[test] THIS WEATHER IS RIDICULOUS

[espigeonage]

Random scenario test drive meme. Some prompts:
> Ah god it's so hot and muggy how awful!
> The worst thing about summer cold snaps: you don't usually have your windbreaker handy because it's been so damn hot.
> The wind is perverse and trying to steal your things and/or crash stuff into you.
> It's raining wet vermy-things, as if the hail and possible storm wasn't bad enough. Now you have rain-echoes to deal with, at best.
> A nice day? I guess those exist?

So where are you?
> Caught way out in the open! At the beach, in the steet, at a fair, anywhere.
> Taking shelter! Bus stop, club you wouldn't normally frequent, bridge underpass, any port in a storm, any shade from the deathsun.
> In the mall or somewhere comfortably out of the elements, you lucky sunuvanek.
> Somewhere... else? idk, do what you want!

Have at thee!

Comments

[alderaanda]

[She shrugs, coolly analytical.]

It's a big city. There's always a cultural festival somewhere. Pick your stuff up, think about it where there's fewer people around.

[Hesitate.]

Do you need help?

[godsdontbleed]

I think that something must have rolled off...

[his reply is distracted, thoughts obviously still on the tattoos and whatever it is that's falling from the sky. he crouches, begins to gather up the scattered items from his bags, brow still furrowed in consternation]

And those things certainly aren't going anywhere, are they?

[alderaanda]

I'll get it.

[Nat's been weirdly good at finding things for years. She makes a beeline for the fruit or can or whatever as if she'd seen it roll that way and returns, but just as she feared, when she stretches her hand out to get it into the bag something soaked and fuzzy bounces off it and dissolves into steam.]

[It's a sudden feeling, just... something under her braided hair, across her scalp, something sort of tight and itchy as scars appear where no scars had been before. They're really not visible, but she feels it.]

...oh.

It's nothing. Act normal, we're watched.

[godsdontbleed]

[he tilts his head quizzically at her as she sort of freezes up for a moment, but lets it pass when she shows no other signs of distress. instead he shakes the bags once to make sure they're sturdy before lifting them up; Salvador's got a better handle on himself now, is slowly winding down from the tizzy he'd worked himself into, but is still muttering in a tone of vague disbelief.]

Unbelievable. This is too full of science fiction to be happening, especially to me.

[he shakes his head. this was the stuff of late night television and blockbuster movies, not something that someone should expect on a walk back from the grocery store]

If anyone's watching, they're going to be severely disappointed in what they see.

[alderaanda]

[Nat glances sidelong at him but doesn't comment.]

Good. They watch anyone who stands out too much, and they remember. It wasn't like this before.

All set? I should probably go with you a little ways.

[godsdontbleed]

Well, it can change back anytime it's ready. I'm not the sort of person to deal with any of this.

[he sighs slightly, mentally taking count of the apples in his bag]

I'd appreciate the company, though, thank you. My apartment isn't far from here.

[alderaanda]

[Nat is. Or she thinks she is. Doesn't say that, though.]

All right. [and glances at him, trying to gauge if the tattoos are done. She introduces herself with nick and last names run together, like one name.] Natarkadi.

[godsdontbleed]

[they seem to be, although it's hardly a blessing considering just how noticeable they are. somehow the harsh red pattern highlight the sharp angles of Salvador's face, makes him a faintly sinister figure despite his demeanor to the contrary. he's hardly pleased with it.

he looks at her askance a moment, unused to a name like that. it calls to mind exotic places and harsh environments - but he really doesn't have room to judge, with a name so painfully ethnic as his own. so instead he smiles a little, the gesture sincere if weary]

Salvador. I'd say that it was a pleasure, but I think that may be giving the situation a little too much credit.

[alderaanda]

[Nat's return smile is a little hesitant and shy, like it's not an expression that crosses her face often.]

You're honest.

[She brings up a hand to scratch at her scalp.]

Anything like that happen to you before?

[godsdontbleed]

Not - not like that.

[his voice catches, wobbles with uncertainty as he tries to put a label on the only other moment that could possibly have been similar to what he'd just experienced. there was no physical change, not even a real emotion attached to it - just a memory.

it certainly wasn't as terrifying as this. Salvador hadn't even really thought about it until now, but it came into his mind unbidden at her question]

[alderaanda]

Mmm.

[People who want something shared will often first provide something themselves, Nat remembers. The other party then normally wants to reciprocate. It works better than just asking when someone's disturbed about it, anyway.]

It happened to me when I was younger. Since then I get feelings about things. They're usually [always, but people don't like that word] right. I knew about the watcher back there. I think he's a cop.

[godsdontbleed]

A cop.

[he murmurs lowly, tone somewhere between mild concern and wearied acceptance. Salvador wasn't the kind of man to run afoul of the law very often, but he knows very well just what kind of trouble an official like that can cause if they want to. how did he end up in the middle of something like this?]

I'm afraid that I still haven't gotten anything so useful from whatever this is. It was just a thought - a memory, I suppose. A huge stone jaguar.

[his mouth twists into a frown. he feels stupid saying this aloud, but considering the day so far maybe it's not as out there as he thinks it is]

It felt alive. It felt like I was supposed to be giving it life.

[alderaanda]

They've gotten strange recently. Be careful.

A jaguar? [She's never heard of something like this.] Cool. Maybe you'll be able to do that.

[godsdontbleed]

I hope not. [he chuckles wearily] I already have more than enough trouble than I can handle finding a parking spot for my car.