TDM: NOVEMBER 2023

[citycenter]

TEST DRIVE MEME

JUMP TO MONTHLY PROMPT ↓ A TRAIN COMES INTO THE STATION. You wake up on a train. Your phone is buzzing. It's in your pocket, in your hand, on the seat next to you. It's a normal phone, and you're on a normal train car. One of the lights flickers, a little further down. The world is very quiet. It feels like you're right where you're meant to be. On the phone's surface is a white screen and the words— WELCOME TO THE CITY. BEGIN ORIENTATION? ▶ YES ▶ NO Please take a moment to complete your orientation. Once you're finished, the subway doors slide open to let you out onto the train platform. To your right, the platform continues on and eventually ends; to the left is a set of stairs that will lead you up into the station itself. The platform is quiet, clean, empty—there's no one else around, and the only sounds you can hear are your own footsteps, your own breaths, and the occasional faraway sound of a creaking pipe or rush of air. The train you disembarked will stay there as long as you do, its doors still open, until you finally decide to venture up into this new locale. As you make your way up the stairs to your left, you find yourself in the belly of City Hall station. The station is large, a sprawling underground mini-metropolis of corridors and storefronts. Here, you may find others like you, freshly-arrived city residents from other realms (or even your own). There is also a subway map, which will give you an idea of the layout of the neighborhood, and ticketing machines, which can currently only be used to buy tickets to a handful of stations located on lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 9. If you're hungry or in need of any kind of supplies, there are plenty of storefronts inside the subway station as well—snack stands, convenience stores, restaurants, clothing stores, a pharmacy, and a variety of empty shops that may or may not have ever been in use. Everything is unlocked, and you can take whatever you need. Characters may stay on the train platform indefinitely, and may re-board and re-disembark from the subway as many times as they like, but the train will not depart nor will the doors close. Once they go up the stairs into the train station, they may hear the train doors closing and the train departing. Another train will not arrive, no matter how long the character waits. Only once they come up the stairs into the station itself may characters encounter their fellow newly-arrived residents and take advantage of what the city has to offer. JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD. The station is located in the city center. It has three major exits that lead to areas of interest in the district, but there are several other smaller exits that lead in other directions around the neighborhood. You are welcome to use any of them, but may find the north, southwest, and east exits to be the most welcoming. TO THE NORTH The northern entrance to the station leads up into the sunlight and puts you out in a brickwork plaza. There's a modest building in front of you, three or four stories of stone with a welcoming facade. There's a sign above the entryway—it says City Hall. You may be tempted to explore, if you're interested in learning more about the city and how it functions, but prepare to find yourself disappointed—the folders in the records rooms are full of empty, blank sheets of paper, and the logbooks and balance sheets are similarly devoid of information. Immediately to the southwest of City Hall, you will find a small building that houses the tourist information center. It looks welcoming, with an inviting glass facade and a sign above the entryway announcing it as the "TOURIST CENTER." It's a humble building with a receptionist's desk on the back wall opposite the entrance, empty magazine shelves lining the side walls, and a few spinning brochure racks full of blank pamphlets. Anyone is welcome to peruse the tourist literature, though they won't offer much information, being primarily filled with pictures of the surrounding area—City Hall, the park, a statue garden, and the surprisingly heavily-featured cemetery. There are a few sentences sprinkled throughout about basic offerings of the city, such as apartment complexes and office buildings, as well as a few maps with the same limited scope as the larger version on the wall behind the receptionist's desk. TO THE SOUTHWEST The western exit of the station takes you up into a city park, lush and green with a very light fog still hanging about the trees. There are lampposts on the walkways and benches where you could rest, and plenty of flora, although you can neither see nor hear any signs of animal life. You walk the paths that meander idly through the verdant grass and you feel a sense of peace, some of your unease about this place easing into a pleasant calm. The air smells fresh, like it's recently rained, and you'll find the grass ever so slightly damp should you decide to take a seat. As you make your way deeper into the park, the trees grow denser and the smell of soil and plant life grows stronger. This is the older part of the park, very nearly a forest, with ivy climbing the trunks of the trees and plants and shrubs growing riotously around their bases. As you turn a corner, you find yourself first in the statue garden, although the statues are harder to see now, choked as they are with ivy. There are many statues, some partially obscured, some fully—very few of them still stand free of the vines and clinging roots. (It doesn't feel quite as peaceful here.) If a statue's face looks a little bit familiar, you may not want to look at it too long. Continue down the path and you will find yourself in a graveyard, one that seems centuries old. Most of the headstones are worn away by