allthisshitisweird | TEST DRIVE MEME!

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TEST DRIVE MEME!

TEST DRIVE MEME

Maybe you’ve been around for a while, or maybe you’re new to the Inquisition. Maybe you’re new to Thedas, having recently fallen from a tear in reality and been collected by uniformed rescuers. Whoever you are, you’ve been sent to Kirkwall, to an outpost where many of the Inquisition’s members and allies work on some of the biggest mysteries and problems the organization must solve if it’d like to keep the world from ending, where “ending” means “falling under the power of an ancient powerful corrupted being who wants everyone to bow to him as a god.”

And just to be clear, it would like that. It would like that a lot.

I. THE GALLOWS: The Gallows is an island fortress in Kirkwall’s harbor. It’s been home to, in order: Tevinter slaves, a Circle of Magi, a lot of creepy red lyrium, and now the Inquisition, which has occupied the fortress with the provisional Viscount’s blessing. There are walls that still need rebuilding and corners that still need dusting, but for the most part the Inquisition has gotten down to business. There’s space in the stone-floored courtyards to train or spar; or, if your skills don’t lie in the realm of hitting things, there’s a large library and several offices supporting the Inquisition’s areas of research and diplomatic efforts. If you don’t know what to do with yourself, then by all means, ask; someone will definitely be able to put you to work.

II. KIRKWALL: A quick row across the harbor will take you to Kirkwall proper. The city is built into the cliffs, from exclusive and wealthy Hightown at the top to impoverished Darktown in the abandoned mining tunnels below. In the middle is Lowtown, home to taverns, merchants, and plenty of trouble to keep anyone looking for it happy. You’re welcome to spend your free time and your money here—but try not to annoy the locals too much, please, in case their welcome runs out. It’d be a shame to have to pack again so soon after arriving.

III. QUESTING: Barely had time to make yourself at home, did you, before you were sent away from Kirkwall again—but this time on a mission. There’s a rift outside of Markham, pouring demons into the fields, and the Inquisition has been asked to lend a hand. Maybe literally. If you have an anchor embedded in your palm, you’re needed to close the damn thing. If not, maybe you’re here to fight demons or guard against bandits on the road, or to gather samples and take notes on the rift’s location once its closed, or to speak to Markham’s nobility afterwards to make sure that they fully appreciate the Inquisition’s efforts. Regardless, it’s a long trip, so we hope you like campfire cooking and sharing a tent.

IV. SENDING CRYSTAL: Joining the Inquisition gets you access to the very latest in barely-understood magical communication devices—namely, a crystal, small enough to wear around your neck, that will allow you to communicate verbally with anyone else who has one. Or everyone else who has one. Say hello.

V. WILDCARD: The whole of Thedas is yours to explore, from coast to uncharted wilderness. Choose your own adventure!

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[Her laugh shakes, but she wraps her arms around Beth and hugs back tightly.]

Shit, tell me something I don't know. When did you get here?

[She wants to ask when Beth came from, the last thing she remembers from home. But that's a lot, maybe more than either of them are ready for right away. Instead, she just presses tight for a moment, like Beth is something precious she lost and never expected to find again. Maybe exactly like that, actually.]

Couple days.

( She's not looking her best, truthfully.

Cosima feels solid and alive and real, but so does she. It doesn't mean anything, does it? The hug lasts a couple moments longer than what Beth is usually comfortable with, and she eases back a little, though she keeps a hand on Cosima's shoulder - anchoring, comforting. God, Cosima was something special, just like Alison and MK. Was Cosima was gonna save Katja, somehow? She had faith in them. They'd-- they'd be okay. )

You? ( There's a hesitation. She's almost afraid to know, afraid of whatever Cosima's answer will be. ) I didn't know Uhaul delivered to the World of Warcraft.

[She manages a smile, and looks a bit less like she's going to actually cry.]

About a year, local time. Though someone from my future showed up briefly, so either I eventually go back to the time I left or we're into some weird alternate universe, quantum ... yeah.

