TEST DRIVE MEME FEB 2012

[soul_mods]

Test Drive Meme

For the reserves period between December 16, 2011 to February 15, 2012.
[App Form] [Reserves Page]

This meme is here to let prospective characters mingle ICly with the characters already in the game and each other. It helps us introduce various scenarios that you're likely to encounter in Soul Campaign and the different places used in the game. Hopefully, this helps you figure out if the game is really suited to your needs or not -- otherwise, just have fun!

The scenarios for this cycle are:
1. Shibusen has run out of free residential units! You are now stuck in one of their dorms with three other people. There's no privacy at all!
2. You find yourself trapped in the Holocaust mall during a blizzard. It's not as nice as you might think when there's a kishin egg or two prowling about.
3. There's a disease spreading that gives any meister or weapon who doesn't have a partner boils on their faces. You have exactly three hours before it reaches you -- time to make use of partner activities to get one. Please indicate if you're a meister or a weapon on your subject header.
4. It's mission time! You're suddenly thrown into a mission with a stranger (or several strangers). Do you flee or fight? (Current mission board is here.)
5. Your character was brought into Shibusen with a big problem. It seems that the BREW thought it would be funny if guys were girls and girls were guys. You have to race up the Shibusen steps to get the antidote, but you have to drink it with one or more people. Apparently, BREW likes company?

Just choose any one randomly, or make up your own, we don't mind! To make things simpler, please follow this subject line:

[CHARACTER NAME | CANON or FANDOM CHARACTER IS FROM | MEISTER OR WEAPON | SCENARIO# (or indicate if it's a new scenario)]

For example: [SPIRIT ALBARN | SOUL EATER | WEAPON | #1]

For OOC discussions and generally just chatting around, please head over here (for DW) and here (for LJ). For the LJ mirror of this post, please see over here.

Here's the Soul Campaign Navigation Page for all the other information you need.

As an extra note, you may add your TD threads to your application although it is not a requirement to do so and will not count towards activity checks. Please place it under the Notes section if you do.

Comments

[hand_of_judgement]

He had stepped to the side after the medical staff took the charred form of his father away. Yuri hadn't gone with them, but that didn't mean that he hadn't been keep track of their attempts to save the man's life. The judge had tried to stay away after he'd heard that his father had been stabilized, but he had eventually slipped away from the Agency with work to go to his father's hospital room.

It had taken him longer than he had liked to force himself to actually sit in the room, but Yuri had finally gained control and set his work down on the table placed beside his father's bed. He did his best not to look at the heavily bandaged form while he sat there quietly to work on his documents. The nurses and doctors would come and go, making sure that the man would survive or to change the bandages, but he remained a quiet presence in the room.

He had distracted himself with his work. The last thing he wanted was to fall into the memory of that day and what he had done. Flipping one page over once he was down with it, Yuri silently went to work on the next document until he felt the body on the bed stirring.

The judge felt his chest clench tightly as he heard that familiar voice question him. Fingers gripped his pen with a white knuckled hold, but Yuri relaxed it as he finally forced himself to glance over to regard the bandaged form.

His expression was completely blank despite the emotions he kept locked up within. Whether Legend's words caused him any misery or not wasn't seen, and Yuuri wasn't about to let anyone (let alone his father) sense that about him.

"She's not here," Yuri smoothly said while ignoring the first question asked of him. That was one question he couldn't bring himself to answer, and he found an awkward silence falling around him before he felt it best to change the topic. "While it may be difficult to grasp, you're in another world completely separated from your original one, Mr. Legend."

[i_am_legend]

It was difficult to focus for a long period on one point, but he did his best to focus on this man. His eyes were forced to flick away because blinking was difficult when he was trying to focus. Once he had wet his eyes again, he looked back at this silver-haired man.

His chest clenched when he was told that Origa was not there to be by his side, but he found his eyebrows (only recently regrown) drawing together as he stared at the man's appearance. It... was strangely familiar, features that perhaps in a non-drugged state he might have placed.

"How do you know me if I'm in a different world," he asked, wondering what sort of media idiocy this was. He tried to shift on the soft mattress, but pain shot through his skin at every point of contact. He winced and stilled again, staring at the ceiling before he suddenly lifted his head as he realized he wasn't wearing his mask, yet this man had called him by his superhero name. "Who are you to know that name when I've been retired for years?"