time and covered in moss, rendering them impossible to read. The few that are free of moss are blank, or bear only suggestions of names too faint to be understood. (Was that the name of—no, it couldn't have been. Could it?) Many of the headstones stand at an angle or are toppled over completely, having been subjected to either strong winds or the roots of the trees that grow up from some of the graves, spreading branches toward the sky. TO THE EAST The final exit of the station, to the east, puts you out on a quiet surface street. Are you hungry? Or are you paralyzed by choice? There are plenty of restaurants, offering options of almost any food you can imagine. You could try a convenience store—it's well stocked, and the items there seem free for the taking. How about a restaurant? There's no one to take your order, but when you look in the kitchen, there's something on the stove, and it's just what you've been craving. Imagine that. A few blocks down, you come in through the lobby of a tall building and find yourself in a corporate office. The fluorescent lights are steady and unforgiving, and the cubicles and offices are empty. There are a few pieces of paper on desks, a few folders left in organizers, but everything is perfectly blank. Despite how empty and quiet the office is, it nonetheless gives you the feeling that just a few minutes ago, this place was bustling with workers going about their daily business. You enter another building and find yourself in the lobby of an apartment complex—finally, a place to rest. The first door you try opens easily into a completely empty living room, freshly vacuumed but without a single piece of furniture. It's a nice apartment, quiet, but with a little too much echo for your taste, maybe. Still, and perhaps oddly, you have no trouble envisioning what life here would be like. The second door you open leads to an apartment that feels lived-in. Why does it feel lived-in? It's fully furnished with items that seem to go together perfectly, true, but the feeling is more than that—the room feels like someone was just here, maybe standing right in the kitchen only moments before you swung the door open. The air is a perfectly comfortable temperature, and it somehow smells like home despite that you've never once set foot here before. The refrigerator is stocked, and the cabinets are full of spices and flatware and kitchen utensils. As you look around the living room, you find that there are pictures in frames on the walls and some of the flat surfaces—a seascape, a field, a shot of a city park bench. In each of the photos there's something just slightly wrong with the angle, as though the photographer were aiming for a subject that can no longer be seen. Characters are welcome to explore the district around the City Hall subway station to their heart's content. The City Hall building itself contains several floors of offices and file rooms, but none of them contain any particularly interesting information. Nonetheless, characters may wish to team up with other newcomers and try to find some hints about the nature of the city. They can also spend a while in the park, the statue garden, or the graveyard. In the blocks surrounding the station there are plenty of options for food and housing, as well as office buildings, storefronts, and alleyways to look around. There are no workers in any of the buildings, and there does not seem to be an honor system for payment, nor any consequences for taking food from the stores or setting up camp in an apartment or office building. JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS IT IS THE ULTIMATE SHADOW, THE DEFEAT OF CREATION. In one section of the newly accessible portion of the city, nestled in among normal looking residential and commercial buildings, is a wide and relatively short and industrial-looking building with no windows and only one grand set of black glass doors set into one side. Above the entrance is a neon sign that plainly states ART. with smaller letters sm added to the front in metallic paint. Hopefully, this simple signage will give passersby the impression that this is an art exhibit of some kind, with a twist. DO NOT TOUCH THE ART… Once stepping through the front doors, guests will be greeted with a lobby with walls covered in vertical neon lighting that pulses in a rotating rainbow, and mirrored ceilings that make the space feel surprisingly small. To one side is a bar where various cocktails await pickup. They don't have any special effects, but being a bit tipsy might help enhance the experiences waiting for you beyond. There's also a rack of bottles behind it, stocked with the typical liquors and mixers, if you'd like to play bartender for a while. Thanks to the disorienting amount of colored lighting and dark corners, it may be easy to get lost and turned around in the large building, and guests may be surprised to find that they're unable to locate the exit (or entrance) while alone. After leaving behind the lobby and stepping into the exhibit proper, you'll find yourself walking through a central winding hallway with large rooms branching off from it in both directions at regular intervals. Some of them are more interactive than others, but all of them are dimly lit except for the "art" that guests will find themselves in the middle of, encouraged to touch and participate in creative collaboration. A few of the simpler rooms include: Hanging ropes that will light up where touched, changing color with the amount of kinetic force applied: purple for a brush of the fingers, red for a crushing grip. These pulses of light will travel out to either end of the ropes the longer touch is applied, and considering that the room is pitch black and seemingly endless thanks to the mirrored walls, you may want to find some help in