Post by Loogs on Oct 30, 2019 12:02:11 GMT -5
PREFACE NOTE: The following is an archive of a live role play conducted in real time (sorta) in the Exodus Discord server's experimental Role Play Labs. The title is a placeholder and is not final. For the sake of future reference, this RP is catalogued as Tiger Lab 1. Text is transcribed and presented as is except for some formatting edits intended to make the reading experience on Proboards a little smoother. This is an ongoing piece and future entries will be collated and posted periodically in compiled installments.
Sept 25, 2019 19:00:00 GMT -5 Tout-Perd said:
thump-shhhh-thump-shhhh-thump-shhhhDalisay leaned her head back, eyes closed, and listened to the boat skimming over the waves. The movement of the ship was soothing, almost like being rocked, and if she really focused, it was almost enough to drown out-
THUMP THUMPTHUMP
Short but sturdy legs hammered the back of her seat, bouncing her head at a rhythm contrary of the waves beneath them. Dalisay opened her eyes slightly, saw red sneaker-lights flashing behind her, and then exhaled through very deliberately.
“Are we there yet?” A boy's voice called out, plaintively.
“My years and years of experience on the high seas tells me that-” Another voice piped up from two seats forward, on the left. The girl who'd missed the power demonstrations- Dalisay struggled unsuccessfully for her name. Emma Ray's friend?
“If you look out to starboard, you'll see that we stillare nowhere near the island.”
“Awww. But I want to get out and have room to stretch and swing my swords and-” The boy huffed loudly, and gave a wordless whine before resuming hammering Dalisay's seat, “I don't even know what a starboard is!”
Dalisay thought she saw translucent feathers flitting at the edges of her vision.
“Maybe you could name a sword 'Starboard'?” A voice, sweet as honey, bubbly as soda, and as wholesome as warm vanilla came from the back of the room. Miss Emily. Thank Goodness. Dalisay twisted in her seat, and saw the girl's dean vault over a row of seats and land in the aisle. The lady landed and transitioned directly into a step, the thump of the ship cresting a wave exactly synchronous with her footfall.
“But a Starboard doesn't sound sharp! That's a bad sword name!”
“Ooh, maybe something like Starboard. How about Starsword!?”
“Miss Emily, you can't use Sword in your Sword's name. You just can't. It should be long and dangerous and cool sounding, and should have a color or a Japanese word, but it can't be called Sword.”
“I'm sorry I didn't know that, Wally,” Miss Emily put her hands on her knees, and crouched down to the boy's level. The kicking stopped. “How about you teach me how to name swords? Come up with ~five~ good sword names, to show me how it's done, okay?”
“...Okay. I can do that!”
“Good! Hurry up and come up with some good ones, I really want to be able to name swords right!” Emily high-fived Wally, and pirouetted around the seat. She stopped, facing Dalisay, resting her arm on the back of the chair ahead of her.
“Hey, Dalisay, you doing alright there?” Miss Emily scrunched her mouth with concern, “I know this is a really long trip, and it's gotta be really wearing you thin. Do you want to move to a different seat?”
Dalisay paused, still as a mouse that just saw a hawk's shadow. My teacher is asking me if I want to move seats. Is she telling me I should move seats? Or would moving be the trouble? What should I do? I don't want to be problem. I don't want to waste her time. I don't- Dalisay could hear crackling, like static.
“Hey, it's okay. You're comfy there, right? These are cozy seats, and you already got yours warmed up,” Miss Emily reached into her purse, a sturdily whimsical behemoth made out of duct tape and a Candyland box. She whisked something into the air, something clear and crinkling poofing into the air like a surprise jellyfish. It wafted down, landing in Dalisay's lap.
“Here, have some bubblewrap. That'll help pass the time, right?”
“Yes- Um. Thank you! Yes,” Dalisay responded, and the static faded from her ears. It was replaced by a series of happy popping noises.