[hand_of_judgement]

Yuri remained silent as his words washed over his father's mind. The man was recovering from serious injuries, injuries the man would never survive back in Sternbild, and he didn't wish to cause any unnecessary stress during his recovery process. He had killed his father once, and the last thing he wanted was to do it a second time.

"There are a number of individuals here from Sternbild, myself included," he smoothly murmured before his attention fell onto the gold necklace sitting quietly on the furthest corner of the table. Reaching out, his slender fingers gripped the gold medallion looped around the thin chain.

Despite his attempt to keep himself at an emotional distance, he found it difficult not to react to his father's words. His attempt to hide himself had failed for the most part, which only went to prove that he wasn't focused enough with his attempt to keep his father at a distance. His previous answer had been a foolish one, but one he couldn't retract.

"A concerned citizen, is all." Pulling his fingers away from the necklace, his cool green eyes slid back over to regard the burnt form of his father. "You should be focusing on recovering from your injuries."

[i_am_legend]

He was still of the opinion that this was some kind of set-up, that Hero TV was trying something new. That or this was some kind of personal Hell where he would be subjected to such nonsense while unable to get away from it. It wasn't like he could even move right now, and this helplessness was the ultimate torture.

"And you haven't defined who are you," he replied slowly, suspicious as his eyes flicked to peer at the necklace. That was his necklace, a gift from Origa on their anniversary, one piece of jewelry that he always wore. It was strange to see it all the way over there.

"Don't lie to me," he replied in as cold a voice he could manage. "I like liars about as much as I like criminals, and if you know me as Mr. Legend, you know how I deal with them."

[hand_of_judgement]

No, he hadn't, but that was something that the judge had been hoping to avoid for as long as possible. Or so he kept telling himself anyway as he stared at the man who had once been his father until the day he'd killed him.

The coldness in his father's voice seemed to verbally slap him back into awareness. He didn't react though, not matter how much he wanted to inside. Instead he regarded his father impassively as he finally answered, "Yuri Petrov."

Despite his impassive expression, he could feel the torrent of emotions breaking through as it flooded his entire being.

[i_am_legend]

Mr. Legend waited for a reply, not quite certain how to read this familiar man's blank expressions. He wanted to think that there was plenty of hidden emotion there, but... it was difficult for him to tell with the pain throbbing in his system and the pain medication dulling his mind.

He froze in his bed when the name was finally given, and it was like he had been doubled over by one of Jake's attacks all over again. His muscles seized in pain, and he was left staring at that familiar face, suddenly seeing what he had been missing before. Features were older, mature and sharp like his mother's, but...

This was the man who had burned his body, and he wanted to his very core to be angry. He even tried to muster it up as he lay nearly incapacitated in his pain, but it didn't flood him as he had expected. He could only stare, his gaze flickering with pain and confused emotion before he hissed out a sound and forced his body to relax.

"Yuri," he replied softly before forcing a loud sigh between his lips. "You're a NEXT," he stated bluntly, his lower lip quivering. "My Yuri a NEXT like me...."

[hand_of_judgement]

His father's reaction to his admittance was obvious, but Yuri continued to stare at the man impassively. It felt as though he was about to drown with all of the suppressed emotions breaking free, but he would never allow it to escape. No, he couldn't allow for such a thing to ever happen. He was a judge, and a well respected citizen in Sternbild. Yuri could never allow himself to show anything else to the public, and especially not to the man lying injured and bandaged in the bed.

The sound of his name from that familiar voice had his eyes narrowing. This man didn't have the right to speak to him with such a soft voice, and he couldn't help but wonder where the disappointed and angry tone was from all those times his father visited him after his death.

He glanced down subtly when his father spoke of him being a NEXT, Yuri found that he couldn't meet the other man's eyes as he murmured, "I was doing what you'd taught me to." Which head lead to the awakening of his NEXT abilities and had ultimately taken his father's life. A life he had almost taken again four days ago when his father had arrived in Death City. There was no pride in his tone, no emotion in his voice at all as he'd spoken those words, and he brought his gaze back up to regard his father.

[i_am_legend]

He decided right away that this was not the Yuri that he remembered, not the little boy that he had raised up with Origa all those years. She had always told him that family didn't lie, that he could believe in the familiar features that he was looking at. This was not his Yuri, but it was his flesh and blood.

He found that, despite himself, the words stung. He remembered his lessons well, remembered how he had held himself to higher values back when he was in the public's eye. He had taught Yuri that, taught his only child to believe in the administration of justice. Those lessons had gone against him when he had come that vision of evil, and these wounds and the scars that they would produce would be his forever punishment.