lighting up the dark. A sunken floor filled to the brim with translucent plastic balls. This ball pit is a literal bath of color with every-changing light shining up from the floor of the ball pit and diffusing through the balls. A wall of cubbies at the room's entrance awaits belongings and shoes that are asked to be removed by a polite sign at the top of the stairs that descend into the ball pit. Be careful, for the pit is deep and it's easy to sink beneath the surface if you sit or lie down; you may see some shadows of people a ways away from you, but if you wade through the balls to their rescue, you won't find anyone tangible there. A small theater of benches all facing the back wall that is a single large screen. The display is a moving series of lines on a black background that give the audience the sensation that the room is moving, or they themselves are traveling through the space. Atmospheric music—mostly heavy bass and noise that's been timed with the movement on the screen—hums through the room and adds to the sense of immersion. ... IT MIGHT TOUCH BACK. One of the more interesting rooms is actually divided into three smaller rooms, each with a heavy, sound-dampening door that only has a small square window set into the top of it. Through the window, you can see that there is a red room, a green room, and a blue room. Stepping into any of them will be a different experience where guests will be entirely immersed in the color—even the window is a one-way mirror from the inside, blocking out any sights from beyond. The longer guests stay in these isolating rooms, the more disoriented they'll become, and it's entirely possible that moods will shift from the experience. Be careful stepping back out into the exhibit itself, your eyes and ears may need time to adjust. In the green room, guests may feel like they've stepped into a concentrated and unfiltered essence of nature. The speakers play a variety of animal noises layered with leaves rustling and branches creaking as they move as well as wind, rain, and other kinds of weather. Looking at yourself, or your companions if someone stepped inside with you, you see their eyes and teeth pop clearly in the bath of green, somehow more obviously animal than ever. In the red room, the temperature is higher than the rest of the exhibit, not uncomfortably so but noticeable all the same. Looking down at your skin, you can see more of the blemishes, the dark spots or pale scar tissue that contrasts much more starkly. From hidden speakers in the ceiling comes a mixture of sounds that are hard to place as they're so layered over one another, but the overall noise is inorganic, discordant, unsettling. It's hard to focus, let alone look at anyone else you might be sharing the room with. In the blue room, there is almost an absence of experience. The only sound is a low, steady hum that vibrates through you as you stand and close your eyes almost on instinct. Everything gets erased in the layer of blue that covers everyone and everything in the room, skin looking almost gray from the lack of any other colors that are so often associated with life. The last room of note is completely black and empty except for three massive umbrellas of flowers and other plants that are suspended from the tall ceiling, illuminated by lights shining on them from above. Each umbrella is about as high off the ground as the average human and varying by a few feet or so, so that it's possible to stand or crouch beneath them. Once standing in their shadows below, guests will be able to hear whispers coming from above… These whispers tell real secrets of city residents—past, present, and future—though names are never included. The secrets are told in their own voices, though, almost like confessionals to a confidant or their pillow in the dark of night. These secrets can be positive, negative, or simple fact. Some may be shocking revelations of guilt, or shy mutterings of love, or secrets spilled as if the speaker has never thought of this part of themselves before. There is a hush throughout the room, and if guests were to whisper to each other beneath the umbrellas, conversations would not be easily overheard. Residents are encouraged to meet up in the bar with friends, grab some drinks, and then head into the art exhibit. It's also a great place to meet someone new as there will be plenty of interactions happening as everyone hopefully discovers a bit of their inner child. There's no right or wrong order to exploring the rooms, but residents will not be able to find the exit without the presence of another with them—even if you came alone, you're leaving with a friend! For the Secret Garden whispers, players are encouraged to make up something scandalous to discuss with others or even have their own character's voices whisper to them from the flowers. Please remember to discuss with other players before including any information about existing and potential characters that may affect their gameplay. Inspiration for this location includes 9 Lights in 9 Rooms as well as Hopscotch. Title is from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS WILDCARD. The city is by no means small, and there are plenty of things for you to see. There are even some places that other residents have created! There's no rush in exploring, so feel free to take your time looking around and peering into various nooks and crannies and alleyways—and don't worry, you're not very likely to find anything peering back. If none of the above prompts appeal, feel free to check out the Locations and Maps pages and write your own freestyle prompt using one or many of the available locations. We highly recommend checking out the Character-Run Locations as well - they might be great places for new characters to get started! JUMP TO TOP ↑

