather not attract the attention of the police, if any of them are about. ]

[icingonthecake]

Axel knows that Sora isn't Roxas, and frankly he wouldn't do either of them the disservice of thinking otherwise, but... there's something about Sora's eyes that are just a little too close for comfort, and after a moment, Axel has to look away. It isn't that he's looking for Roxas in Sora's eyes, it's that Roxas is just there, somehow and he can't help but see him. It's weird, to look at the kid's Other this way. He knew the whole time that Sora was Roxas' other half, but it's always been strange that they existed simultaneously, and it's even stranger to see Roxas in Sora's eyes when he knows Roxas is also sleeping in that strange room full of pods in the station so high above them.

"Y... hah?" He snaps out of his musing when Sora's words register, and he squints at him like maybe the kid's gone slightly out of focus.

'Here ya go. The icing on the cake.'

Axel has to figure it isn't a turn of phrase explicit to Radiant Garden, but that Sora had chosen that exact phrase...

He shakes his head quickly, rubbing his crown and giving a weak laugh.

"Yeah, exactly," he says, his grin a little uncomfortable for a moment, and then he levels a hand at his shoulder, waggling it back and forth. "If all ya eat is icing, you'll never get any taller."

[carefulapostate]

So I see.

[Fortunately none of his ilk, or so it would seem by the state of Falon'din. Something he was thankful for. Potentially even more fortunately, would be the discrepancy in memory. If not everyone knew of his inevitable betrayal, then perhaps something could be salvaged for him.

However he needed to know more. He couldn't be certain Dorian would be willing to provide him with such information, or if he did he should not expect it to be the whole story, but would be remiss not to make the attempt while the opportunity presented itself.]

Is there anything of note I should be aware of?

takasugi is mature

[shikomizue]

[Soft eyes, pale hair, and a smile that tolerates - on the cusp of something else, but with no chance of what lies behind filtering through.

Takasugi has seen someone wear it better, and that man had been a monster.]

Your face. [Dismissive, he turns back to his liquor. Finishes his drink in kind - though as the last drop passes over his lips he's reaching for and curling his fingers around the bottle.]

Want more? [Tips the bottle, dregs sloshing as his hand sways with the slightest lack of stability.]

[flashystyle]

Is that all you have to ask?

[His lips purse with dissatisfaction.]

Truly? No, oh, Dorian, was it perhaps different from the time you arrived? Had I not explained myself? Because surely, in some universe, you weren't so out of your mind that you did explain yourself.

[carefulapostate]

[He looked down, not snapping back or making any retort to Dorian's ire. There was no retort to be made, Dorian had a right to be angry and for just this once Solas would let him have his moment. If there were others here, others that truly knew of him, he could only imagine what their reactions would be.

He would likely get nothing more from Dorian, and any attempts would only succeed in further stoking the man's ire. So he chooses not to simply go to leave- but at the last moment stops- just as he was about to pass Dorian. There was precious little he could offer to explain himself, but there was one bit of knowledge he could part with, as a favor to one he had once called an ally.]

You asked who it is that lay in that chamber. That is the Evanuris Falon'din. If fate is kind to us, he will continue to slumber until a new method for locking him away can be devised.

[And then Solas continued on, he would stop should Dorian attempt to continue the conversation, nor would he try to dissuade the other from following him.]

[flashystyle]

[Dorian tenses, drawing in on himself and leaning further against the stasis pod as Solas goes to pass him by. It's an insecure and petty reaction, and he should just grin and bear it, but he didn't really have the strength to contain his thoughts of matters of the world. Not after being so utterly defeated time and time again.

But Dorian promptly leans off the pod after Solas continues on, because if the chamber Solas had investigated contained one elven pantheon, it only made sense that he had been leaning on another this entire time. They probably don't appreciate it. He whirls around, a dozens of different questions on the tip of his tongue... but ultimately, he bites it.

Solas doesn't deserve the satisfaction of being right. It'll have to wait for another day.]

is this flirting???

[semblant]

[His brows quirk and furrow; it's not as though he's unaccustomed to people focusing on his looks, it's just..never phased him as it ought to. This is a bit different, nevertheless....]

I see.

[A flat delivery. More dynamic is a hand that moves to steady the bottle, lest he tip it too far one way or the other.]

I still have plenty. I wouldn't want to rob you of the whole thing.

[Now would be a terrible time for him to feel generous with that swill...]

[happylocksmith]

What? No way, you do not! We work hard too!

[Is that a soft punch in your arm Riku? It just might be. It doesn't mean that he's wrong though, and Sora's not afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve and tell his best friend just how much he admires him, how proud of him he is, how he hopes that one day he'll be as strong as he is to have gone through everything he has and come out of it stronger and wiser than any of them could have foreseen when they were small.]

Just you wait, I'll catch up with you in no time, and then Kairi will too when she wakes up and the three of us will be unstoppable.

[happylocksmith]

[Coming face to face with the armour after it nearly pummelled him the first time was pretty spooky. Sora honestly wasn't expecting the armour to come off, or who (or what) would be lurking beneath it, but when the light flashes and the armour disappears, leaving behind it a man Sora's never met, all he can do is stare.

