6.0 Test Drive Meme

[wellie]

6.0 Test Drive Meme

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Welcome to Well! See the first prompt for how your characters arrive in Well. Your character arrives with only a handful of memories, clad in a mix of Old Western clothes and clothes that might fit in at a renaissance fair, and no items from home.

Anyone is free to play on the TDM, but you need an invite to apply. Feel free to use these prompts, and interact with the arrival or locations. NPCs are around, but only say a certain set of phrases. TDMs can be considered game canon.

This TDM takes place from the first week of May onward, and can happen concurrently with other events during May and June. This will be the only TDM for May, June, and July.

Applications are open April 26th until May 1st, and May 27th until June 1st. Invites are available for friends of current players.

Arrival: Escape!

Content warnings: forced captivity, blood, eating eyes, drowning in sand, forced intimacy

The First Room

You wake up somewhere dark and damp. Maybe this is your first time waking up here, maybe it's your fourth, but the beginning is the same. You're in a small stone room. The only light comes from torches flicking on the walls. The room is bare except for a metal door. And you're not alone. You and someone (or someones) are here together, and you have to get out.

The door is locked, and to leave it you must just find one key. On the door is a note with a clue:

Freedom is hot!

The key is in fact in one of the torches! Depending on luck, you might find it on your first try, or your fourth. Find a way to extinguish the torches, and handle the hot, hot key to unlock the door.

After this, you find yourself in one of the following rooms. Choose one from the first set, then one from the second set, then one from the third set. You will always end in the final room. You must travel through five rooms to escape.

If you don't complete a task in five minutes, you will return to very first room and have to start again.

You can choose your own path, or comment below to have a random path set for you!

The Second Room

You find yourself in one of the following rooms:
1. There Ain't Room
2. Glitter Bomb
3. Riddles Three

1. There Ain't Room
In this room is a shooting game. There's a barrier with bebe guns attached to it, and at the far end are small cut outs of people. There's a sign on the far wall, in old-West style script, reading:

There Ain't Room

The cut outs look sort of familiar! There are cut outs of you and your compatriot(s), as well as some typical cowboy looking cut outs. Shoot your own cut out to escape! You each must shoot your own one, if you shoot each others', that person feels it as if they have been shot, and will start bleeding.

When you successfully hit all of your own cut outs, the floor under you opens up and you drop into the next room.

2. Glitter Bomb
As you walk through the doorway, you feel oddly.... sticky? Like your skin is covered in honey. Because it is! Yum.

In front of you is a room covered in glitter. There's so much glitter. You can't see a door, but you have to find a way out. Search the room to find the exit.

The exit is a trapped door in the floor. You'll need to make your way through the glitter, all the while it will stick to your very sticky skin. You'll need to dig a big enough path to get through, open the door and get into the next room! Too bad some glitter will come with you, and you'll still be sticky.

3. Riddles Three
A large hour glass in the middle of the room starts ticking down with sand as soon as you enter this room. One three of the walls are riddles engraved in the stone, and chalkboards in front of them. You must answer all three riddles correctly before the sand runs out to escape:

• Where waves kiss sand and breezes blow, where tropic dreams grow, I'm where you want to go. What am I? Answer: Kokomo
  
• With auburn locks and eyes of green, a rival, a threat, a beauty queen. Answer: Jolene
  
• With cowboy hats and boots that stride, no one told me where my horse I ride. Answer: Old Town Road

Once you answer correctly, the hour glass disappears, leaving a hole in the floor that you must jump through to exit.

The Third Room

Next, you find yourself in one of the following rooms:
A. Cry For Me
B. Love Me
C. Hold Me

A. Cry For Me
This room is beautiful and shiny, the walls made of crystals. In the middle of the room is a crystal plinth with a small crystal cup on it. In flowing script around the cup it reads:

Collect five tears

You must collect five tears in the cup to escape. Once you do, an entry way opens in the crystal in front of you.