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binah ⬡ library of ruina.

[arbit]

 — i.

( by her estimations, the older her would've had the lay of the land mapped out by now. perhaps she would've even brushed elbows with the unrecognized denizen or two to see what they may know through.. friendly enough conversation. this iteration of her doesn't seem to mind one way or the other. to her, either she will find out more in due time, or she will be returned to her previous post to resume her duties. it seems someone saw fit to loosen her leash, so she'll walk.

which is how she finds herself here amongst the greenery and filtering sunlight, teacup in hand, basking in the steam and steeped leaves as if the elaborate spread was indeed laid out in this greenhouse just for her. she has some notes about the selections, one she's keeping track of somewhere in the back of her mind, all so she might offer her insight later.

for now, she sits unbothered despite any who might approach, her attention still mostly on her cup even as she's taken it upon herself to greet whoever it may be. voice low, in a pace of her own: )

Might I pour you a cup? This particular blend would pair well with company.

---

 — ii.

( an exhibit. how quaint.

she skips the drinks entirely this time, opting to keep both hands free beneath her fluttering coat as she peruses through the gallery. half expecting the heavy tinge of blood in the air, it's almost odd to find it lacking no matter how much she wandered. not that she thinks it a requirement, her more recent exposure to the arts certainly lacks it as a medium, but it did still seem to be the overwhelming preference back home.

🠶 perhaps you find her (or more accurately, bump into her) in the dark room filled with stringed lights. having been curious, it seems the strange woman has actively opted to avoid brushing against the lights at all in her search for the next area. a belated and unintended scare, perhaps someone should tell her halloween's over.
🠶 or maybe she's staring at the light show of shifting perspectives, asking for your thoughts on the piece. unless you're looking particularly motion sick, in which case she will do so from a respectful distance away.
🠶 then there's the canopy of flowers, whispering overlapping secrets. a veritable cacophony of confessions, unceasing and dissonant. maybe there's a few of her own in there, maybe not. maybe she'll hear a familiar voice? a question, then, for an onlooker: do they think there's a grain of truth in these? how interesting, if so.

whatever the adventure may be, what fun they will surely have. )

---

 wildcard.

( oooorrrr if none of these work, feel free to dm me or toss whatever my way. she's a very chill lass. let her make fortune cookie words in your direction. )

i.

[limbical]

[Hm. This isn't a face he knows, but then it's not like Daan's been looking to keenly as of late. Still, he pauses at the concept of tea.

Well. At least it smells like black tea.]

Been awhile since I've had a proper cup. Any idea what the blend is?

[arbit]

( is he certain they've never met? is his singular eye to be trusted? maybe he can only see in half-truths, these days. )

English Breakfast. ( they're without label, but a bloodhound of the state ought to have a good nose. one of the things that never quite leave you. ) There are others, but my preference lies in this.

( black over the whole swatch of colors. it's only after she takes another sip does she finally give her new guest a proper look. hm. )

Not your beverage of choice? Hard to believe any here might find themselves without the time to prepare one if they desired.

[limbical]

[bruh]

English... oh, right. [The term is different where he's from, but he remembers how he correlated it to his own world.]

Mm. I'm more of a cocktail man, but I have no problem with a nice cup of tea. [Daan nods his head politely.] I'd be glad to have a cup with you, miss.

Call me Daan.

[arbit]

( :) )

Daan, is it. ( the soft clink of porcelain, her teacup finally set back down on its saucer. ) Then you may call me Binah.

( a second cup is then poured, sliding it over the tabletop with two careful fingers. )

Should this one assume you imbibe often, then?

[limbical]

A pleasure, Binah.

[A soft huff, and his lips almost curl in wry amusement.]