[Stay focused, Cosima.]

I was pretty sure I'd just lost it, for a while, but if this is a hallucination it's been unexpectedly internally consistent and includes a lot of boring parts where no one's invented electricity or pop music or ballpoint pens.

[Her pen ran out of ink months ago, and it was a very sad day.]

( okay she's going to ignore that ramble because Priorites, Cosima. Pens? Seriously? Time travel?

It's all kind of a scramble in her head as she stares blankly at Cosima, and then after a long pause: )

A year.

( A YEAR? ) We spoke on the phone...

( A couple days ago, tops. Her entire vibe is extremely What The Hell??? )

[Well, that narrows it a little; she hasn't -- hadn't? -- known Beth long enough for it to be a huge window. Still.]

I think I'm going to need a drink, and we should sit. I'll explain what I know, but it's a lot. From home and from here. It really is...

[She touches Beth's arm, just because she can.]

It's so good to see you.

( Her hands slip into her pockets. )

You too.

( Feelings are difficult and she'd really rather not, she needs a long list of things to get through this that she doesn't have, so: )

Does being here a year mean you're buying the new kid a round, too?

Edited (Werds) 2017-07-26 01:14 (UTC)

[A real smile, now.]

Totally. They even kind of gave me a job, compared to grad school I'm flush. Unfortunately, the selection is, like, one kind of wine and three kinds of warm ale, so.

Go grab a table, and I'll bring you something. Try not to beat anyone up for it.

[Jokes, yes.]

( Beth watches Cosima for a second too long, a little guarded, before she realises what she's doing. This is fine. They'll figure this out, if there's anyone she can trust, it's her sisters. )

Don't count on it. If there's a booth, it's mine.

( There dry wit doesn't ring quite true; her mirth has been wrung out of her, over time. There's glimpses, but...

As she moves to secure a table she adds, a little humourlessly, ) Get whatever's strongest and double it.

[Contrary to her earlier claim about wine and ale, the drink she brings Beth is suspiciously clear, with a scent more similar to moonshine than vodka. For herself, she has what appears to be an honest-to-god flagon.]

Alright, well, welcome to a life of involuntary LARPing. Could be worse, though; when I first got here, we were based in, uh, a giant fort in the mountains, basically. You know I'm not built for snow.

( hahaha yeah she's totally fine; her shoulders rise and drop with fleeting, silently laughter, a smile tugging the corners of her mouth, before she picks up that moonshine and drains about two thirds of it in one pull. Eyes shut, letting the heat of it sink into her theist, her chest, her gut. )

You're built for frolicking in a field of poppies and making friendship bracelets out of hemp,

( fondly, but like. Seriously Cosima, do u even lift? ) Snow fort, okay. Let me guess, there's a dark force rising and we need to collect seven dragon stones and defeat otherworldly monsters with pluck and the power of friendship?

Check on the dark force and otherworldly monsters, negative on anyone giving a shit about the power of friendship. Jury's out on the dragon stones.

[She sighs and sits back, taking a sip of wine.]

When I first got here, I spent months just trying to sort out what the hell was going on. But by this point, I've seen the reality of what this group of people is up against. People like us can go home, it seems like, but not on purpose and with no control over the timing. So I'm helping as long as I'm here.

[A pause, then softer:]

I'm sick, Beth. What Katja had. They can keep me stable, and they do; if nothing else, I owe them for that.

Edited 2017-07-26 11:24 (UTC)

( There are so many things to respond to, grab onto. So many different avenues of thought to go tumbling down like some kind of Wonderland rabbit hole scenario, and Beth has energy for exactly none of them.

Some part of her really felt that stepping in front of that train— it wasn't what she wanted to do, but at least everything would stop. What a fucking joke, right? That Cosima has been here for months, a year, is still blowing her fucking mind. A year, when Beth did what she did days ago? Hours?

