atonementooc | Test Drive 001

Entry tags:

Test Drive 001

Test Drive #001

Welcome to Atonement's first test drive, and thank you very much for stopping by! Please refer to the prompts below for ideas, or simply make up your own, whichever is easiest for you.

Prompts

Arrival: You don't quite remember how you arrived here. It appears that you're suddenly in a dead land with eerily red skies. The grass is dead, the trees are dying, and there's absolutely no sounds of life beyond your own footsteps, even if it feels like you're being watched somehow. Eventually along the narrow path you follow, you walk through gates that seem to guard a quiet, abandoned town and a sinking feeling starts to settle in that you are far from home and there may not be an easy way back.

The sign hanging above the gates simply says "Welcome to Penance: Home Between Homes" and nothing more.

Within the gates, there are the leftovers of what may have once been a lively, welcoming little town, if it didn't look as if people either fled or somehow vanished in the blink of an eye. There are dusty shops that are still stocked with supplies, many with their doors busted out or left open. There are homes that haven't been touched in what feels like an eternity but they still have furniture and the remnants of the people who lived there previously. Cars and bikes are littering the streets that are in varying shapes of usability. The more you look, the more unsettling everything becomes...

First Punishment: As a show of good will, your hosts will give you a very easy, albeit potentially embarrassing, task to carry out for your punishment this month.

First: There will as few secrets in Penance as possible. Transparency is key to atonement. You will reveal at least one sin in a way that will be permanent, which means via tattoo, scarring, branding, or other permanent means somewhere on your person. For those who are unable to be injured or scarred, there will be enchanted items that will be able to pierce even the toughest skin, cut deeper than even increased healing can recover from. All necessary items will be available at the tattoo parlor in town. If desired, characters may also make an announcement on the network listing their sin(s) for judgement from their peers.

Please note that if the character insists they are free of sin, they will be provided a list of what they're guilty of by their hosts.

Settling: It's time to settle into a home in Penance, either alone or with roommates. There is comfort and safety in numbers after all...

Do try not to fight over housing if you've both accidentally chosen the same home... Your hosts will be very unhappy if you start a fight this early on over such a silly thing.

If settling down isn't something you feel like doing, you may go and explore anywhere that you'd like, including outside the gates. Please be aware that there may be demonic forms of all types of common animals living outside them that move swiftly and silently. They will vary in aggressiveness and tamability, so please keep this in mind.

As a note, all threads may be considered game canon if all parties agree. Hope you have fun and thank you! Game is set to officially open February 1st or when we reach a minimum of 10 players.

premise | faq | taken | reserves | apps | hiatus/drop | network | logs | ooc | mods | requests

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Goodnight had been about to test out this running water thing when Billy's voice stops him short. He turns, a quizzical look on his face, brows knit. His eyes glance about for danger. Billy told him to hold on and usually that was important. Usually that meant to slow down and take stock and be prepared for sudden violence.

But there's no one but them in the house and Billy's hand is on his face. He leans against the press of that leather glove. A touch he had been certain he would never feel again. Their last moments together a few stolen seconds of warmth before the shooting started that hadn't been nearly enough. But now there is. There's time and Goody's heart flutters a little in his chest when lips touch his.

He kisses back immediately, turning into Billy, wrapping arms around him. Holding him like he had wanted so badly to upon his return to the battle. Claiming back the place that is his alone, at Billy's side. And though this place is fully strange, in this moment, Goodnight feels more at home than he's ever felt. When he parts, it's to press their forehead's together, a soft smile on his lips. So he can say the words he hadn't been able to say back then. ] I'm back, Billy. I'm back and I'll never run off on you again. Never. No matter how bad it gets, you're stuck with me.

[ Not for nothing, Goody, but this is important. He does want you to slow down a minute. Instead of sudden violence, however, it's the steady love that the man has had for him for years. Their kiss is chaste enough, if lingering, Goody's arms around his chest and his own looping around his neck.

Home.

For a man who had never really had solid ground since landing on the American Shores, it's here that he finds home. In the press of Goody's forehead against his, the soft smile, the way his eyes wrinkle up slightly. He could be in the deepest pits of hell and he'd still find peace as long as Goody was beside him. ]

No matter how bad it gets. We're in this together.

[ There hadn't been enough time for this on the battlefield. For reunions and apologies. For the arguments and the insults and refusing to go after him when he left. Part of him wanted him gone. Maybe he would have survived. Maybe he would have made it to come and lay flowers on his own grave. ]

I'm sorry. About...

[ The hug goes tighter. He doesn't need sorry when he has so much he needs to be sorry for as well. All he needs is to hear that they're still in this together. Everything else is simply window dressing to the fact that Billy still wishes to tackle this world together. Them against everything else. As it should be.