He's not met him, he knows for a fact he's never met this man before but he's seen his face all too recently.

Terra.

Riku had mentioned a Terra visiting the island long ago, when they were kids, but Sora doesn't remember that. Sora remembers chasing a dream of him, and a girl, and the two of them turning and reaching out to him.

Ven.

Sora doesn't know who Ven is. He doesn't know why this stranger - Terra- and the girl with blue hair who seemed oddly familiar to him, would call him that.

So Sora just stares, startled, mouth agape and heart thudding in his chest all of a sudden, almost more unsettled than he was when he found him in the armour.]

You're Terra?

I am so behind on tags forgive me for the lateness

[micromania]

[ It's always interesting when a situation is simultaneously not what she expected to happen and yet...probably exactly what she should have expected to happen. She's a little thankful that Peter didn't full on faint, and a lot thankful that he's a convincing actor. A few heads turn their way but Farah moves to steady Peter, face full of worry. ]

Are you okay? Do you want to sit down?

[ Her arms are steady and she's fully prepared to carry him out of this crowd honestly. Farah looks up and around. ]

Excuse me, I think my friend needs air.

[moedred]

Oof!

[that sure is a rock solid landing. luckily she is also built like a smol model tank, so it's fine.]

Damn! I was so close--!!

[yikes tho, that branch thwapping looks like it would hurt- is he really okay???]

Thanks for the save, gramps, but you really didn't have to...

[she's like a cat she'd have landed on her feet... probably.]

[moedred]

[when that day comes, Mordred may vomit. just saying.

it happens too fast, one minute she's searching in desperation for the familiar blue clad figure held in her memory as the greatest knight and king she'd ever known... but there is no one there. by the time her brain manages to grasp the fact that she's fallen for his trap, Ozy's lips are already laying claim to the pale curve of her cheek. the soft, feather light contact is brief but it's warmth lingers on even after he's pulled away. it leaves her feeling lightheaded (though that could just be the blood rushing to her head from hanging upside down for this long). she grows hot, burning up from the inside out as the realization of what it is he's just done hits her with full force.]

YOU-----!!!!!

[she's beat red from head to toe, a look of utter fury twisting at her facial expression as steam practically billows off of her. she's so mad she doesn't know what to do with herself, which is why she does the first thing that comes to mind, which is to furiously headbutt Ozy in his dumb smug face before he can escape unscathed.

unfortunately that leaves Mordred at a disadvantage once the vines loosen around her and she's suddenly falling without given the time to recollect her wits. which means she's definitely landing right smack dab ontop of Ozy in a disgruntled heap. yeah. good luck with that.]

[antleredcrown]

"Are there many who know him here, then?" Honestly, he doesn't blame anyone for their dislike of Robert. The last few years of his rule had been rocky, to say the least. "I was not aware there were so many Westrosi, being relatively new, myself."

[antleredcrown]

... that is an odd question. "Unless Margaery was very clever at hiding her true sex, even while nude, then the answer to that is none."

[earthy]

... Yes?

[Okay, it's starting to get seriously disconcerting, everyone from their worlds staring at him when they see his face. But at least Sora isn't calling him 'Ansem'... or dropping back into his fighting stance or anything like that.

Terra looks down again for a second then slowly picks himself up.]

You've heard of me somewhere before?

[panzersoldat]

Of course I did. You were in trouble. What sort of knight would I be if I just let you fall after I lifted you up there?

[ He's perfectly fine. He's smiling at her and everything. Laughing too. A branch to the dome isn't going to slow this geezer down. ]

You did. You almost had it. And now it's cornered. It can't go anywhere else. Though maybe you would be safer if you just stood on my shoulders and didn't climb. I wouldn't want you to fall again, young lady.

[ There's another warm laugh and he shakes his head. ]

We'll get your treasure back.

[ Whatever it is, Reinhardt is stubborn enough to help her keep trying. ]

[happylocksmith]

"What, so I can be a beanpole like you?" Sora fires back.

He knows he's not the tallest out there, but hey, he's still growing. Although, maybe there is something to be said about all that sleep stunting his growth. At least he's taller than Kairi, he'll never be able to live that down.

He doesn't miss the weird look Lea gives him after he mentions the icing on the cake. It's then that he remembers that Axel had said it to Roxas when they'd had ice cream after his first week in the Organization and he feels guilty. That was their memory of something important. He needs to be careful, he can't go throwing around Roxas' memories willy-nilly, he knows how precious they are, and he needs to take care of them. Roxas trusted him with them, he's not about to betray that trust.

"Hey, you think they've got pizza here?"

[icingonthecake]

"Pff, you wish, half-pint," he says before he really thinks better of it, and then there's that pang of wistful nostalgia again. Two half-pints make a whole. He really needs to stop accidentally doing that.

He hums in thought when Sora brings up the idea of pizza, though. He hadn't considered that; it's really just bread, sauce, and cheese, even an alien space station has to be able to do that, right?