Does time even matter? Did dying even matter, did it save anyone, if time was like a slinky getting bent and twisted around? And was she even dead at all or just having some miraculous, life saying hallucination, and to hell with that "consistent internal logic" crap?

Her mood is heavy, and she'd just let herself crawl into it and be buried, if not for what Cosima says.

Sick. And, perhaps more concerningly, had, in the past tense. She looks up at Cosima from her slouches position in the seat, forcing herself to sit up. ) Hey.

( To hell with these people. To hell with anyone who thinks she has any focus but one, when it came to her sisters. Keep them safe, at all costs. Let them live, no matter what. ) What d'you mean, had? What— what don't I know?

( It's probably kinda rich, her saying that to Cosima. )

[Cosima looks at her a long moment, chewing her lower lip and evaluating what to say.]

You were right, [she says, finally, quietly.] Someone is hunting us. Cultists who think we're abominations. They got to Katja.

...and you left us, [she says, quiet and tired. It's not an accusation, just a fact. Cosima's good at those.]

( Beth inhales, staggered. More like two small breaths in, and a sharp exhale that leaves her chest heavy and uncomfortable, even as she's short of breath. )

Dying was the only way to keep you and Alison safe. ( There's something a little frantic on the outskirts of her voice. ) They would have— if I'd lived they would have killed both of you.

( Maybe Mika would have been okay, but arguably Mika hadn't been okay for years, so far as Beth could tell. Living like a mouse in the shadows, always running and hiding. Apparently the only things she enjoyed were cute t-shirts and iced tea, made to exact measurements.

She can't even grasp onto the cultist part right now. It's registered, she has to come back to it, but this is the thing she has to get into Cosima's head. ) I screwed up. I put you all in danger, so I had to fix it. If you think there's any other reason why I would've—

( She can't keep talking, gritting the words out. ) I had to protect you.

( And Katja was dead. )

They who, the Prolethians? Neolution? Some other group of assholes who wants us dead that we don't even know about?

[Her voice is still quiet, but it shakes a little.]

You're not going to get me to agree it was better for you do the murders' job for them, sorry. We were all in danger, but if it weren't for you, we'd have had no idea. You know, we found our newest sister because she was posing as you and we were desperate enough to ask her to keep doing it so she had access to the police station.

...I say we, but Alison thought it was a bad idea, in fairness.

Prolethian— ( what. Okay, coming back to that. She's going to make a damn list. )

Neos. Evie God damn Cho. You know she had a guy inside the police department? Duko, he— he was the union rep assigned to me, and he was keeping the Neos buried when they were operating right under the our noses.

( The rest of her drink is tipped back, her hand flexes. What she wouldn't do for a hit right now. She wouldn't even be fussy about what it was, just... anything. Anything to take the edges off all this.

After a moment, she retrains her gaze on Cosima. ) Someone posed as me?

( What the hell? What did that even mean? Someone stepped into her life like a damn parasite and took over? Someone with her face was living her life, and Cosima and Alison had been fine?

Once again, there are too many directions to go in at once. Did it mean she could have had more time? Did it—

did she not have to die at all? And some sleaze stole her life? ) Someone took over my life, ( her voice is low, still, but ragged, ) and you welcomed her with open arms, Cosima?

Edited 2017-07-26 14:10 (UTC)

Okay, first of all, I fucking mourned you, Beth, don't lecture me.

Second of all, she had no idea about the clone thing, she saw you at the train station. We didn't know it wasn't you right away, I was only talking to her on the phone at first. She got ahold of Alison's money and Katja's samples before we realized, but she was just banging around and drawing attention. She wasn't going to fool your partner for long, but we also didn't want to just hang her out to dry when someone was trying to kill us.

[She looks into her flagon, as if she can find some answers there.]

She has a kid. She thought she'd steal from a dead woman and skip town before anyone caught on which, no, isn't super admirable but it's not like she's the reason there was a hole there to fill, either. Sarah's not the most stable person, but she's our sister. She deserves to know what we know.