Still, there is that shadow in the room. The lingering darkness of the things that were said that night. Things he's certain he'll hear in his nightmares. He shifts his weight and his head slips to Billy's shoulder to breathe him in.] No. You don't have to be sorry. You were right. You were right about me. After the mining camp...I just... I couldn't do it. And then the dreams started getting worse and worse.

[ It's no excuse and he knows it. There is no excuse for desertion. ] I ran away, Billy. I ran away and left you to die. So...about those things, you were right about them. Because I should have been stronger and stayed. Instead, I proved you right.

[ His face against his shoulder is a familiar weight, a comfort in this strange world. The two of them, alone, ready to tackle this world together- it feels natural, that if they should be stuck on the road to heaven or hell, that they do it together. Softly, his fingers curl into Goody's hair to keep him there, to keep his warm breath against his shoulder. Breathing in time. ]

I wanted you to leave, cher.

[ The word is one he hardly echoes to Goody, reserved for the most grave of nightmares and worst of memories. A word just for him, holding full weight and meaning behind it. There are others, only for behind closed doors. Only for when he's half awake or fully drunk and mumbling in his mother tongue. For now, however, it's the word that Goody uses. Dear.

Goody isn't right about himself- Billy had driven him away. Had added fuel to the fire of Goodnight's fears and superstitions. The bottle of whiskey at the bar had been his only comfort the night before their doom. ]

I didn't mean a word of what I said, Goody. You should know that.

Edited 2018-01-16 04:15 (UTC)

[ He feels anchored here like this. It's easy to breathe when he has Billy here. Everything seems easier when it's the two of them. Though a part of him doesn't want to think of where they could have ended up. Goodnight has always known he was destined to burn in hell for what he's done. He doesn't want to drag Billy down with him. And perhaps that was what Billy had been feeling that night. That singular desire to spare the one he loved from something terrible.

In that he understands, but it still doesn't absolve him. Had he been a stronger man, he would have stayed. Argued with Billy. He wouldn't have just run off so quickly that he had forgotten his flask in the process. Though perhaps that had been on purpose, to give himself an excuse to turn around. But he had. He had run.]

Even if you didn't mean it, it's still true. True then and true now. I don't think I can pull a trigger again, Billy. Rose Creek got my last fight. [ He hasn't even tried to touch the pistols on his gun belt, and thankfully, his rifle somehow hadn't made the trip. ] I'm likely even more of a burden to you now.

[ It doesn't matter that he ran. It doesn't matter, because he came back. They had died- not side by side, like in all the romantic tragedies, but within breaths of each other. The church, their tomb, and Goody's flask the only comfort he could have in the moment of death.

But that was another time. Another life. And here, they have time- time for apologies, time for reconciliation, time for everything that they had been denied at the battle of Rose Creek. ]

We won't have to fight here.

[ A promise, a hope- he doesn't know this world and what horrors it might have in store for them. And if they did, well- Billy was enough of a fighter for both of them. ]

You have never burdened me, Goody. [ A small, soft breath, and he nuzzles into the hair against his ear, whispering a word that only the two of them know. The only time he dares to voice the sentiment. He's so quiet, it sounds like an exhale of breath, fluttering against Goody's ear like butterfly wings. ]
Saranghe.

[ It's going to be a while before Goody can make peace with it. With the fact that he had done what he did. He knows he won't sleep easy. He might not fully remember how he died, but he remembers what Billy said. Even if he hadn't meant it, it's just the words in Billy's voice that make it hurt all the worse. Eventually, he knows it'll fade into the rest of his night terrors, until he has more good ones than bad. He knows that because Billy is here. Billy has always made the night less frightful.

Just like Billy is making this place and Goodnight's uselessness something easily handled. If Billy says he won't have to fight anymore, he wants to believe that. If this is a place where sins must be atoned for, then murder here should be frowned upon. So he'll believe, believe in the only man he still has faith in. ]

You say that... [ He can't argue when Billy is whispering into the shell of his ear. He can't remind Billy that the only domestic skills he possesses are the ones that Billy helped teach him while on the trail. Suddenly in a house, Goody knows he'll be grossly inadequate at most homesteading chores. Not that it'll stop him from trying, though he's certain it'll just end up a mess and more work for Billy. But he wants to try. To keep thing Billy says he isn't.

His heart swells a little though and he smiles finally, right against Billy's shoulder. His lips move against the cloth there and his arms tighten a little more, despite the pain in one of them.] Mo L'aime Toi

[ There it is, that smile that he's been chasing. His lips against the cloth of his shoulder as Billy whispers sweet nothings in his ear. His arms are tight against his back, and Billy finds himself resting his palms on either side of him. Were they more secure, were they alone, were they not barely hidden from the world, perhaps he would allow things to progress further. Stealing kisses and fumbling with the buttons of Goody's vest until they're honeymooning again. But they should stop. No telling who might be watching.

