Test Drive Meme 003

[iyashikeimods]

Test Drive Meme 003

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And That's Final!

Spring is in full effect, flowers are blooming, the farms have gone into overdrive to get ready for the summer and fall harvest. The weather starts with a light chill in the morning before the sun is shining bright by midday. It's not too hot, not too cold, and all sorts of people are opting to spend more time outside. Meanwhile, the students have been under a LOT of stress as school finals are ending! Yadah University and Minarai invite you all onto the campuses to see just what the students achieved before school lets out for the summer!

Yadah University has a couple of booths set up here and there, some on sciences and the inventions they made. A particular group of science students are super excited to explain their backstory and why they created their various inventions. In the middle of the quad, there's a stage where the arts and music students are performing. You're welcome to be an audience member, or, if it's an improv group, you might very well get pulled up on stage to help with the skit!

But the most popular booths of all are the magic booths. Yadah University is the only school that teaches practical magic, and the big ticket for this semester?

NON-MAGICAL ANIMAL TRANSFORMATIONS!

Yes, that's right, either with a wave of their wands or hands, a spell incantation, or standing in a magic circle with interesting drawings and ruins, you will be turned into an animal that most aligns with SOME aspect of your personality. Maybe you're incredibly relaxed and get turned into a bearded dragon! Maybe you can't even rub two brain cells together and are turned into a jellyfish. Maybe you're as sly as a fox or as loyal as a dog! No matter what you get turned into, for the next 24 hours, you are painlessly turned into an animal.

Now, while that is all well and good for those who volunteer to be transformed, well, these ARE students, and so there are varying degrees of success. In THEORY, you should be able to transform back and forth as you please and communicate with those around you... again, in theory.

In reality?

Weellll, there's bound to be some mishaps. Some people may not be able to transform back AT ALL, some may not be able to communicate, some only have PARTS of their body transformed, like the mane of a lion instead of your hair or the wings of a parrot instead of your arms. Some may have shrunk you down to the size of a mouse, but not changed anything else about you! Or maybe every time you sneeze or hiccup, you're forced to transform. Maybe you change back and forth due to hot or cold water being poured on you! Magic is really tricky!

Worst of all! You may have been shot with a stray spell and turned into an animal, whether you wanted to or not! Super sorry about that! But don't worry, no matter the level of mastery, it all wears off in 24 hours, and all of it is a painless transformation, so at least there's that. Well... at worst, 72 hours. But that's it! They promise!

Maybe hearing that a stray spell might strike you causes you to steer clear of Yadah University. Well, why not visit Minarai?

Minarai High School has its end-of-the-year Sports Day Festival! There are booths selling food from the Home Ec. classes, face painting from the drama class students, if you are feeling unsure of where to go or what to do, the Student Council is happy to show you around the school as guides! On more than one occasion, you may notice that certain booths will need help here and there. Maybe they need an extra hand in painting faces or selling baked goods, maybe you're asked to help watch over Minnow students and toddlers to allow parents to partake in some of the other activities! Speaking of some of those activities, there are all sorts all over the school.

There are your typical games: like the three-legged race, the egg-balancing race, the wheelbarrow walk race, the baton-pass race, water-balloon toss, the 100-meter and 200-meter dash, tug-of-war, a riddle scavenger hunt through the school, and other typical activities you might find. There are, however, also unconventional activities! Like the Inflatable Hamster Ball Obstacle Race in the gymnasium! For a REAL challenge, there's even THE ULTIMATE OBSTACLE COURSE! that has been set up in the center of the school's track-meet field.

But perhaps you don't want to be anywhere near the schools. There is a much more peaceful option available to you.

Sunset Memories

All throughout the Main Hub and Outer Rim, you will hear the locals talk about how "it's been 13 years!" As well as posters featuring a reminder to "camp safely and responsibly when viewing," whatever that may mean.

As it so happens, there are just rows and rows of charter buses set up near the Farmlands with lots of people getting on, putting camping gear in the storage compartments, and giant backpacks as well. Why?

For the Sunset Awakening, of course!

That's probably not all that informative (because it isn't), but if you do happen to go, get ready for a once-every-13-years phenomenon! After hours and hours and hours and hours on the bus, driving past the Farmlands and through the smaller mountain range that sits at the edge of the Farmlands, you will arrive in a desert.