When there's the opportunity. [so yeah like all the time] If you're ever in the mood, I'm quite good at mixing drinks, actually.

[Daan pauses to have a sip. The way he holds the cup and places it down has a certain odd refinement to it. Despite his history, he was trained strictly on etiquette.]

i

[icanfixer]

[ her outfit is... almost like some others she's seen, but it's the peculiar cadence that draws don's curiosity more; the tea area has more good memories than bad for her, but it's still stunning to see the thing intact again after...

anyway. the city is unusual as ever, normal in its own way, and don truly doesn't mind company as she plops onto a beanbag and takes a teacup to reach out for a pour. ]

T'would be a pleasure, fair lady! What have we to drink today? I rather like all the teas, though I must warn they have... ehm, some side-effects from time to time.

[ or did, anyway. she hasn't tried them this month. might be nice to try some of these without the threat of bleeding out or experiencing boils. ]

[arbit]

( peculiar indeed, from mannerism to choice of chair. a bundle of exuberant light that she's curious enough to track even in her periphery. )

Not my favored, admittedly.

( all the other teapots don't get so much as a second glance before she lifts the one by her, tipping it just enough to pour with a finger on the lid to keep steady. a practiced gesture, one evidently done plenty of times in her life.

black. bold. good enough for the time being. )

You do not fear the possibility that it might be tampered. ( stated observation more than question. to not know the consequence would be one thing, but to knowingly partake even with that knowledge in her hands.. ) Or were you perhaps simply that willing to ensure I would not be the only who suffers it? How kind.

[icanfixer]

I have had it many times since its sudden appearance, and there have been more or less equal times with each result! So yes, 'tis the latter; our salvation is not too far off, should there be something we dislike about the outcome.

[ black... was tasty, but the effects of it had been something she thankfully found herself suffering alone. such a painful existence, those ten minutes, and don quixote brings it back to her with a somewhat cautious look. no sip yet, only-- ]

Is it kind? I am doing only what someone of my profession ought to do, though it matters little to many here! 'Tis only decent, in any case. The consequence of this cup, if any, is that our skin shall split and our hair begin to fall out in clumps, by the way.

[arbit]

( she's resumed her lounge the moment she's offered up her share, her fingertip idly trailing along the scalloped edge of her own cup. the explanation is delivered as one would a report. succinct in some ways despite her flowery speech, but detailed enough about the matter at hand that it evidences a thorough investigation.

the girl then speaks of salvation, and one has to wonder which she means. that she worries now seems a bit delayed, but at least it gives credence to her honesty. her hair's longer than she's used to anyway. )

A question you'd know the answer to far better than I. ( another sip, despite heeded warning. a pause, too. just to savor. ) .. You claim it's a natural conclusion of your profession, and in the next breath say it matters to little others.

What is it that drives you then, child?

[icanfixer]

Justice.

[ a simple word, a simple answer. don blows her tea a little (it's always a tad too hot, for her) and sips, wriggling on her seat for a moment to get more comfortable. don likes to talk about this stuff, after all -- she's missed it, talking to someone who will listen to what she has to say, and chatters freely. setsuna... she misses him all at once. ]

If there is a wrong to right, an injury to mend, a people to free from the oppression of those above -- then I am their obedient servant, hand, and savior. It is not kind that I warn thee, but because it is only right to do so; because I would be a villain if I kept thee in the dark. I have even warned those with whom I dispute.

[ tauntingly, maybe, but it's fine. ]

But, [ after a moment, another sip, proud as can be, ] I have been called many a foul thing for my thoughts, such as an idiot, naive, a moron, useless, and so forth!

i.

[yyds]

[ hong lu considers this with the gravity of someone who's just been asked the question to the meaning of life. and then, of course, because this is hong lu - he beams. ]

Of course. I'd like a cup. [ he shifts into the empty seat across from the young lady. there's an air to her, hong lu thinks, as he puts down on to the table the plate with seventeen different flavours of danish, politely sliding it aside to receive the tea as it's being poured. she reminds him a little of the fortunetellers back at his family's estate, the ones that seemed to know all the secrets of the world. it's why he asks: ] How does this tea pair well with company? Does it do something different, or tastes something different, when two people drink it as opposed to just one?

project 'are we still talking about tea' moon

[arbit]

( existentialism comes with the tea, not before. there's an order to these operations. )

It does.