B. Love Me
This room is very plain, and on a piece of paper dangling from a string in the middle of the room is the instructions for this room:

Exchange five sincere compliments each. Don't break eye contact.

You must do this within the alloted five minutes to escape. If the compliments are less than sincere, you may try again, but if you don't reach the five each by the end of the five minutes or if you break eye contact even once, you will be returned to the first room.

C. Hold Me
This room looks a lot like the pub in town. The walls are wood paneled and there's jangling piano music coming from--somewhere?

In the middle of the room is a mechanical bull, with a sign reading:

Stay on the bull together for 45 seconds.

If you succeed within the five minutes, you're free to continue on!

The Fourth Room

Next, you find yourself in one of the following rooms:
I. Blood
II. Sweat
III. Tears

I. Blood
This room is very tall. There's a rope dangling down one wall. On the wall it reads:

Climb!

And that's what you have to do. The word "Climb" starts to bleed. And then the walls start to bleed. The room will fill up with blood within five minutes, so you better get climbing!

At the top of the room is a hatch that will let you escape through a hatch in the ceiling.

II. Sweat
When you enter this room, one of you finds that you are alone. You're standing at the edge of a pool, and that pool is full of sand. It's also searingly hot in here. On the wall, it reads:

Rescue your partner!

One person is chained at the bottom of a swimming pool full of sand. A counter on the wall counts down until they will suffocate. Better get swimming!

Once you've rescued your partner, a door on the other side of the pool will open up. Better move fast to get there!

III. Tears
This room is dark, very dark. You can just barely see, except for a glow-in-the-dark sign reading:

Eat some eyes!

And that's what you need to do! In the walls are eyes. They're watching you. You must each eat an eye to continue on. Once you do, a door cracks open in the far wall.

The Fifth Room

No matter the path you took to get here, the final room is the same:

The last room you end up in, even though you enter through the same door, you find yourselves separated by a wall. There is a door for each of you at the far side of the room. You can hear each other, but you can't see each other. Each of you have a plinth in front of you, which reads:

Who should escape?

In front of you are the names of yourself and your partner(s). You place the name of the person you believe should escape in a slot in the table.

Once everyone has made a selection, the names will light up:

• If you all chose each other, your room lights up green.
• If you all chose yourselves, your room lights up green.
• If someone chose themselves, and someone else chose another person, the room of the person with the most "votes" lights up green. The others light up red.

If your room is green, when you open the final door, you've escaped! Welcome to Wellstone.

If your room is red, when you open the door, you find yourself back in the first room. Good luck!

When you escape, you step into the lobby of the Staywell. It's bright and airy with beautiful white stone. When you look behind you, it seems that you've stepped out of a supply closet. Weird!

The receptionist greets you as he always does, welcoming you home.

New characters arrive using this prompt. Characters can return from death from the previous cycle using this prompt. You can also just wake up and be in this prompt, so you can do this as many times as you like.

tl;dr:

• You wake up in an escape room! You must finish (at least) five rooms to escape. You have five minutes to finish each room. If you fail, you'll be taken back to the beginning of the dungeon.

It's alive!

Content warnings: public shaming

When you shake off the glitter and the sand, it might be time to head on down into Wellstone town. The air is full of a shimmering warmth that might be familiar to some. It's like the sun has been baked into the very stones and is radiating back up at you. Run-down buildings lean against each other for support, made out of mostly weathered stone with a few old boards here and there to keep structures up. Desiccated, skeletal fingers of dried-out ivy climb them, waving occasionally as you pass. Waving, and… whispering? For more information about how the town has changed, check out this month's Wellstone Post or read the Locations Page.

The town is alive with sneering, whispering voices. It's unclear where exactly they're coming from, but they're everywhere. Step into the Cactus Pad Tavern and you might hear a decisive no manners! spat sharply from the doorway. Make your way to the steaming bathhouse to wash off that honey, but be careful when you're undressing: you might just hear rude snickering from the air around you. Wow, the walls might say, your toes are so long. What weird feet!

