saveyourbrain | [test] THIS WEATHER IS RIDICULOUS

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test drive meme

[test] THIS WEATHER IS RIDICULOUS

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, don't worry about it. [ he returns his attention to the road, foot giving up brake for accelerator as he resumes driving. he glances at the rear view mirror, then over his shoulder at the back to see if there's a towel.

there is.

... covering his rifle.

he looks ahead again, awkward internal dilemma swirling in his gut. after a pause, he says, ] There's a towel in the backseat. My rifle's under it, so... don't panic...

[ pls. ]

Rifle?

[ she's already looking back, taking into account the groceries he just chucked back there, but with her hands still hovering over her hair she's frozen, glancing to him briefly with an arched eyebrow, as though not sure if he's joking or not.

... he's not. her eyes widen a little bit and she looks back again ]

Is that usual? [ there's a hint of a british accent in her voice, usually more pronounced as she speaks, but there's a little flip or flair sometimes depending on her word choice.

she hesitates and then leans back to take the towel and pull it into her lap ]

Yyyyeaaah, not really. You hear about the deer attack on that bakery the other week?

[ an actual occurrence. a vermini-possessed deer had crashed into one of the reincarnate's bakery and trashed the place. the vermini and reincarnate parts were, of course, not included in the news story. ]

It's insurance. [ he lightly slaps the denim on his thigh. (he's driving one-handed.) ] So! Where am I dropping you off?

Do you... go to that bakery often?...

[ it didn't seem like quite enough reason to go about carrying a rifle, but who was she to say? she wrote the news off as an oddity, not something to take quite so seriously.

should she take it more seriously? ]

What? Oh. My apartment complex, I suppose. It's at the corner of St. Charles and Pandora. [ she looks away from the rifle back to him before she focuses on, at the very least, getting her hair dry ]

...I don't know if I've ever seen you off-duty. [ it's a complete shift from the conversation of a minute ago given her tone, except it goes right back into it a second later. ] Do you bring that with you now when you're on?...

[ tone whiplash! once he's mentally adjusted his route to the directions she's given, he takes a second to catch up with what she'd said afterward. ]

No! No. [ a light laugh. ] Not allowed. I'm hoping, you know, I'll never have to actually use it here, but...

[ yeah, he's not going to discuss secret number network stuff with someone who isn't involved. time for a topic change! (again.) ]

Sorry, yeah? Books aren't really my thi-- [ he realizes the ac's still on. ] Oh, shit, sorry. [ he turns it completely off. ]

Well, I guess you never know what's out there... [ she doesn't sound entirely certain, and a little disturbed, but he seems to want to move past it, which is, you know, fair. if she looks a little skittish still, she's just keeping an eye on the road for anything that might need to be shot.

she sniffs as she settles the towel around her shoulders, not realizing that it's cold in the car until he turns the ac off. she shivers despite herself ] God! I didn't even notice. [ is she going to get sick? what a nuisance. she sighs again, shifting to check her shoe. maybe she should just yank the other heel off? ] Thanks. Sorry. If you wanted it on, I mean. And thanks for picking me up.

Oh, don't worry about it.

[ he glances at her again and notices her looking down at her feet- or the area, at least. he doesn't afford himself enough time to confirm. ]

Shoes all flooded? [ there's a note of sympathy in his voice. drenched shoes were the absolute worst. ]

I'm almost not surprised it was you. Normally I have to call before I see you, though.

[ there's something almost like teasing in her voice, though it's distracted. she takes her shoe off and inspects the sole of it. sigh, she liked these ones, too. she doesn't even know where the heel came off exactly. it's probably still sitting on the pavement somewhere. ]

Ah, the heel snapped off while I was walking... and they're flooded, yes. Damn. [ the last bit muttered to herself. what good is one shoe? but she hates the idea of throwing both out. ] Know any right-leg only people with a size seven and a half foot?...

[ a wry smile makes its way on his lips. he'd given her the nickname 'miss banshee' because of her uncanny number of 911 calls -- for others.

he clucks his tongue. ]

Actually, I think I know a girl. I'll give her a call. [ he shoots her a quick smile, just short of a grin. can't let her see his fangs.

But besides the broken shoe and getting caught in the rain, how are you? [ since taking nightshift, he's hardly seen her. ]

[ she doesn't quite smile in return, but there's a lightening of her features at the sight of his smile, leaving her looking bedraggled but amused ]

Yeah, get back to me on that, would you.

Ah? [ she goes back to trying to wring water out of her hair with the towel, looking back ahead. it's not what you'd call a loaded question. things don't change much for her. ]

Fine, I suppose... feels like a lot going on and not much at all. Kind of the norm for me. [ she doesn't sound put off by it, that's just kind of the way it is ] Checked up on my dad and he's not dead yet, brother's graduating next year... couple of dates gone nowhere, heart attack in the periodicals yesterday morning. [ she glances back over to him ] Where were you then, hm? Night shift now, you said? [ she's teasing, but she's also curious. maybe a little disappointed, but it's hard to tell with that accent and dry humour. ]

[ ... 'yet'... ]

Ah, yeah, I'm working graveyards now, seven to seven. [ a heavy and intentional sigh. ] My social life is wilting without the sun.