It had been too much, the agony of losing wasting away in that house as nothing but a common man. His NEXT powers had been something to be proud of, something to use in order to protect for his family. He had protected people, and the loss of them in that slow degrading way, it had been unacceptable. He hated being sober because of how weak he felt, but now he was forced to until he had recovered. Yuri certainly wouldn't be getting him alcohol.

Turning his face away, he couldn't even lift his hands to hide his face in because it hurt too much. Instead, he was forced to lose what little pride he had left to slip from his eyes and down his cheeks. At least it was only Yuri who could see his tears. "Yes, you were always a good boy, Yuri." It had been his fault, hadn't it? "You administered justice to evil, and..." he trailed off and shook his head.

As an adult and a father, he should have never put Yuri in such a position. It had just been so hard.

[hand_of_judgement]

He had been doing as he had been taught ever since that day. First by pushing himself through law school, then as a prosecutor for the city, before finally taking the steps to become a judge that presided over the people. Everything he did was to live up to his father's wishes, to never turn a blind eye, and he had been trying to prove himself to his dead father ever since.

The movement drew his attention from his thoughts as he sighted his father turn his face away. He didn't miss the glistening of a tear as it rolled down the side of his father's face.

"I--" he started, but his voice seemed to give way as Yuri fell back into silence. Maybe this had been nothing but a big mistake? Turning his face away, the judge pushed himself up to stand as he said, "I should find you a doctor."

[i_am_legend]

It took a lot of self-control to keep his breathing even as he stared at a wall nearby. He couldn't face one of the lives that his actions had ruined. Origa had tried to convince him that times were hard, his job done, and she had done her best to shield Yuri from his dark spiral.

Yet, had that protection been for anything? His son had awakened as a NEXT and took him to task. Had it been real justice? He supposed that Yuri had no reason to forgive him for what he had done.

"Your face," he murmured softly, keeping his face averted. "I... grabbed your face with my hand. You're... safe, aren't you Yuri? I didn't hurt you...?"

[hand_of_judgement]

Yuri had already begun neatening up his papers with every intention to leave once he'd found a doctor. He wasn't ready for this, and he should have given his father time to recover before attempting anything like this. Besides, he had far too much work to do even if this wasn't his city.

He paused from gathering his papers at the mention of his face. The scar hidden beneath the makeup ached in response to the attention, and he couldn't stop himself from reaching up to grasp his face. Gritting his teeth, he purposefully looked away from his father as he forced his voice to remain calm. "I'm fine."

[i_am_legend]

He could hear the shift of papers, and he made no movement to investigate since he could guess. It took him time to process information, having to think beyond pain to gather his information. He also knew for a fact that his presence here was making Yuri suffer.

Slowly, he nodded his head, blinking rapidly to halt the tears in case his son actually went to find a doctor. He had what little of his dignity remained to consider. He set himself, wincing at the flare of pain along his damaged skin and simply rested his head back against the pillow.

He disliked liars, but he found it difficult to blame Yuri. He was in no position to make demands. "That's... good. Very good."

[hand_of_judgement]

He closed his eyes as he heard the answer his father gave. Running his fingers down along the length of his face, he dropped his arm back down to his side as he stood there silently. He had become another disappointment for his father again. Yuri didn't need to look to know that was the case, but the scar he bore was his burden to shoulder. While his father may have gripped his face, he hadn't been the one to give him the scar. That was something Yuri had done on his own.

"Then keep that answer in mind in the future," Yuri found himself murmuring while he distracted himself with gathering his papers into his hold. Forcing everything to the back of his mind, he returned his neutral gaze back to the heavily bandaged man. "Is there anything that you need? Painkillers?"

[i_am_legend]

He wondered after the simple reply that he had just received, considering it slowly. Was that to say that any question that he asked after when it came to Yuri's life and well-being? 'I'm fine', would be the answer for all of his questions?

Did he had a right to ask after Yuri's life anymore? He supposed that he didn't after what he had done, how far he had fallen. Yet, if he let Yuri go without Origa there to support him, he knew that he would spiral back into that black hole that swallowed him when his powers had disappeared. He was better off dead than sinking alone in that mind space. Perhaps Yuri would have to end him again.

"I need nothing," he murmured in resignation. He deserved the pain; it allowed him to know he was still alive and kept him from reaching for a drink.