The voices might interrupt a conversation at breakfast to make fun of something you said. Your mirror and your wardrobe might question your outfit choices. They're loud enough to be heard by everyone in a public space and seem to delight in saying cutting things at the worst possible moment. You don't recognize the voices, exactly, but they seem just familiar enough to really hurt, and the voices seem to know you well enough. They might even call you out when you tell a little white lie, or let everyone know exactly how loud you snore.

There's no way, seemingly, to get them to shut up, so... may as well get used to it?

tl;dr:

• The town is alive, and it is judging you. Your outfits, your words, your body, your habits: nothing is off-limits.
• The voices sound just familiar enough to feel like voices you know, but aren't able to be pinpointed to a single person.

Comments

[odinpusrex]

One should hope.

[Barnabas says coolly, as if he didn't just watch Cid bare-assed get into the water. Unlike Cid, however, when he removes his towel, he folds it neatly and places it aside, before stepping into the warm water. It isn't unpleasant, despite the heat they had come from, but it's especially good against his sweat soaked skin.

He doesn't invade Cid's personal bubble as he settles into a spot, letting himself sink enough that the water is to his chest while his arms rest on the edge, his back against it.]

I cannot help but wonder if this may be too good to be true. I suppose I do not trust so easily.

[levindicated]

Unless the weather is totally different when we get out of here, I don't think this is too much to ask.

[Cid doesn't bother averting his gaze. The other man doesn't seem to mind, so... He looks at him hard, trying to keep his expression neutral. Barnabas Tharmr. His king, Odin. What did any of it mean? He doesn't really realize how intense his look is. He feels as if his mind itches. He craves something he cannot name. He feels baffled, triumphant, worried, and a few other things on top of it. He takes a breath and tries to clear his mind.]

I've been trying to figure out who are are to each other. I've got less than half a clue, though.

[odinpusrex]

Hm?

[Barnabas looks at him, his brows slightly raised. Who they are to each other? It's a good question. That they both remember each other in some way emphasizes the significance, but what is the shape of it? What is its nature?]

I am in much the same predicament. We were once close, then you departed in some way. The nature of either is beyond my grasp.

[As he talks, he looks at the palm of his hand, curling his fingers inward at the last word spoken. Letting his hand sink back into the water, he levels his gaze at Cidolfus'.]

Were you to hazard a guess...

[levindicated]

[The part of Cid thst wants to hold information close is at war with the man that seeks to understand. Why is he worried about telling him everything he knows?]

[He shakes his head and clenches his teeth. He sighs.]

... I think I might have done something. The name "Cid the... Outlaw" is in my head. But I don't know why. I don't feel like a particularly dangerous or violent man. But what would I know? My mind is a moth-eaten sack it feels like.

I know that I understand machines. But isn't that an unusual occupation for a criminal?

[odinpusrex]

[He's silent, as per usual. Contemplative, too. Another hallmark trait of his. Cid the Outlaw? That doesn't ring any bells, and thinking on it gives him nothing but pain, so he stops. That he knows a thing or two about machines, well, that certainly seems odd for a lowly criminal.]

Perhaps, then, the moniker is a misnomer. There may be those who believe you a criminal, and yet those who think otherwise. A criminal is only branded thus by those with the authority to make it so, regardless of true justice. Without the proper context, we might never know the truth of it.

[He pauses, looking Cidolfus over with careful consideration.]

Are you concerned it may have been me who wielded the brand?

[levindicated]

[He gently stretches his arms before leaning his elbows on the edge, finger tips in the water. He sighs. The lack of context is certainly troubling. ]

Well, let's presume it is. What then? Would that change anything? 'Cause from where I'm sitting, I'm not sure there's anything I could learn about you that would be stranger than where we find ourselves, save for discovering you were behind all of this somehow.