"Maybe," he says, moving up toward the food line and letting his eyes move across the heated pans of offerings. Most of it looks pretty, uh... alien. There's some strange green noodly-looking stuff that appears to be moving of its own accord, something that resembles mashed potatoes but it's bright purple, and sliced meat of some sort, but it's far too dark to be any animal Axel is familiar with. Further down there are a few things that look a bit less bizarre, at least: something that might be ribs in barbecue sauce if you squint, some sort of fish, he thinks, and what is unmistakably rice, even if it's entirely the wrong color. "Hm... think we should ask? Or are you feeling especially brave today?"

He does want to get this conversation going--he's dying to know how Sora knows his human name, and why the kid's being so doggone friendly. He's sure there's a really strange and interesting story here, but he doesn't just want to wring it out of him. He'd really rather not fight Sora and Riku anymore; being on the same side sounds way easier, so playing nice and trying to be patient is par for the course, at least for the moment.

[happylocksmith]

Riku told me... he said you were another Keyblade user like us but- I've met you before. You don't remember? We fought... when you were in the armour. You thought I was Xehanort. You said... I wasn't the one you chose. I didn't know you were an actual person in there!

[Yeah that sounds stupid, he'll realise that in a minute.

At the moment though, the fight in the wasteland isn't what's troubling him. It's the more recent time that he's struggling with, when Terra called him Ven in his dream. Terra and the girl had looked like they recognised him, they'd reached out to him. They'd known him, and they'd called him Ven.]

I didn't know you were you.

[happylocksmith]

Sora is still really, really hungry but he has to balk a bit at the strange array of foods on offer. It's a very weird selection. He gives it some serious side eye, before looking up at Lea with a half grin and a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Who d'you think you're talking to? I'm always brave." Well, he likes to think so. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Apparently, the universe is laughing at him as one of the servers appears with a fresh vat of what looks like the possible eyeball stew they saw earlier. Sora's face is a mix of horror and apprehension as he quickly looks away at the rib-looking things which he eventually settles on, with a heaped serving of the purple mash. He's not quite brave enough to try anything that's wriggling though. That being said, he's brave enough to pick up a bowl of something cold that looks like a cross between shaved ice and jello that keeps changing colours every time it wobbles.

They find an empty table and move there with their trays, and Sora suddenly realises he has no idea how to even start. He has so much to tell him and he feels like he knows Lea so well already when he really doesn't thanks to Roxas' memories. Will it make him mad if acts too friendly too soon? He hopes not.

He pushes at the mound of purple potatoey things with a fork, grimacing a little as they make a weird slurping noise as he does, before he finally bites the proverbial bullet and takes a bite.

His face immediately brightens.

"Hey neat, it tastes just like bacon!"

[icingonthecake]

Axel isn't especially hungry, in particular after seeing the bizarre offerings, but figures he might as well try some. Who knows when he might have another opportunity to eat... whatever the hell this stuff is?

"Ah--!" He holds a hand out sharply, just shy of actually covering Sora's mouth with it. "Don't ever ask what the worst that could happen is, kiddo. You might just find out."

Axel's face rather mirrors Sora's look of anxious suspicion as a new vat of the eyeball stew is added to the lineup, and he quickly clears his throat and moves past that particular menu option. Instead he decides to try whatever the fishlike stuff is, and some of the bright blue rice. He glances at Sora, then gives a shrug and decides he'll try a bowl of the soup at the end of the line, which looks like a mostly harmless broth, except that it's surprisingly glittery. Well, maybe a little of Sora's courage has rubbed off on him.

They make their way to a table, and Axel swirls a spoon experimentally through the sparkling soup.

"I wonder how they get it so sparkle," he muses absently, lifting the spoon and staring at it a moment. Then he watches as Sora intrepidly takes a bite of the purple mash, his whole face lighting up in excitement. Axel laughs helplessly at the boy's reaction, shaking his head. "Bacon, really?" he asks, and impulsively reaches across the table to snatch a tiny bit of the mash on his spoon. If Sora's gonna treat them like old pals, he might as well play along, right? Share and share alike. He cautiously sticks the spoon in his mouth and then makes a huh! sound. "It does taste like bacon," he says with a nod, and then dips his spoon back into the glittery soup. "All right, I guess let's go for it, then," he says, and sips at it carefully. His eyes wing toward the ceiling as he considers the flavor a moment. "A little sour, actually," he says, pursing his lips. "Weird. Not bad, really, but definitely weird."

He wags the spoon at Sora then.

"Okay, talk and eat," he says, though he's not really being forceful. "I can believe that maybe your memories of what happened at Castle Oblivion weren't erased after all, but... I'm still really surprised you seem so happy to see me." He shrugs and takes another slurp of the weird sour soup. "Not that I'm complaining," he admits. "I'd rather be chummy than fight, all things considered."

y...es..???

[shikomizue]

[Watching his bluntness be received in (lack of) grace equal to what it had been delivered with, Takasugi's lips curl. Whatever he'd been aiming for in making the man flinch goes forgotten - or maybe there hadn't been a deeper purpose.

Just petulance.

The same sort that guides his hand to drag the bottle across the table towards himself. Abandon it and gather the two glasses, an empty clink as they slide together.]

I'll take half. [Aggression in generosity.]