It is immediately clear that this desert is more or less uninhabited by Iyashikei residents. However, there is a sense of... memory all over. Maybe you suddenly feel more nostalgic, maybe you suddenly feel more reflective. It's like the very sands and trees hold something within them... but... what?

There aren't any airships that fly overhead, and outside of the Ranger Outpost, this is a place left untouched. Once the buses drop you off, you're shown to the designated temporary campsites. The rangers there are happy to welcome you, so long as you are respectful of the desert. The Rangers go over the rules and expectations at the campsites, your standard fare about throwing out all your trash and food scraps in the correct bins, being mindful about fires, and respecting nature and other campers. If you don't have the correct tools and gear, thankfully, they have spares and backups. All of this is very confusing, but there is excitement in the air. There's plenty of talk about "hoping one lands on them."

Lands on them?

As it would happen, every 13 years for exactly one month and one month only, there is a rather ethereal magical creature that emerges. Just as the sun is setting, tens of thousands of fuzzy Sunset Moths will come up from underneath the sands of the desert, climbing up the trees and unfurling their white wings under the light of the setting sun. The moths seemingly catch the colors of those last rays of light in their wings, and the wings go from white to beautiful pinks, reds, yellows, oranges, greens, purples, and any number of combinations.

The ground and trees become practically covered in these moths as they breed and lay their eggs in the sand. The sky is a constant artificial sunset as they fly through the air. There are all sorts of predators that come out to enjoy the feast, but that's not why people are here.

If a Sunset Moth lands on you, and there is a very good chance it will, considering how many there are, the Sunset Moth will leave a trail of glittery dust along the skin and restore a lost memory or feeling. The memory or feeling may be sweet, it may be sentimental, it may be bittersweet, or it may remind you of happier times. The memory or feeling is always, in some way positive, at least in some fashion, even if those memories or feelings might be in short supply for some.

The Sunset Moths are a reminder of the temporary nature of everything, living only for a couple of weeks after they emerge from the sand. Once the month is over, the buses return to take everyone back. The desert is protected land; it's not meant for those brought to Iyashikei to inhabit.

Weather Wise

While Iyashikei is usually a very warm and welcoming place, as the month of May starts drawing to a close, there is a distinct sense of... nervousness? Worry? Fear? At least something bordering on concern as the month continues.

Why?

Well, the immediate answer is that June is the rainy season, and Iyashikei is filled with canals and waterways. While some flooding is to be expected, it's best to be overprepared rather than caught off guard. But there is... something a bit unusual about their answer. There's the sense that something more is under the surface but any attempt to get a more in-depth answer is met with just concern about how bad things can get and trying to use any sort of magic or abilities doesn't get them to open up any further.

So it's time to get weather-wise! There's no telling how bad it will be this year! So all of Iyashikei is getting involved, as it so often does. There's waterproofing the roofs and walls of homes. You can help by filling up hundreds and hundreds of sandbags. There's making first aid kits for anyone who is a new arrival, or going from home to home and helping make sure everyone has what they need. You can help by cleaning up the pathways along the canals so that when they flood, trash and dirt don't get in the water. In some homes, you can help by moving furniture upstairs, reinforcing windows, and taking inventory of how much clean water they have. Houseboats should have their hulls checked.

Head to the docks and beaches to help make sure the boats are secured and tied up tightly. Go to the Farmlands to make sure pens and stables are leak-proof. YOU will be asked if you're prepared for the rains as well! Do you have sensible rain boots, rain coats, a strong umbrella, a first aid kit, do you have enough food, medication, and anything else you might need? You don't? Better go get them while you're still dry and the paths are clear. No, no, no, residents will insist. You may have experienced serious rain or even hurricanes back home, but not like this, not like here.

And... there's that fear again.

Well, better to be safe than sorry, everyone will insist! Besides, everyone always needs a first aid kit in their home anyway! Even minor flooding can be inconvenient, to say the least. Truly, all of Iyashikei is getting ready, as if holding its breath because as soon as June hits?

The rains will begin...


MOD NOTE: June will be a unique event month and so the effects from that event will be added here in the TDM once the month of June starts.

A Kindly Curious Question

There are several little beeps, or depending on whether you've begun customizing it, maybe a little song instead starts to play on your Glimmer. A little envelope notification appears and does a little wiggle. Should you open this, a cute little message appears:


Hello hello Iyashikei!