I think we're being tested maybe, but I can't explain it.

[odinpusrex]

A second chance, maybe.

[For what, he does not know. It's a poor backdrop for such a thing, he has to admit, but it's still so odd they're here together like this. Idly he runs a hand through his sweaty hair, considering for a moment to dunk himself. Maybe it'd help with his thinking...]

If we were enemies then, we are not now. I hold not contempt for you, and what memories I have likewise hold naught of the sort. It would be folly to chase a would-be grudge when we barely know a fragment of our shared history.

[levindicated]

I agree. What's in a man's past is rightfully there, I think. For now, we are without noble titles or past deeds.

[And that's good, because what a shame it would be to be this man's enemy. Powerful, keen. Striking.]

Does your head hurt too, when you try to think too hard?

[odinpusrex]

It does.

[He answers plainly with a nod, his dark gaze still transfixed on Cid's green one.]

The past may come to us yet, but perhaps not. To chase what we cannot know would be a pointless endeavor. It would better serve to forge ourselves new paths, than attempt to retread the forgotten.

[levindicated]

[He sidles up to the other man, nearly shoulder to shoulder as the water pushes him, hand outstretched for him to take. ]

Well, we ought to get to know each other, don't you think? ...Though I suppose neither of us are going to know the answer to most questions. I've no idea if I've got a brother or... Or what I even like, I think.

[Cid's eyes get stuck on that scar on his chest, It if very prominent, after all.]

[odinpusrex]

[Placidly he watches as Cid invades his personal space, but he doesn't seem bothered. His eyes go to the offered hand, and for a moment he nearly doesn't take it. Then he does, shaking it halfheartedly.]

Indeed. I suppose we will learn as much about ourselves as we will each other in the coming days. It is reasonable to attempt to familiarize.

[Just as Cid is getting familiar with that scar on his chest. Barnabas waits a moment, then:]

I am not possessed of the memory of what bequeathed me this scar, lest you continue to wonder. Or has something else caught your eye?

[levindicated]

[He shakes his hand back, the other clapping the back of his hand, fully grasping him. It slows and stops, though he does not let go.]

Like you're not a spectacle all by yourself. Come now, the stone work's not that interesting. You, on the other hand? Handsome mug, strapping as you like.

[He smiles up at him, looking into his eyes as his grip shifts. The clasped hand sneaks away, moving back to its position on the edge of the tub, casually encircling Barnabas' shoulders, though not touching. ]

Am I meant to pretend I can't see what's rightly there? Or am I meant to forget about all those nice things you said about me while looking into my eyes?

[His other hand traces up Barnabas' forearm, lightly with his nails.]

I think there's a way to get to know each other without any words.

[odinpusrex]

[Barnabas does not move to pull his hand from Cid's, even as he more fully grasps it, clasping it between both hands. The contact is...well, it's fine. Nice, perhaps, but he does not feel particularly stirred about it in either direction.

Just two grown men, naked, holding hands, flirting. Whatever.

However, as Cidolfus makes it clear his interest (beyond what was already obvious), Barnabas is left pondering the paths set out before him. He is not put off by Cidolfus, and indeed what scarce memories he has draws him towards him, the force of which feels inexorable and inexplicable. His gaze breaks from Cid's own as he glances to the hand trailing up his arm, the pleasant sensation of those fingers against his hot skin lending itself towards one choice in particular.

There's some truth to Cid's words. They cannot speak on what they do not know, but there is familiarity to be garnered through action. Besides, would it not be advantageous to foster some measure of a bond with this man? To make an ally, and if this is to be the price, he is not opposed.]

Indeed, there is...

[With one of his hands, submerged under the water, he places it upon Cid's thigh, his large and rough hand squeezing and needing the muscle there as he tests the waters, so to speak. He does not directly pay mind to the arm encircling him, though he does take note of it. Perhaps it even encourages him to lean closer to Cid, bringing their faces within inches of each other.]