Still, he cannot bring himself to part. To pull away from Goodnight and that smile, the quiet urgency of his hands upon his back. Instead he kisses the rim of his ear again, and keeps murmuring against it. Focusing on the future instead of the past, this life instead of the one before. ]

Never thought the two of us would have a chance to homestead. Looks like our wandering bachelor days might be over.[ A little dry humor as he kisses his cheek, keeping them so entangled. ]
Split the work for this place, 50-50.

[ They do have to stop. It's always a fear. Even the smallest window could have someone passing by. Anyone could catch them twined together. There is only so many ways he can explain away such obvious care and closeness.

Goody shifts so he can at least look at Billy. The smile is warm and he keeps getting tempted with how close they are. He knows he can't. They can't. But at least he can have this. This closeness.]

I knew we talked about it once or twice. [ It had always been some far flung thing, well into a future that they weren't really planning towards. Spoken about rarely. What to do when they got too old to travel like they did. When Billy gets too slow, when his legend no longer puts the fear of God into people. It's never really been talked about seriously. But now, that time seems to be suddenly before them.]

Looks like. Maybe it was finally time that we settled down. Just for a little while. [ He knows them. He knows that the dirt and grit of the road is in their blood. Pretty soon, they'll get wonderlust and move on. Who knows to where. ] And of course. We'll get this civilized living thing kicked in no time.

And I think the first thing we need to do is take stock of what all we have here. What all we need. Find a way to make some local money and get ourselves set up here.

[ They had been careful- and lucky- to not get caught before. To find ways to pass off their closeness as something 'normal', rather than what would have had Billy hanging far before his time. But that smile is so tempting, that closeness so wanting, surely they can take a moment longer to keep their faces so close. To keep hands around waists and pressed against backs.

There's a shadow of movement across one of the windows- barely caught out of the corner of his eye, but it's enough to make him move. To pull away inch by inch, touch lingering a moment longer on the fabric of Goody's vest as he slowly straightens to look him in the eye. ]

Just for a little while. And then we'll keep adventuring. I don't think homesteading would agree with either of us.

[ As for local money, Billy could always do what he's done before. Knife throwing, quick draws, parlor tricks to keep them fed. A man to bet against. And Goody, with a voice soft as velvet, could easily pick up in a saloon. Town was empty enough to warrant a musician, right? ]

We should keep looking around the house.

[ When Billy pulls back to put space between them once more, Goodnight can't help but lightly brush his hand against Billy's one last time before he's smiling at how the other seems to smooth out his vest. He nods. But he also knows he'll need to get busy soon, if they are going to stay.

Billy has his job and Goodnight has his own. He is the one to listen to the rumors and feel out the crowds. He knows what towns and Podunk Nowheres have people bored and antsy to let out steam. He puts his ear to the ground for whispers for work to be had. New bounties or easy money at Faro. He needs his fingers on the pulse of this new town and he needs it there soon.

This takes precedence though. He can see what is already here. What's valuable, what's not. With no money, it will be bartering for their needs. Another of his jobs. He'll need to know what they can easily part with that would be worth trading. Walking back towards the bedrooms, he starts making the mental lists, making note of furniture and bedding. What clothing might be in the closets. Also where windows were.

He ends up stopping in one of the bathrooms, just to stare openly again. No windows. A lock on the door...and the largest tub he's ever seen.] Billy, I'm starting to think we were sent to the wrong place. [ Only he knows they haven't because under his sleeve, his arm hurts. ]

[ Goodnight knows how to appraise the estate, the finer things that could be sold or bartered in order for them to get food- at least until they can find a job or three. So he follows Goody around like a shadow, occasionally commenting on the furniture or the materials.

The bedrooms have a simple bed- not brass or iron-framed, but wood. Same with the dressers and side tables. Simple enough, but good enough to barter if they need to sell them. At this rate, though, they could probably set up a boarding house.

Still, when Goody opens the door a room with a giant tub carved into the very room? Billy has to pause.

Yet again, there's another basin with a spigot, another spigot over the tub- could it really be that easy to access water for a bath?]

I'm starting to think you're right.

[ He moves forward, kneeling beside the tub to turn the spigot handle. A few cranks, and water is flowing- and it's like the line is tapped into a hot spring. ]

It's warm-?