This is the monthly Kindness Curious Question (K.C.Q.)! What is something you’d love to learn about? Answer honestly to get your sticker!

Answer honestly on the Glimmer and you'll get your K.C.Q. Digital Sticker! It will immediately go into your K.C.Q. digital sticker album folder on your Glimmer.

What's the point, you might ask? Well, when you open that sticker and press on it, the little sticker will help you make a difficult task feel less complicated. To be clear, it doesn't make the task EASIER, just gives you more confidence to handle it.

< isopods >

Comments

[boyofprogress]

[... harsh, but more or less fair. But it still stings a little, and Jayce's face twists in a frown.] I never thought of you like that, you know that. And I just meant -- well. I rarely saw you outside the lab. You've always been so focused on work. That's all.

Which is how we met, if you remember.

[hexcrafter]

I did not mean anything by it, Jayce, I was only pointing out a fact. We have more important things than a social life to focus on, and I prefer working with you than being anywhere else.

[boyofprogress]

I don't -- [He sighs and sets his fingertips against Viktor's knee again, shaking his head a little]

Let's not argue. But I'm glad. That you have friends here. You deserve to have good people around you.

[hexcrafter]

[Viktor let the matter drop without objection; they'd had countless brief arguments over the years, always over one minor equation or detail--and they had always fizzled out just as quickly. Even that was familiar, and he found himself relaxing slightly at the touch to his leg. Something he wouldn't allow from anyone else, certainly.]

...

[There were so many things he wanted to ask about--had Viktor told him about the Shimmer he was planning to experiment with, had it cone to anything at all, how long did he really have left--but none of it quite got any further than scattered thoughts. Did he even want to know? Did he want to ask, seeing how tired Jayce looked now compared to when Viktor had last seen him?]

My condition has neither improved nor worsened since I arrived; Aqua is the only one that knows anything about it. I have been going to the hospital once a month--just to be sure everything is unchanged.

If...it would help set your mind at ease, you could come with me next time.

[boyofprogress]

[It's that assurance that does it. This is how Jayce Talis breaks down. He slides to the floor in front of the sofa and sets his forehead against Viktor's knee, shoulders shaking in silent sobs as tears slide down his face.

He's not better. But he's not worse, either. Viktor is stable, which isn't something Jayce ever knew he could hope for. And after losing him over and over again, it's what he needed to hear.]

Thank you. [It comes out small and weak and exhausted, and Jayce loops his arm over Viktor's legs carefully. Just holding him like this.]

[hexcrafter]

Jayce-?! [Viktor startled at the sudden reaction, hands hovering as he internally panicked over what to do. This was alarming uncharted territory, these intense rections--not unlike his partner, but so unexpected and leving Viktor floundering for how to react. What had happened, had Viktor outright collapsed and died right in front of him? Gods, he hoped not.]

[But this closeness, this familiarity, had they-...no. No, Viktor was certain he would not have allowed either of them to make so stupid a decision.]

I told you...I am not going anywhere. [A thin hand tangled in Jayce' hair, the other reaching over to rest gently on his back.] Not yet.

[boyofprogress]

I know. I know, that's why I'm crying. [There's something like a laugh in there. It's shaky and thin, but he manages it. The fingers in his hair go a long way to calm him, the hand on his back more so, and he relaxes against Viktor's legs.

His own leg aches from the position he'd dropped into so quickly, but it's worth it to feel close to Viktor like this right now.] I'm happy. I'm relieved. And yes -- I'll go with you, next time.

[hexcrafter]

I am more accustomed to doing these things alone, but...if that will help your mind settle, the company does not bother me.

[We could stay here, whispered a wickedly selfish voice in Viktor's thoughts. If his future was as short-lived as it seemed, if nothing about his illness progressed in this realm, then...no. No. Viktor wanted so badly to change their world, to make it as peaceful and safe as this one. He couldn't just abandon all of it simply because he was afraid of dying.]

Come on--get off the floor, you will strain your leg.

[boyofprogress]

Now where have I heard that before? [He sniffs and wipes at his eyes with another one of those choked laughs, but listens to Viktor's request and hauls himself back up again. And if he's sitting a little closer than he was before, then so be it.