( She opens her mouth to snap something back, and closes it again. There's... a lot.

Sarah, train station. She remembers seeing a woman before she stepped in front of that train, but she'd been so desperate and everything had been so final. Beth's head is spinning. )

I didn't have to die. ( Slowly; quietly. ) Some woman was walking around calling herself Beth Childs and people didn't realise right away. I— ( A quiet breath of laughter, devoid of any kind of mirth. ) We could have had more time.

( She didn't have to die. Her fingers smooth over her hair, her jaw flexes. Art, Paul, all of them. God, Sarah even has a kid. Sarah has everything, she thinks, in a spiteful, furious moment.

Beth should say sorry. She knows she should say sorry, and there's a whole lot more she knows, but her mind is caught on this: that she killed herself to protect her sisters, and they didn't need her gone at all. )

I could have told you that before you did it, [Cosima says, quietly heartbroken.]

I wish you'd called. I feel like I failed you. I didn't know you felt so trapped, I thought we'd have more time.

[She loves Alison, for all they have so little in common. She's coming to care about Sarah, for all they find each other endlessly frustrating. But Cosima's not a leader, and they'd all looked to Beth.]

She couldn't ever replace you. No one could.

Edited 2017-07-26 15:14 (UTC)

( For a time, Beth is silent. She doesn't know what to say, what to do. It feels like she's right back on that platform at Huxley. The din of the tavern is the rush of an oncoming train, the clatter over the rails—

Her breath comes in a quick, painful gasp, as she shakes her head, snaps out of it.

Cosima's here. Cosima is alive and real and solid. Beth's just not sure about everything else. Her jaw feels tense and slack at the same time, she looks pale and hollow, and she exhales shakily. )

I couldn't. If I spoke to you or Alison, I don't know if I could have gone through with it.

( And that was what she had to do, right? What she had to do to protect them? Tentatively, carefully, like one of them is made of glass and the other is hot coals, and shattering is the only possibly outcome of contact. She's honestly not sure which is which, when she finally lays a hand over Cosima's. )

I'm sorry.

[Cosima is the glass; or, at least, she's the one who breaks, as a couple of treacherous tears roll down her cheeks.]

I've missed you, you jerk, [she says, quiet, and not really meaning the second half at all.]

I'm even in Toronto now - well, not now, now I'm in Thedas, but you know what I mean. It felt like you should have been there.

( Beth's jaw trembles very slightly, before she shakes her head a little, like that'll dismiss it and she glances away from a Cosima.

It doesn't do much good. She's still not looking at Cosima, but a tear roll down her cheek as she stands, moves the short distance between them and tugs a Cosima up out of the chair. )

Come here.

( Don't make her say it, just let her pull Cosima into a hug. )

Edited (Iconnss) 2017-08-03 23:54 (UTC)

[She buries her head against Beth's shoulder, hugging her close. For all that she said she'd mourned Beth, she hadn't had time to do it well, busy racing the clock against everything trying to stop her and their sisters. There had been Sarah, and then there'd been Delphine, and Leekie, and it had all been a lot.

But losing Beth had hurt. It's been more than a year for Cosima, but suddenly now that Beth is in front of her, and telling her she did what she did for Cosima and Alison...

...it's too much.

Damply and muffled, she says] I wished for you to be here. I thought you couldn't be, but I wished for it anyway.

What happened to the objective scientist, huh?

( Its a joke, because she'd fairly sure Cosima is one of the least objective people she knows. So many feelings. Her arms tighten around Cosima a bit, and she's silent before adding, )

I never wanted to hurt you. Either of you.

The objective scientist figured the cop would be way better at all the running and fighting living in a real-life fantasy adventure involves, [she grumbles, a bit thickly. Then:]

I know. But I didn't want you to feel like it was all on you, either. That you didn't have anyone else to turn to.

TEST DRIVE MEME!

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RIGHT IN MY FEELINGS

PEW PEW

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