TEST DRIVE MEME

[youngestone]

Test Drive Meme!

Scenarios:
> The Park. Man, what a nice day out. Why not enjoy it? I'm sure -- shit, yep, there's some echo monsters.
> The Mall. Exactly what it says on the tin! Dodge the hordes of teenage mallrats or take part, whichever suits your tastes.
> Rainy Day. Agh, it's fucking awful out. And is it raining those vermilion things?? Now you've got an Echo to contend with on top of everything else. Find some shelter, quick!
> PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. HOW FUN
> Arts and Crafts Fair. All the kitschy fun you can imagine.
> Wild Card! Make up your own.

Comments

[espigeonage]

It's no intrusion, Eliot. Come stand by the trunk, it's a little dryer there. I'm Julien!

[He genuinely loves meeting and talking to people. Small encouragement goes a long way.]

Ah, well, I've had a little! Mostly recent.

Personally - I like being out in the rain. It's cold, but if you ignore the cars out there it just sounds so restful, don't you think? [Quiet for the moment, he smiles up at the pine needles over their heads, not minding the drips.]

[lordofimladris]

Why thank you.

[He moves closer to the trunk at the invitation with a small smile of thanks. Eliot allows silence to fall between them for a few moments after Juilen speaks, allowing himself to simply enjoy the silence. He doesn't getting a little bit wet, it's enough to have shelter from the worst of the rain with some company as an added bonus.]

[espigeonage]

[There are murmurings of thunder, but no lightning close enough to see. If it wasn't winter - everything will freeze once this warm spell is over - this would be entirely pleasant, Julien believes.

He's covered up, but his bare face and head still radiate heat, like he has a high fever.]

I like all the snow we've been getting just for how it looks, but man, I'm really tired of shoveling the clinic out. It's like one of the last areas they'll send people through to clear, and I never feel like I can just, y'know, cut a path and say that's good.

[lordofimladris]

You work at the clinic?

[Eliot doesn't visit the LSR Clinic much and then only to make sure the arrangements of his donation are in order with his godson and perhaps to check out things are running.]

[espigeonage]

The LSR? Yeah, for a good while now. I was just volunteering a few hours a week for... well, a year and a half at least, but these days it's an actual job. Not that I'm a doctor, or anything. Way too late for all that.

[sometime it's tempting to think of being properly in the medical field, but he's inundated with student debt as-is.]

[lordofimladris]

It is possible put yourself through medical school despite your circumstances. My godson was determined and made it happen for himself, on his own.

[espigeonage]

[Julien smiles, wryly. He's hoping this doesn't turn into a talk about bootstraps.]

I'm happy for him! But what works for one person won't for another, a lot of the time.

[lordofimladris]

No, it doesn't. His path is not yours, as your is not his.

[He can't help it, sometimes, really.]

[espigeonage]

I doubt he was... man, what was it? Forty thousand? I hate looking at that number... I doubt he had this much owed and was this busy when he started med school.

[Besides, one more nasty physical pulse and Julien is leaving the city, which doesn't help with education.]

[lordofimladris]

We each face our own obstacles, they do not define us unless we let them.

[This is what you get when you ask for advice from even a former elf lord but Eliot does mean well by his words.]

[espigeonage]

No. Still. Willpower's a great thing, but you need more than that in this economy.

...hah, anyway, it's really just a passing fancy. I've never found a beacon saying, this is the path you were meant to take, this is the job that best suits you. So I've always kind of jack-of-all-traded it.

[lordofimladris]

Is there a favorite of your trades?

[It's only a curious question, nothing more. Eliot has an academic interest in many subjects and always seeks to collect knowledge however he can.]

[espigeonage]

Ah, well... not really. There are a lot of things I don't mind doing, or I'll enjoy them in small doses, but when say cooking is turned into a career it just loses the fun, for me.

I like to be useful. To help people, and animals, when they need it. So the clinic's good. I'm grateful Aaron's taught me as much as he has.

[...though the teaching is incomplete, and Aaron has forgotten how close they were. It's... bittersweet, thinking about these things.]