He's thoughtful for a moment. Viktor has questions. Of course he does. He knows his partner well enough to feel all of them buzzing around that brilliant brain of his. But he's not sure he's ready to explain, not when it still feels so raw.]

You can ask. I might not be able to explain it all just yet. But you can ask.

[hexcrafter]

...

[He wanted to know, but he didn't want to know. Stubboornness and scientific curiosity clashed with the common sense that said unspekably awful things had happened foor his partner to end up like this. So Viktor just thought it over for a moment, not quite meeting his eyes as a hand laid over one of Jayce's own.]

If you truly can not tell me, for one reason or another, I will trust you and refrain from pushing the issue. But I-...

[Viktor sighed, shoulders dropping as a deep-seated exhaustion made itself clear.]

...How long do I actually have?

[boyofprogress]

[Jayce turns his hand so their hands are touching palm to palm, and he links his fingers with Viktor's. Needing that extra contact as scenes of Viktor's repeated deaths beat at the back of his mind.]

It doesn't end like that. Not where or when I'm from. Maybe there are other ways it played out, but -- [He shakes his head a little, exhaling harshly.]

I want you to know I was there, at the end of it all. With you. Please remember that no matter what else happens, it ends with me by your side. Your partner.

[hexcrafter]

What does that-...?

[Viktor trailed off with an obvious lack of comprehension on his face; to him, that had been a very straightforward question with an answer that was anything but. He had no way of understanding the sheer scale of reality, or the hundreds of threads of timelines woven through it by his own hand. Not yet, at the very least.]

[But as promised, he didn't push any further than that; clarity would come in time, this much he believed. So he curled his fingers around his partner's hand with a small sigh.]

That much, I did not doubt would be the case.

[boyofprogress]

I know. It doesn't make sense, I know that. But I'm too close to it, right now. I lost you, and then I was here. The whole thing -- I feel like it's still bleeding.

It's why I said yes. I was hoping for a chance to do something right, and -- [He leans so their shoulders are touching, resting his head against the top of Viktor's head. More contact than he's initiated or asked for before, but so so needed right now.] And there you were. Like none of it ever happened.

[hexcrafter]

[It really didn't make any sense at all. How could it have just happened when Jayce looked like he'd been through more time than Viktor even had left? What did he mean, 'other ways it played out'? Curiosity burned in his head despite understanding he was brushing against something he did not want to hear, and Viktor just sighed quietly.]

[They were partners, made to support one another in their every endeavor. And for once, Viktor wasn't the one in need of support. He tugged his hand away only to gingerly, cautiously loop thin arms around Jayce's shoulders--unused to this level of contact, but recognizing it was necessary on some level.]

I do not understand what you're talking about, and I can only imagine what must have happened. But this I am sure of all the same: you did enough. You...cared, and that was enough.

[boyofprogress]

I did. I do. I always will. [He rests his hand against Viktor's arm, feeling like he can relax fully for the first time since the explosion. Viktor isn't well, and might never be. But he's stable, and that's more than he could have hoped for, before.

For all the pain they caused each other, maybe it was meant to happen this way. Without it, he wouldn't have known all that he knows now, all that he's so very grateful to have learned. Without it, maybe Viktor wouldn't have found him in the first place.

It's something he's still working to untangle for himself. But for now, he rests his head against Viktor's, inhaling deeply. The scent of the coffee mixed with the clean scent of Viktor, and he feels home, finally. When he speaks again, it's quiet. Almost a whisper.]

In all timelines, in all possibilities, only you could show me this.

[hexcrafter]

Jayce, what does that...?

[But he trailed off with a small sigh, running one hand through his partner's hair while the other traced slow idle circles against his back. This was...nice. Comforting, perhaps, for both of them in a way that had been needed for much too long.]

Never mind. You do not have to explain anything to me, not until you are ready to.

[boyofprogress]

[For a few moments he's quiet. Just basking in the peace between them right now. Viktor rubbing his back like Mel had done for him before --

No. He won't chase that train of thought.

Instead he sighs, and lets Viktor hold him like this.] Now that I'm done crying on you, you should tell me more about what it's like, here.

[A beat, and -- ] And you should keep petting my hair like that.

[hexcrafter]

[Viktor waited in the silence that passed between them--the contact was grounding amidst the persistent, maddening confusion and worry alike. He hummed quietly in acknowledgement when Jayce finally spoke again, thin fingers continuing idly through his hair.]