Come, then.

cw: sex from here down

[levindicated]

[He wraps his arm around the other man properly, surprised by how broad he is, even though he's obviously seen him already...]

[He takes his stubbled jaw in hand and leans forward, pressing their lips together. Chaste at first, then deepening like rolling waves on a beach. He's a good kisser at least. He breaks their kiss to look into his eyes for a moment.]

I think we were lovers, don't you?

[He allows that hand to fall, tracing his throat, his scar.]

Does this pain you still?

[odinpusrex]

Lovers?

[He more breathes the word out than says it. As he tries to recall, he is met with pain, but only a slight wince to his eyes tells of it. Were they lovers? They could have been, would the closeness he remembers tell of such? Or why that kiss came to him so...naturally?

As Cid's hand traces down his throat, he eases his head back a little exposing more as he leans into the touch. Then it settles on his scar, but he does not look at it, keeping his eyes on Cid.]

It doesn't. An old scar, I would wager. Sensation is dulled all around it.

[Idly he muses over that and the fact his emotions seem stunted in kind. Likely unrelated, even if the placement of the scar over his heart almost seems poetic, yet as Cid touches him, and as their breath mingles so, he does feel a beat of warmth within himself. A slight stir of something. He follows it, leaning forward to kiss Cid again, his free hand cupping the back of Cid's head this time as he crushes his lips against his, like a wave cresting against the hull of a ship.

After a few more moments of that intense kiss, he breaks it. His breath hot puffs against Cid's lips.]

Perhaps we were.

[He can feel the hot swell of arousal pulsing downward, and if that's any indication of bodily familiarity...]

[levindicated]

[Cid allows the other man to take the lead in his kiss and really show him what he’s made of. It leaves him breathless, he slowly opens his eyes as Barnabas speaks between those hot breaths of his. Cid gives him a slightly dazes look as his leg twitches under his touch. He wants more suddenly. His hand dances down that absolute slab he calls his abdomen, fingers ghosting over free-floating pubic hair- Like kelp in the shallows.]

Then… Shall we do as lovers do?

[Not to be horrifically impatient or anything. But it was just right there.]

[odinpusrex]

Patience.

[He chides as he kisses against Cid's jaw and throat, his hold on the back of his head becoming a little tight as he directs the angle of Cid's head to expose more of his neck to him. His teeth catch his skin, his tongue pressing against his pulse as he enjoys the taste of the salt on him.

The hand on his thigh shifts as Cid's own hand teases him with its descent. He slides it back towards his hip and the small of his back to (strongly) guide him towards his lap. Angling for Cid to straddle him, trapping their cocks between them.

Honestly, with Barnabas' size and strength, he can easily arrange Cid however he wants with relative ease, and he takes note of this.]

[levindicated]

[This is about the moment that Cid realizes that the way they move in this is utterly, ultimately, of Barnabas' volition. There was strong, and then there was whatever this was. He makes a soft groan as they make contact. As he feels his mouth upon his neck, and he can't help but rut against him a little bit.]

With what's in front of me? You strike a hard bargain.

[He runs his fingers through his hair, pushing that sweaty mop out of his face. He feels the need to maintain some sort of control, or at least the calm facade of it. ]

[odinpusrex]

A bargain more than worth its side.

[His breath is hot against Cid's skin as his lips press against his throat, capturing a small bite of it between his teeth. That rut certainly doesn't leave him unaffected, a low rumble leaving his chest to reverberate against Cid's captured neck. The fingers through his hair likewise adding to this all in ways he had not fully anticipated.

Such a minor gesture of affection, yet he can feel a warmth radiates through him from it. Distant as it is, like the first warming rays of the morning sun. So too does it spurr him, his hand slipping away from its hold on the nape of Cid's neck to trail around his chest and side, to eventually descend down his back, resting on the firm curve of his ass. The other mirroring in kind as he rolls his hips against him. Their trapped dicks rubbing between their bodies, brushing against each other with a jolt of pleasure.