Oct 1, 2019 19:00:00 GMT -5 Loogs said:
Pleiades sighed deeply, trying to focus on the creases she was making on a square piece of colorful paper. Despite the subsiding rush of adrenaline making her hands tremble, the little origami pony was coming along rather well for her first try.“Pleeds, you gonna be okay, you reckon?”
“Dude, I’m fine. Chill as a cucumber, even.” She wiped the sweat off her hands with the sleeve of her slouchy flannel shirt. Then, in a hushed whisper, Pleiades added, “I just still can’t believe I got away with that.”
“With what now?”
“Shh, Emray, long story. I’ll fill you in later, alright?” Pleiades grumbled softly and furrowed her brow. Why, of all times, did Dad wig out about this? He must have set a new record this time, because once she finished her question he didn’t miss a beat and firmly said “fuck no.” No follow-up, no explanation, and then right back to hoisting the sails without another word. Before Pleiades could get back to her origami, however, she winced and clutched her middle.
Emma Ray leaned in, concerned. “What’s wrong? You of all folks can’t possibly be seasick...uh...are you?”
“No, no, I’m just… crossing the Red Sea right now, if you know what I mean.” Pleiades blushed and crossed her legs.
“Oh! You got it too, now? Congrats!” Emray’s way too excited about this. Pleiades simply slumped lower in her seat. “Shucks, Pleeds, a little crampin’ ain’t nothin’, here. Have a few swigs o’ this.” Emma Ray handed her a sloshing canteen. Pleiades accepted it and gave it a questioning shake. She unscrewed the cap and took a gulp. And then promptly wished she hadn’t.
“Oh my GOD, ugh, what the hell is IN that?!” Pleiades wiped her mouth, a lingering taste of something like cheap perfume on her tongue.
“Hmm, I think it’s something like, let’s see… Fennel, ginger, some chamomile, and uhh… oh can’t forget, a little capful of moonshine! Ma says that’s the secret ingredient.”
“Yeah, no thanks, I’ll just batten down the hatches, I guess.”
Oct 25, 2019 14:19:00 GMT -5 Tout-Perd said:
sniff sniff Emily's nose twitched visibly. Her eyes narrowed fiercely, and she wheeled about."Do I smell spices?" The pastry chef turned girl's dean said, raising an eyebrow. She leaned her elbow on the seat in front of Emma Ray and Pleiades, looking down her nose at the canteen that Pleiades still held.
"Jes' a home remedy tea my ma sent along, in case anybody gets green around the gills," Emma Ray responded, her tone cordial, but her teeth clenched.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Oct 25, 2019 18:08:00 GMT -5 Loogs said:
zzzzzzzzz...Next to Dalisay, a young lad was snoozing peacefully. His bedhead mop of ashy blonde hair obscured half of his face, and his mouth hung open as he snored away in his seat. Unusual for most kids his age, he wore a black bodysuit that covered everything up to his head, smoky-colored gloves, and a silver short-sleeved pullover.
Intermittently, a sudden impact from behind jolted him awake. "Huh... what... are we here?" He asked the girl next to him, in a quiet, weary voice. She seemed nice.
Oct 25, 2019 19:14:00 GMT -5 Tout-Perd said:
"We are here, but we aren't there," Dalisay responded, "Miss Emily says we've got a while left, but I think she did the math wrong when she said how many minutes.""Do you want some bubblewrap?" Dalisay began tearing off half the sheet for the boy before he answered. She didn't know him very well, but sometimes it seemed like he'd spend forever thinking about things before coming to the obvious answer.
Oct 25, 2019 19:36:00 GMT -5 Loogs said:
"Hmmm... bubble wrap... That sounds nice, maybe..." Before he could answer, the boy's head was already dipping, his eyelids drooping. Suddenly, a rustling from his hoodie pocket stirred him awake again. There was a squeak and a quick flurry shuffling toward the bubble wrap, dragging it into the boy's lap. It was a small rat, slate gray fur with some white marbling, eagerly chewing away at the plastic."Oh. Sorry. He loves to play with bubble wrap I guess." The young boy scratched the rat's head with his gloved hand. "You seem nice. What's your name?"
