[TEST] DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT

[reapsthewind]

I HONESTLY COULDN'T THINK OF A GOOD PICTURE SO THANKS LAVVY

Here, have the slightly more relevant song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_nLlL1mwKI

Anyway, this is a random scenario test drive meem, since we've had an influx of new potential appers. I am a bit too lazy to make this a proper meem, so you make your own shit up. Here's some inspirational scenarios:

> The Mall. The hell are you doing out in the suburbs, bro? And why is that woman trying so hard to sell you nail polish?
> The Park. MAN IT IS A NICE D-- shit is that a Vermicelli or whatever the monsters are called?
> Arts & Crafts Fair. Cute knit cat cozies! Bad pretzels! YEAH.
> Rainy Day. It's wet and you're stuck at the bus stop. HOW DEGRADING.
> You get an echo while someone else is around. SHIT. PARANOIA TIME.

Or make up your own!

Comments

Luke Skywalker | Star Wars

[walkerofearth]

[noooooo why am I doing this]

[Lenore Cooper's a quiet and very alert older woman. She has a prosthetic right hand, one of those dual hook models which can open and close.]

[1. She's at the mall, ignoring how out of place she is and the entreaties of salespeople, on a bench reading a hardback book as she waits for her boy to finish whatever he's so interested in. Doesn't seem to like the book much, though, she's just closed it with her right.]

[2. In the park in sweats, keeping up a good pace until she stops suddenly, tracking something in the trees.]

1

[lastalian]

[Marisol is out because her mother and brother are arguing about money again and she can't do her homework with the noise. The park is always nice. Sometimes people will share bread to feed the birds with. She clutches her secondhand schoolbook in her arms, looking for a free bench.]

[there's a woman nearby, out for a run, which isn't unusual, but her hand catches the girl's attention. She can't help staring; she's only eleven and not self-aware enough to know better.]

[walkerofearth]

[That... is it a squirrel? Seems more like a monkey, almost, she can't see it clearly but it makes the hairs on the back of her neck rise as it rustles upwards.]

[Lenore's aware of being studied in a way she has to think is strange and glances down and away to see - a child - but that seems lower priority at the moment, so she stares hard after the thing up in the trees, straining to try and make it out past the foliage.]

[lastalian]

[she flushes a little when the woman looks at her, self conscious, and looks down. But no scolding comes. Mari chews on her bottom lip, looking around cautiously, finally realizing the woman is more preoccupied with something else.]

[an animal in the trees? That's not new, but even she knows it's bigger than it should be, and she hesitates, wanting to back away and go about her business but burning with curiosity.]

[she shuffles around to the other side behind the jogger, trying to get a better angle. Nothing but a dark shape mostly hidden by the leaves.]

Wh...what's that? [her own voice surprises her a little.]

[walkerofearth]

I don't know, but it doesn't belong here.

[She folds her arms and watches until it's scurried up out of sight, sighing when this happens.]

I hate a mystery. [And glancing back down.] Don't you?

[lastalian]

[her eyes widen when she's addressed, and she doesn't say anything right away, freezing in place.]

As long as it doesn't--bite anyone--

[she feels funny. Like the time she'd seen that light in the sky and asked her brother why there were fireworks. He'd told her she was daydreaming. But she'd remembered a boy about his age, leaning in close to her face, his brow creased with worry. He was wearing strange clothes, like he worked in a circus or something. Asking her if she was okay. But he'd called her Richard. That was a boy's name...]

[But this time, it's a lot scarier.]

[Marisol pales, nearly dropping her book before clutching it tighter to her chest. She's seen fights before, sure, but it doesn't really compare to remembering being sliced open. She crouches down, huddling around her schoolbook in a ball, feeling faint.]

[walkerofearth]

[The kid's upset somehow comes with... sympathetic pain? Something like that, something enough to let Lenore know it's not dramatics.]

[She doesn't touch the child, or hover too close over her, but she does crouch, herself, a little slowly to remind her knees to behave, within sight.]

Hey. Easy there.

[lastalian]

[She hiccups a little, trying not to cry--she never cries, especially in front of strangers. But it was so sudden. Mom would just say she's daydreaming again, letting her imagination run away with her. But who would want to imagine getting hurt like that. And hurting someone in return--the anger she'd felt, the vengeful force, was frightening.]

[she straightens up as soon as she can, wobbling a little. It's probably better that Lenore isn't attempting to fuss over her, because she wouldn't know how to handle it.]

Just got dizzy. [she blurts it out. Usually she's better at lying, but she's still disoriented.]

[walkerofearth]

Bull. You keeled over, kid. [She doesn't get up herself, yet. That often needs a bit of working up to these days.] Take it easy, you don't want to pass out or something.

[lastalian]

[Marisol screws up her face indignantly and hastily scrubs the beginnings of tears from her eyes, trying to focus.]

I'm not gonna. It was just a stupid-- [she stops, pushing her breath out in a huff. She's never told anyone, about the numbers, about how she'd been reading the messages other people sent. She's still young enough that her cynicism doesn't prevent belief, especially if it promises escape. But for all the danger promised in the messages--Don't give out your name, the police know-- it's not anything new for a kid like her. She knows where her brother's money comes from, she knows where Mom went when she comes back incoherent and giggling. She knows enough to get her little sisters dressed for school every day when Mom can't so no one knows anything is wrong. Because it's not. She can handle it.]

[She's never seen someone stabbed or shot, though somewhere she knows it's a matter of time. Beaten up, sure. But that was different. She always prided herself on an iron stomach, so the bout of nausea, the shock, was mortifying.]