He releases the skin he was busying himself with between his lips and teeth to lower himself further, kissing and licking across Cid's collar bone as he makes way to his chest to lay claim to a nipple in lieau of the flat plane of Cid's throat.]

[levindicated]

[Cid gasps as he feels Barnabas mark up his neck, then releases a moan as Barnabas puts his mouth on his chest.]

[He winds an arm around his shoulders, gazing down at him as he rolls his hips. He places a hand on his chest- What a lovely idea. He traces the pink nub with his middle finger before taking it between his thumb and middle finger, rolling and pinching. Just to test his reaction.]

Look at you, buxom as a milk maid.

[odinpusrex]

[His breath hitches against Cid's nipple as the man rolls Barnabas' own between his fingers. The comment earns Cid an upward glance and a pointed bite against the tender flesh. He pulls on it, then releases, keeping his eyes locked with Cid's.]

Though dry of any yield that would mark me as such.

[Look, Cid brought this up first.

He grinds up against him, the full swell of his erection making itself abudantly known against the crook of Cid's abdominals. He presses Cid closer to him, encouraging his own grinding in kind, before he leans in to press his lips to the flat plane of his chest, his tongue dragging along as he travels to the dip of his sternum.]

[levindicated]

Ah! [Cid pulls on Barnabas' hair in turn, gazing absently into the water at that monster of an eel in the rippling water he calls a cock. ]

Shame. [He doesn't mean that, but it's simple enough to move the conversation along. His own cock sort of disappointingly doesn't harden up that much. Well. He was older, wasn't he. Perhaps it just needed more encouragement.]

You're pretty sensitive there, aren't you?

[He rubs that nipple with his thumb, watching his face, even as he kisses and licks his chest. Nevermind his own goose flesh raising.]

[odinpusrex]

[The jolt of pleasure as Cid continues to play with his nipple is a little distracting, as he continues to lavish Cid's chest with its own attention. However, the slight wince of pleasure that affects his expression, or the huff of air breathed over the wet spot his tongue just made against Cid's skin is rather telling of his observation.

The throb in his cock tells himself enough about it.

Tilting his head upward, he presses his mouth to Cid's throat, focusing more on the physicality of this than simply words. Lips and teeth press to the soft flesh under his jaw, as he ruts up against him. Meanwhile, a hand slips between his cheeks to glide his finger tips over Cid's entrance, rubbing there with purpose.]

[levindicated]

[Now what does Barnabas think he’s doing with that? He doesn’t think… No. Absolutely not. Cid leaves Barnabs’ nipple alone with a farewell pinch, hand falling well below the water line to grasp the other man’s cock in his hand. He swallows thickly as he squeezes it. It’s heavy. It makes his heart pound in his chest and his blood rush in his ears.]

[He tilts his head to allow Barnabas more access to keep necking him all the while.]

Leaving little bruises are you? Are you going to make me wear a kerchief for the next week?

[His other hand slips to the back of his muscular neck, squeezing slightly, for nothing more than the pleasure of it.]

[odinpusrex]

[Cid's hand on his cock inspires a groan against the flesh of his throat, his breath hot on the freshly moistened spot. His hips jerk forward, and his hand presses with more intent against the dip of his hole, rubbing and flirting with the ring of muscle there.]

Do you desire this to be a more clandestine affair? Free of any evidence of pleasure? Foolishness.

[That hand on his neck feels good, but nowhere near as good as the hand on his erection. It throbs with hot arousal and a need which seems to cut through the fog that chokes out his feelings. It's not a deep cut, but it's something. So, once more he rolls his hips forward, thrusting into that hand as he presses his lips to Cid's neck before he claims it wth his teeth once again, as if marking his territory.]