Oct 29, 2019 17:45:00 GMT -5 Tout-Perd said:
"Did you say I seem mice?" Dalisay tilted her head for a moment. She turned, and leaned towards the rat."Can he eat the bubblewrap, or should we take it away from him?"
After a few moments, his actual questions sunk in.
"Oh! I'm sorry, my name is Dalisay-" The girl paused, glancing around cagily as if expecting somebody to interrupt her, "Dalisay Salazar."
Oct 29, 2019 18:00:00 GMT -5 Loogs said:
"Oh, no, he won't eat it, at least not anymore. He just likes to pop the bubbles with his teeth, see?" The boy gestured at the rat. Indeed, it was only sinking its teeth into the plastic pockets of air once, producing a popping sound as it deflated, before moving on to the next one."Um, I'm Rémi. Rémi Nan. Rémi Sébastien Nan. You can just call me Rémi if you want." The lad gave Dalisay a weak smile. "Sometimes the other kids call me the Sandman." His smile disappeared and he quickly glanced down at his sneakers. "But, um, please don't call me that."
"And this," Rémi picked up the playful rodent in his lap. "This is Chou. He's a service rat, um, and I carry him with me all the time because of my, uh, condition. I came here all the way from Montréal. Where did you come from, Dalisay?"
Oct 29, 2019 18:09:00 GMT -5 Tout-Perd said:
"I won't call you that. I promise. I know what it's like to have people call things you don't want," Dalisay noted. Or for people to say YOU'RE a thing they don't want..."I'm... I'm from Threadneedle," Dalisay's eyes darkened, "Not the really bad scary parts. Up north, where there's lots of hills, and train tracks, and power company trucks. And marshes."
"So you're not from the Archipelago? Does that mean you... you don't get to see your parents much?"
Oct 29, 2019 18:26:00 GMT -5 Loogs said:
Rémi yawned and rubbed his bloodshot eyes. "No, not really. My mom started working in the Archipelago, actually, but she's also pretty busy, so I don't..." He trailed off and his head began to sink again. Chou crawled up his arm, nibbled lightly on his ear, and Rémi jumped and blinked for a second before continuing."Ah, désolé! Uh, what was I saying? Oh, yeah, I don't get to see my mom much anymore. And my dad, well, um... My parents split up when I was really young, so I almost never get to spend time with him. He's a race car driver so he's always busy and going to lots of different places." Rémi caught himself staring at his feet again, and turned to face Dalisay instead. He pushed his round glasses farther up his nose bridge. "I really like it here, though. The weather is so nice all the time. But I still miss Québec sometimes, even though it gets so cold and snowy in the winter. I used to get treats after school at the bakery across the street from my house. I wish I could move the bakery over here so I could still eat their bread and stuff and so you could try some too."
Oct 29, 2019 18:52:00 GMT -5 Tout-Perd said:
As if blaspheming a vengeful Greek deity, no sooner had Remi finished his sentence, then a hand rammed through the space between the seats ahead of them. The intruding arm ended in an upturned hand, bearing a miraculously warm croissant."Remi! You're awake!" Emily flounced, brandishing the roll for emphasis.
Oct 29, 2019 19:15:00 GMT -5 Loogs said:
Rémi gasped in shock, shaken wide awake for the moment by Emily's boundless energy. "Ah! For me?" She nodded vigorously, and thrust the pastry into his hands. "Oh, merci, Madame Emily! Thank you!" Rémi stuffed one end of the croissant into his mouth and started chewing. It was like some kind of sorcery. That, or Emily secretly worked for L'oie Noir, because that familiar taste of maple sugar and rich chocolate could not be mistaken for anyone else's work. No, this had to have come from back home. Rémi tore off the tip of the other end and offered it to Chou, who eagerly sequestered the morsel into his cheeks."Madame Emily, do you have another one so I can give it to Da--" And as if she had read his mind, the teacher magically poofed another croissant into existence. Emily stopped just short of shoving it into the girl's mouth. "Wow. You're amazing."