"However," he said, sounding stronger and little more like his old self, "no matter what I've done, no matter how much I hurt you and your mother, no matter how much I regret certain actions... I will always be your father, Yuri." He hesitated; how long had it been since he had spoken to his son like this? He had to take the risk. "I'm... glad to see that you've grown up looking so strong."

[hand_of_judgement]

Yuri nodded when his father spoke of not needing anything. That worked well for him, but he would still get the doctor to come in and check on him regardless. While he kept himself at a distance, Yuri wanted to make sure that his father was taken care of.

Pausing from leaving, Yuri's cool glance dropped back down to sight the bandaged form of the man in the bed. He didn't allow himself to process the sight. That could be done when he was no longer in the presence of anyone else, when he was alone in his apartment. For now though, he had to remain strong.

The words his father spoke ran over him. He had never once denied who his father was, but he never spoke of him either. He had withdrawn into himself about his life, even when it came to his mother.

"I have never denied who you are to me, Papa," he softly said after a moment.

[i_am_legend]

He could feel Yuri's gaze on him, but he didn't drop his eyes from staring at the ceiling to meet that gaze. Right now, he didn't think that he could take it because he no longer knew what he would find. It was like meeting a man he used to know but no longer had the experience to deal with the situation.

He had lost too many years to the drink, and this small white room would be his punishment until his burns had healed. He had to wonder if Yuri would come to visit him again, or if the boy was out of his grasp forever after what had happened between them. He... wouldn't blame Yuri; he would accept his son's need for distance.

New tears formed at the corner of his eyes at the soft words, and he felt his chin drawing up as emotional pain seemed to momentarily drown out his physical one. He made no noise as the tears slipped down his cheeks, and he winced when they slid across his burns.

"I-I only wanted to provide for you," he whispered hoarsely. This was why he drowned in drink; these emotions were too much. He couldn't escape them.

[hand_of_judgement]

He meant what he said. Despite everything that had happened, the man lying on the bed in front of him had never once stopped being his father. That was something Yuri would never deny. He had turned a blind eye to most of what his father had done in the years leading up to his death, and it was something that he was willing to continue doing. Yuri had only stepped in to protect his mother from his father's bitterness, but both of his parents had paid the price for his actions.

The hoarse words washed over him, and he stood there quietly while regarding them. He caught sight of a nurse sticking her head in the door, a perfect escape for him, but he found himself silently gesturing for her to leave them be. He wouldn't allow anyone to see Sternbild's most famous hero so vulnerable.

"You lost sight of that," he murmured. The documents were still held in one hand at his side, but he made no move to leave. Instead he made his decision and placed the documents back on the table before turning the chair around and seating himself with in it. "The doctors say that you should make a complete recovery from your injuries."

[i_am_legend]

His gaze flicked from the ceiling to the door when it opened, and he quickly moved his face to the side to avoid being seen by the nurse. He wanted to wipe at his face, but his hands were too sore, his arms unwilling to move to his commands at this point. The best he could do was let the pillow absorb what fell.

And he had completely expected Yuri to leave him in the care of the medical professionals here. It was the perfect opportunity for them both to have space. All he would be allowed to do was think and sleep, neither of which he felt inclined to do. He heard the door close again, and he knew Yuri had not left, just the nurse.

"I lost sight of a lot of things," he replied in the same hoarse voice. It was his fault, but it was easier to forget his part of the blame when he was drunk.

His gaze shifted from the wall to regard Yuri when he heard the scrap of a chair against the floor. He cared little for if he would recover; he knew well enough that it would take a long time. "Sit closer," he requested softly, gesturing with his fingers to his bedside. "Let me see you, Yuri."

[hand_of_judgement]

Yuri said nothing in regards to his father's confession of losing sight of many things. He would never say so either way, and simply allowed the topic to disappear between them. Now was far from the time from it, and he figured that they could both do with leaving that topic alone.

He paused in seating himself when asked to sit closer. Being close to anyone was something he wasn't used to anymore. Ever since that fateful day, Yuri had kept his distance from everyone as often as he could. That was why he found it difficult to move the seat closer to the bed. He did just that despite how he felt, and sat as close as he could to the bed. Sitting up straight, his expression remained impassive as he allowed his father to see him.

[i_am_legend]

Mr. Legend sat silently waiting to see what his son would do, and he would respect a refusal if one came. There was a small shiver of pleasure in the endless pain of his mind and body when the other man chose to move closer and sat at his bedside. How many months had it been since he had done anything with Yuri?