( her guest's cup is prepared with what's almost a ceremonial grace. methodical, paced, and deliberately languid. none of the porcelain makes more sound than it should in her care, and it likely only further accentuates how odd it is to be deep within the forest with so little of nature to hear. even from within the glass halls of the greenhouse, life beyond the panes should teem and keen regardless.

it reminds her of the one guarded by three. )

It depends on the company and what words they might wear on their tongue. Cloying with some, acrid with others. ( and finally, she sets his cup before him, eyes lidded but ever watchful. ) There is also tendency to gloss over certain notes, highlighting others. Alone, we tend to pick apart every one, which could be overwhelming for some.

HAHA yesss

[yyds]

[ grace, hong lu thinks. that's the word to define it. each of her motions bleed into one another, much in the way of a ceremonial dance. now, hong lu wonders if she's also a dancer of some sort. how else would you come to have this sort of grace? he wonders if she'll teach him, if he holds still long enough.

still, hong lu receives the tea gratefully. ]

Thank you. [ hong lu says, as happy as any schoolchild to receive it. his own mannerism are had with absent precision: the turn of the cup so that the patterned lip of it faces out, the ninety-degree right angle of his elbow, just the touch of his pinky along the contours of the cup before it lifts. hong lu knows how to drink tea. he has been trained, after all. ] Hmm...

[ hong lu sips. the tea is a little stronger than he'd have liked. it's quite cheap, he thinks. ] If what one wears on their tongue ends up in the flavor of the tea, would you call it a kiss?

[arbit]

( at least this young noble is gracious enough to not make further comment on her preferences, unlike some others she could think of. it's passable, she thinks, even if it is not one of her usual. the company makes for interesting enough conversation that she doesn't have to linger too long on how it sits on her tongue. that would simply be asking for too much out of tea that's been laid out on a spread to be chanced upon.

she's on her third cup by the time he'd entered this little carved out spot of solace, and it's neither cooler nor better with the next sip. it simply.. is. )

It carries the same potential.

( intimate or dispassionate. sincere or manipulative. warm or burning. satiating or but a fleeting taste. memorable, forgettable, for granted. )

I've been told that mine are.. overwhelming. ( which does cause for a small quirk to her lip, nothing improper. ) Few others care for it, so I treasure what few chances I'm afforded to converse with others.

ii flowers / combo breaker

[unimportant]

A grain of truth? Yeah, probably. This city has a way of pulling people's secrets out of their head, no matter how close to the chest someone keeps their cards.

[ She's been here long enough now not to doubt the veracity of what is presented to her. It's annoying, but most true things are. The flowers continue to chatter between quiet whisps of air, though Yuki realizes there are some voices mixed in that she recognizes even if she can't make out the words. ]

Hm... these ones are borrowing voices. Interesting.

the projmoons rly said its binah we HAVE to have tea with her.

[arbit]

( like white noise. droning. titters and whispers and sighs all reverberating and echoing. there are familiar ones scattered in the mix here and there, recognizable even if the words are muddled. she's yet to find the owners to the voices, but it's unsurprising to know that they're here. )

Not the first you've encountered such an installment, then.

( the confessional of flowers aside, the woman indulging her idle wonderings is an interesting one in her own right. she's witnessed enough singularities to know when she's met with one, and her head inclines just so as if to better listen. curious. )

The ones previous did not?

yuki gulps hers down hot and fast, 0/10 tea time guest

[unimportant]

Not the last time, no. It was just one voice.

[ Though did have to do with the flowers or with Roland? She couldn't really discern, but she knew they were speaking his thoughts through their petals. The things they revealed were too intimate to be fake. She tilts her head up, trying to get a better ear for the mixing of chitter chatter that makes it more like a crowd in Tokyo than anything. ]

But otherwise it's the same thing. They speak of things never spoken aloud. Or at best, spoken in private.