It is difficult to describe in many aspects; much of it is like nothing I have ever seen before. A tremendous city that runs off of magic as well as technlogy I have nly barely begun to comprehend. I can harddly wait for you to see the library and the university, it all makes even the Academy look small.

[boyofprogress]

On magic? So then they've been successful in what we were attempting to do. More widely spread magic-science hybrid tech. If anyone can comprehend that, it would be you.

Maybe... [He's trying to choose his words, here. To explain this in a way that Viktor will easily understand without knowing the events of the past several months] Maybe there's a reason we're in this place, after all.

[hexcrafter]

All the easier to comprehend, I think, with you here now. We have always done our best work together.

[It was Viktor's turn to be quiet for a second or two, turning that concept over in his mind. He was not one to assume every single occurrence in the known universe had a distinct purpose; a concnept as superstitious as 'fate' seemed like a laughable concept to a scientist. However, it was impossible to overlook that many inscrutable things did have reason behind them. The question was whether or not this was one of them.]

You may be right. [A reason that Viktor was allowed time beyond his expectations, a reason Jayce had come from so far ahead of him--there was something missing in this equation, a variable that Viktor could not even begin to imagine.] It is not a quandary that needs solvng right this second, Jayce. We have...time, to consider the matter. [Said in the distinct tone of that time itself not being a concept Viktor was used to just yet.]

[boyofprogress]

We do. [It's half a sigh, body sagging in relief at the knowledge that here, at least? They do. Whatever magic is at work here seems to have put Viktor's degeneration on pause, or at least slowed it significantly.

Whatever it is, whatever the cause, he'll take it.

Another thoughtful pause, and he finally remembers to say -- ] I ran into a girl, um. Kind of literally, actually. Before I saw you. She's a scientist here, I think. A yordle, maybe? Similar ears, anyway. But she's working on testing the powers that people come in with, once she has her lab set up. [There's a small, snorted laugh at that.] I think I might have a job interview with her.

[hexcrafter]

That'll be Enchant, I assume? Thought she was an odd vastaya, myself. We have only spoken a time or two, but that does not surprise me. She is, ah...maybe 'overzealous' is the word I want.

[He shrugged at that, idly tapping his fingers against Jayce's shoulder in thought.]

I could not make a great deal of sense out of how her abilities might work, but it may be worth consideration.

[boyofprogress]

Oh a vastaya might make more sense, I think I just had the Professor on my mind. She yelled at me for delaying her ramen acquisition, but then offered to buy me some, since I haven't figured out the currency yet. Though I will say she startled me when she mentioned this place's shimmer. [There's no need to explain why, Viktor will understand well enough.

The idle touches are nice. Being pet, like one might pet a cat, has soothing properties, and Jayce feels more relaxed than he thought possible, anymore.] Overzealous is a good word for it. I'm interested to see her theories, anyway.

Tell me more about your friends?

[hexcrafter]

Eh....yeah. An awkward form of terminology. [He glanced uneasily to where he'd left his crutch--but if Jayce hadn't brought it up, Viktor wasn't about to ruin the moment by asking. The handle was empty, anyway--somewhere along the line of his arrival the vial of Shimmer had outright disappeared. Concerning, but chalked up to a casualty of inter-universe travel. Maybe that was for the best.]

[All the same, he latched on to the subject change a little too quickly.]

Well--there's Aqua, somethng of an aspiring medical student. Brilliant for his age; I think he could easily match ome of the Academy's best. [This was, of course, because Aqua was technically older than both of them. But that certainly wasn't Viktor's secret to explain.] A young girl named Maria--she has a condition not unlike my own, and comes from a wildly technologically advanced world I admit I do not quite understand. Then there's another girl, Xion--I do not know much about where she comes from, but she was very excited to find out I did not have a last name. Apparently that's uncommon in her own world.

[boyofprogress]

[He knows, now, what Viktor went through with the Shimmer. What he put himself through. Impossible not to see it, when he was trying to heal him after the explosion. And he's furious with himself, still, for not having seen it. He was too damned busy all the time, trying to balance politics with innovation. Being the Face of Progress. He should have seen --

But he can do it differently, this time. He knows what to look for. He can see it, stop it. Change it.

He keeps hold of Viktor, arms looped around his thin frame.] It sounds like you're still surrounding yourself with brilliant minds.