[ he could make a joke about that in spite of being friends with a 'lord of the sun', but rei wouldn't get it so he refrains. ]

Sorry about the dates. I know how that goes.

Could be worse. Could have no social life at a regular nine to five. Or just a very unsatisfying one.

[ this time her smile is slightly self-deprecating. they have a whiteboard up with a tally of people she's gone out with in the office, or they did before someone thought to take it down in case they ran into harassment issues because of it. it's not a short list, but that's not really comforting, either. not a lot of repeats.

the ones that are? usually forget to inform her that they've become a couple. no, she's too self-involved and oblivious for those types, they usually just get mad at her for being careless or inattentive. ]

Really? I was starting to think it was just me. [ she digs through her purse- also soaked, sob- and pulls out a few bobby pins from one of the pockets. a few twists and she's got her hair up and pinned back like a champ. ] Well, it's not like I'm looking for anything serious anyway. Shouldn't take it so hard, I guess.

[ despite seeing her a dozen times or more, alex hardly knows a thing about her. she's a librarian who's adept at keeping herself cool in an emergency situation. that's it, really. this is the first direct interaction they've had. she's always been periphery otherwise.

as such, he hasn't the adequate familiarity with her to gauge her remarks. he's shooting in the dark, though her openness to discuss this sort of topic lessens the sentiment some. ]

Maybe you're not looking in the right places?

[ there's a brief pause and she glances over to him, looking a little awkward ]

I don't look much at all, actually.

Something similar for you, you said?

[ does she even want to know? normally she doesn't even remember people, but she saw him often enough that he's stuck in her memory. like an unofficial coworker or something. ]

...you know, it's weird to see you not in an ambulance.

[ that earns her an unsure laugh. ]

Sorry. I guess a t-shirt and jeans don't carry the same charm the uniform does, huh?

What? Oh! No, I didn't mean... well, look at me. [ she glances up and pulls the mirror down to give herself a quick glance ] Soaked to the skin and my hair's gone frizzy... I'd be the last person to comment on something like that.

No, I just meant... I forget, sometimes, that people have lives outside of their work.

Sometimes I wonder. [ yes, that's a jab at his own 'life' outside of work, but it's in good humor.

he does sneak a glance at her, though. soaked, yeah, she's certainly not in her element. it takes away that crisp demeanor of hers that he's accustomed to.

after the next right turn, he's on st. charles. he pulls off to the side of the road and nods towards the building. ]

This it?

[ she just sighs again, looking through her purse a second time half-heartedly. it's hard to take into stock things like crazy animals when it all seems so far removed from her life and she's got stupid things like this to worry about.

her head jerks up again and she looks up to see her building through the mess of rain. It's still heavy, but at least she'll be inside sooner rather than later, thanks to alex. ]

Yeah. Ah, bless you. [ very british sounding, that.

she shifts to check her shoes again, and then, for whatever reason, glances back again to the gun in the backseat behind his groceries. she looks back to him, then ahead as she pulls the towel from around her shoulders. ]

Thanks, really. I owe you.

Nah, don't worry about it.

[ he patiently waits for her to gather her things, glancing at the rearview mirror, then back to her again.

as she's about to step out that, he's struck by a sudden thought. ]

Maybe you could come over for dinner one day.

[ she's just got the door open- the rain is like a heavy sheet of water just coming down- when he speaks to her.

she hesitates and shuts the door again briefly ] Pardon?

Dinner? You, me and Vin. You can meet the guy I take your calls into.

Oh.

[ it's possible he's mentioned the other person before, but for now the name rings no bells. she isn't intimidated by the proposal, no, but given their brief conversation, she has to consider if it's a good idea or not.

but there's nothing to lose on her end and she knows it. ]

Sure. Beats eating by myself.

[ she's watching him like she's trying to find something in his face, but then that watchful look seems to fade and she smiles briefly ] Whenever's good for you.

[ he wonders if throwing the offer out there hadn't been a good idea. she obviously wasn't satisfied with her social life. he'd just been reaching out, but maybe too forward? too strange? especially with the rifle in the back.

... did she think he was going to murder her...

but then she agrees, even though it's accompanied with what sounds like self-deprecation.

he says his cell phone number. ] That's my cell. We can figure it out when you're not soaked, yeah?

[ there's a moment of silence as she commits the number to memory and nods ] All right.

[ she goes for the door again and then pauses, looking back to him. ]

And it's Reilanin. Not 'Miss Banshee'.

[ ... oh, that's right, he doesn't know her actual name.

well, didn't.

dumbfounded, he takes a split second to recover from the look (wow, what a look). ]

Reilanin. Got it.

I'm Alex.

[test] THIS WEATHER IS RIDICULOUS

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