[ In the dead of night to nothing at all, or to a trusted companion who would never reveal things for their ears alone. One flower speaks and she recognizes the voice, gruff and weathered through years of teaching too many students. I know you weren't meant to be here, but that must mean there's a good reason you are. I hope you can appreciate that one day. ]

damn what a coincidence thats also how i want yuki

[arbit]

( just the one, she says. would she enjoy it less if it were not in concert with others? hard to say. the thrum of indistinguishable, sourceless voices has become the backdrop of the graveyard she used to maintain. not a home by any measure, more a haunt than anything. but, familiar enough to not be quite so unsettling. )

I see.

( when recognition flits through her new companion's countenance, she does wonder which of them struck a note. it hadn't been either one of their voices, that much her ears can at least pick out. another's, then. someone she knows. she's only a little disappointed not to have sampled a whisper of her own. )

Anything of interest?

same tho

[unimportant]

No. Just an old memory. You know how this place is.

[ It's always about opening healed wounds to see what's inside. Experiments on top of experiments. It doesn't even surprise her anymore. They can only pull the same trick so many times. Even magicians need to make up new tricks for the audience. The chattering goes on and Yuki looks at the woman again, realizing something. ]

Unless you don't know?

i.

[beanallright]

[ After last month, Chesed had considered swearing off tea forever. It just causes more trouble than it's worth, and in any event, he'd be far too busy brewing a cup of coffee to think about making tea instead.

He's not about to say no to Binah though. ]

Shall we find out whether it's a blend that lives up to my expectations, Binah?

[ All he's saying is it better be good enough to be worth drinking over a cup of coffee. ]

[arbit]

( how very unfortunate for him, truly. )

If only you had the receptors left to enjoy it. I remain unconvinced that yours functions as it should after the overbearing wash you've doused them in time and time again, little blue noble.

( ah, but despite the potential for her words to be cutting, her intonation and cadence remains as sonorous as always. mere stated fact. nothing more, nothing less.

still, she does receive him with grace. a teacup, smaller and frailer than his typical mug, is filled to the appropriate amount before it is delicately set by the chair closest to him. it's not one of her usual choices, but she would still take it over his offerings without even a second thought. )

But perhaps this is fate. You've wandered quite far to chance upon this modest arrangement, bereft of your beloved for some distance. Maybe today you'll finally remove yourself off that ridiculous hill.

[beanallright]

Haha, I can reassure you that my taste buds are intact.

[ His taste buds work perfectly fine, thank you very much...

He takes a seat at the table, glancing at the tea set before him. The two of them might even seem like old friends to a stranger who happened to chance upon them. And perhaps one could attach that title to them. One might argue they've known each other long enough for it.

Such a question might be greeted with an ironic laugh by Chesed.

He lifts the tea cup into his hand, gazing at his reflection upon its surface. ]

I occasionally come here to take a look at the plants. There's much to learn about this place. And it's quite nice to see true greenery after so long.

[ He hasn't taken a single sip of the tea. He's just holding it. ]

[arbit]

( the soft hum from the back of her throat is skeptical, but she does not say more beyond that.

old friends.. if such a thing could even be used for beings like them. the woman and the life she snuffed out like a candle in the wind some two lifetimes ago. a cruel irony, being stuck in a hand-crafted, temporal eternity in hell with her. their salvation, her prison. though she still does wonder who it is that was truly punished, here, in the end.

her eyes droop just a touch when she lifts hers to take a careful sip. the leaves carried in the steam is as soothing as it's ever been, and it truly is a shame that it is lost on her current guest. with time, perhaps. the underdeveloped tongue so often confuse the overpowering for something good. )

I suppose the space might seem fantastical for those imprisoned in a cage.

( the blossoms and the leaves, lush and alive. she spares it not even so much as a glance even as she refers to it, her eyes trained on the dark of her tea. )

What do you make of our new one?

[beanallright]

[ There's nothing to be gained by railing against one's cage. In any event, this one seems comfortable enough.

Chesed continues to hold his tea cup in hand. ]

Ah, well, I haven't been here long enough to decide. I've called this cage my home for about a month, though there are others who've been here far longer. They might be able to give you a more accurate evaluation on it.

[ It's a classic sleight of hand maneuver. He hasn't answered the question at all, and dodging questions is one of his favorite pastime activities.

But sooner or later, Binah will wring an answer out of him, so -- ]

Hm, it's a nice change of scenery. Much better lighting than the Floor of Social Sciences, and much less water.

[ He takes a small sip of cooling his tea. What wonderful leaf juice. ]