He studied his grown-up son's features now that they were closer. Yes, Yuri had grown into a fine looking young man, and his mother's features were strong in the boy. His own were there too, but they were stronger when Yuri had been younger.

Slowly, refusing to admit the agony in his limbs, he lifted a hand from his bedside. His limb trembled as it moved inches from the covers, and his features twisted with effort as he forced it to move. If he had the strength to hit Origa as much as he had, he would make the strength work for something far more worthwhile no matter the cost. Breathing heavy with supressed pain, he managed to get his hand over the railing of the bed before it seemed like such a distance to where Yuri was sitting, yet he still persisted for the purpose of touching his son for the first time in so long. Not those swatting slaps he did to shove the boy away... to actually touch to make certain this was all real.

[hand_of_judgement]

The last time his father had touched him left him with the scar covering almost all of his face. It was a scar that he hid from the world, but one that haunted his every action - even as he ran through the city as Lunatic.

His father's movement caught his attention, and he felt his muscles unconsciously tense when he figured out what the other man was doing. While he knew the man was of no threat, he couldn't help the reaction from the simple gesture. The strain his father was putting himself through for the gesture had him frowning. Ignoring the way he automatically reacted, Yuri calmed his mind even as the sight of his father's heavily bandaged hands.

It took him time, but slowly Yuri found himself reaching out towards that bandaged hand. There was uncertainty within, the thought of touching the man brought with it the memories of the last time he had, and the results of what had happened because of it. Clenching his fist, he forced his reservations to the back of his mind as he relaxed his hand and moved it to brush his fingers gently over the bandaged hand of his father.

The touch was foreign to him, and he did his best to forget everything that had happened before he was moving to place his father's arm back on the mattress. "You shouldn't move unnecessarily. It will only delay your recovery."

[i_am_legend]

He huffed and puffed with effort as he forced his hand out little-by-little, not actually expecting Yuri to move. He wanted to do this by himself in some regards in order to prove that he had the strength of will within if he really wanted it. This was his personal test while sober for the first time in months.

If he couldn't even muster the strength to touch his son, he didn't deserve to recover at all. He would be a burden when he was supposed to be the provider, and he could not allow anyone to be subjected to him in such a way. This was his one chance.

His eyes watered as the pain intensified, but there was a moment of relief when he felt the brush against his bandaged hand. The spark of pain was an indication that he had touched something, and while his arm felt like it was on fire again, he forced his fingers to curl down even as Yuri made his arm return to the bed. "What good is recovery if I'm nothing but a burden? I won't live as a burden to anyone, Yuri."

[hand_of_judgement]

It was a foreign feeling when fingers curled back around his hand. Doing everything that he could to ignore the sensation, Yuri focused on doing what was best. The only time he had felt the strength of his burn had been when his father's burning hand had grabbed his head. Unlike all of his victims, Yuri felt comforted and safe within the embrace of his flames. He may have lived with and took care of his mother, but his home would always be within the depths of his fire ability.

The words washed over his hearing, and he was far from surprised by it. It wasn't the first his father had fallen down such a road. Was it a path that he'd willingly take again? Releasing his hold, he had every intention of pulling his hand free as he calmly asked, "Why would you consider yourself a burden?"

[i_am_legend]

He wasn't completely blind to Yuri's discomfort, but he selfishly took this moment for his own. He had accomplished a little of what he had hoped, and it seemed that his requests would still be followed regardless of their past. This was the first time in a long time that he had been in full grasp of his senses and even more importantly, reliving a contact he had given up long ago.

Feeling the shift of Yuri's hand, it awakened sparks of pain from his sensitive burnt flesh. "You know why," he replied simply, relaxing into the mattress again. His hand relaxed on Yuri's, holding it there for him to indulge a little longer.

[hand_of_judgement]

His brows furrowed when it seemed that his father wasn't yet ready to release his hand. Inwardly grunting in annoyance, he grudgingly kept his touch there even as the other said his simple reply. Yuri had momentarily forgotten the fact that his father hadn't exactly been in the proper state to find out any of the information, and he inwardly berated himself for his own foolishness.

"Any NEXT ability was stripped from individuals entering this world," Yuri calmly said before continuing. "From what I understand, the powers NEXT, and those similar to them, hold simply do not work here regardless, but have been replaced with something entirely different."