I have allergies. [She adds this with a scowl, her previous timid demeanor nowhere to be found.]

[walkerofearth]

Uh huh.

[Slowly, Lenore gets back to the world of the upright.]

Those seem to be going around. Take it easy anyway.

[lastalian]

[eager to change the subject, Marisol points at the tree where the creature was just a minute ago.]

D'you think it was rabid?

Ace (Horace Knight) | Alice in the Country of Hearts

[knight_of_heart]

[ Parks are for picnics and camping, everybody knows that, and that's exactly what Horace means to use it for. He's a scruffy guy in his thirties, in need of a shave and a much better shirt than the red tartan he's currently wearing. While his kid is off rolling in the dust with some friends under the watchful eye of Horace's older brother, Horace himself is setting up the picnic blanket and tent.

That's when two things happen: one, something weird catches the corner of his eyes. Two, while trying to see what it was, a sudden gust of wind catches the assembled-but-not-tied-down tent and makes off with it.

There is now a large red tent tumbling down the shallow incline of a hill towards Lenore.

It only takes a moment for Horace to catch on and run after it. ]

Woah woah WOAH LOOK OUT LOOK OUT!

[walkerofearth]

[She turns the instant before he yells, tensing up, and sees it coming.]

Well, fuck.

[Just a tent, but if it hits her she's losing a lot of dignity, and dignity's an important currency in her world. Lenore backs up quickly to stand along the bole of a tree, and the tent bounces to crash into that. She catches it before the wind can go pull it along to somewhere else - her hooks won't grip the fabric very well, but she's become more or less left-handed over the years, and yells an obvious question.]

This is yours?

[knight_of_heart]

[ Oh thank God, Grandma still has her reflexes about her. That she dodges is a relief, but that she catches it, as well, is impressive! ]

Wow! Good catch! [ Wait, inappropriate reaction. Still, as Horace catches up and moves to grab the unruly canvas thing by a strut, his grin is only half as apologetic as it should be. ]

I mean sorry. Thanks. Sorry. Are you alright, ma'am?

[walkerofearth]

[Kids these days... Lenore glances back up, but apparently whatever had been there was easily spooked.]

Yes, yes. You know you should be more careful! Could've had a little adventure trying to find this thing.

[knight_of_heart]

[ He rolls the tent out of the way and upright again, but this time keeps his wits about him enough not to let go of it. Don't need the wind getting ideas again. ]

Hey, who's afraid of a little adventure? I mean, if it didn't involve the running over little old ladies part. Sorry, I got distracted by Squirrelzilla. Now that's something you don't want hanging around the same place as a bunch of kids, right?

[walkerofearth]

[She elects to ignore the crack.]

You had a clearer look at it, then? I thought its legs were too long to be a proper squirrel. Someone's had an escaped monkey?

ps - who IS that pb? her expressions are fantastic

[knight_of_heart]

[ He'd have been befuddled if she'd called him on it, anyway. What do you mean it was rude? ]

Huh... I didn't think of that! Yeah, maybe? Maybe it's just looking for its people? Kinda felt like it was staring. I was starting to think maybe it was rabid.

...Shit, I hope it's not a rabid monkey.

[walkerofearth]

[Helen Mirrem! She's so amazingly expressive.]

Just what we need. [Lenore wraps her left hand around her hooks for a second.] Most animals are bolder rabid but I'm not a virologist. Still, can't just leave something like that to run loose.

[knight_of_heart]

[ The hooks so far have escaped Horace's notice, and continue to do so. He's staring up at the trees again, his expression so intent that it's almost comical. ]

I had a run-in with a raccoon once. Wasn't pretty. But if it's a monkey it might just be tame. I'd rather run into a tame monkey than rabid Squirelzilla.

[ Either way they should definitely call Animal Control, but Horace sometimes forgets the obvious. Instead he winds up thinking: ]

If it's rabid I sure can't go get my gun and bring it to a public park, though... and it might run off in the meanwhile.

[walkerofearth]

If it's a rabid monkey, now, that would be perfect. [Her voice is completely level when she snarks.] No, firing into the air rarely ends well. I'd say call whoever they have for animals here, but they probably need something more sound than "a hiding squirrel that looked weird".

[knight_of_heart]

[ And you know who is totally oblivious to (or at least unwounded by) the snarking? This guy. If anything, it's almost oddly familiar... reminiscent of an old friend Horace doesn't quite remember.

It's a subtle little effect on his demeanor, but he really is listening to Lenore, almost like he's just waiting for her to tell him what to do. ]

So should I try and flush it out? I don't want it just sitting up there if it's going to be trouble later. I've got my kid here with me, you know.

[walkerofearth]

Maybe. [Squinting upwards] I think if this one jumped into a different tree it'd be pretty obvious. But how would you do that, pray tell? That good a climber? I know I'm not.

Your kid's watched for now? For every one thing you see there's I don't know how many you don't.

[knight_of_heart]

Yeah, he's with my brother.

[ With his free hand he gestures in a vague 'thataway' direction, but then he's dragging that unruly tent of his out of the way and, with the efficiency of a seasoned outdoorsman, collapses it enough that the wind won't be springing off with it again any time soon.

Then he's considering the trees, assessing their sturdiness and the layout of their branches. Climber? Sure, he's a climber. Gotta get up a tree before you can set a hunting blind in it. He makes his choice and moves over to it, using nothing but bare hands and boots against the tree trunk to hoist himself up. ]

Holler if you see anything move!