[ He definitely knows he's right. He leans against the door frame to just look at Billy. Just to watch him. Even something as simple as kneeling next to the tub is so graceful and done with such ease. It's hard not to step on and lightly place a hand against Billy's shoulder. He keeps a respectable distance. At least until Billy is declaring another miracle.

He wants to doubt it, but Billy has never lied to him in anything. So if it's warm then it's warm. He still wants to see for himself. So he'll ease into the room to crouch next to Billy and put his hand under the water. His eyes go wide with awe. It's just like the pools in Volcano Springs. Those had felt so good on horse sore bodies. ]

Well, I'll be. All we need is some good lye soap and I think you just found the best spot in this house. I'll finally get to see what's under that nice protective layer of dust. [ Not that he's any better. ]

[ Billy can't help but watch Goody's face when he kneels down next to him, watching as his eyes go wide with awe and he flashes a smile and a joke for both of them. It's been a while since they've had a good soak, a scrub down with lye to wash the dust off of them. Most of the time it's just cold water or a single basin, heated up for both of them to share.

He knows now that he's in the wrong place, with Goody at his side, with all these little miracles. ]

Would be a good idea to make ourselves presentable.

[ And to wash off the dust of Rose Creek, to warm their bones in the hot water that has to be spring fed. To spend a while in this room without any windows and no one to disturb them. ]

... Wonder if the last people left any soap.

[ He turns away from Goody to look in the cabinet under the basin. If anything, it would be good to find something else they wouldn't need to barter for or make themselves. ]

[ He crooks a smile. ] Impossible. We both know one of us will never be presentable until he can find a proper barber in this place. [ He means himself, though honestly, there is a part of him that enjoys closing his eyes and giving such trust that Billy's steady hands and sharp knives will give him a nicer closer shave than any hick barber in any town they've visited. It's not something that's indulged in often. Those knives need not get dulled by beard trimming. Billy needs those knives sharp and ready. ] But it would be nice to get the dust off.

[ And check for himself. See if Billy bares the marks of his death. A death he never got to see because he had gone first.

And with that in mind, he stops the tub up so it can start to fill with that miracle of steaming water while he starts to search as well. There are bottles that he can't identify that read "shampoo" and "conditioner" on them, whatever those were. Claim to be scented with something called "Waterfall Mist". He's looking for a familiar bar of lye soap and coming up short.]

You finding anything over there? I've got nothing here. Just the hot water. [ Something he can't get over. He keeps dipping his fingertips into the filling tub. ]

[ Oh, Goody... He's more than willing to spend the time, that intimacy one of the things he loves. Leaning Goody back in a chair and carefully trimming that beard of his that makes him look all the more handsome.

The knives will sharpen. Should they find shaving cream, he will gladly spend the time with Goody that he deserves. ]

There's... I think it's soap, but it's...

[ It smells strange, and has a smooth texture. More like milk made solid than the harsh lye that they're used to. He hands the bar to Goody to be inspected, searching instead now for a shaving kit or cream. Maybe they'll get lucky. ]

[ Goody's eyebrows raise as he takes that bar. It doesn't feel right at all. But his fingers are wet and the soap slips a little in his hands. He leans back to dip it into the water and is amazed at how quickly it lathers. It still feels too soft and the scent...it smells a little like cleaned linens. He can't imagine how something so soft could clean anything.]

It's definitely soap. Don't know about smelling like the inside of a ladies' drawing room, but I suppose we can't get picky.

[ Definitely not picky. When it comes to sharing a bath with Billy, it doesn't matter how strange the soap. ] I'll find some towels. Though we might want to hurry, Cher. Hard to know how long this water will stay warm. [ He doesn't realize it is almost perpetual. No need to reheat. Just drain and refill with new hot water. ]

I'll take the drawing room over all the dust and sweat.

[ It's a light tease, but honestly he doesn't care. He just wants to spend the time with him. Wants to take off his coat and vest and shirt and make sure there are no bullet holes. Wants to spend time lathering his cheeks, shaving off the stubble. Wash off the dust of Rose Creek, of Volcano City, of all the roads between.

He doesn't find any shaving cream- at least none like he recognizes- but he does find some scented oils for the bath.

He sets them aside for now, instead focusing on Goody's back. Takes off his own hat and smiles at him, sitting on the edge of the tub. ]

Should I undo my vest or let you?

Look at you, cher. Getting all fancy in your old age. [ He teases back because honestly he knows that neither of them would do well in a drawing room. Billy wouldn't stand for being looked down upon and Goody...he could at least act the part. He could act and fit in well but he would be utterly miserable. The drawing room was more hell than this place.

He shifts from his spot to approach, looking back towards the door. It's habit. Checking. Double checking. Triple checking. Just to make sure no one was going to just walk on in and catch them. It's safe. He knows it's safe so he can finally approach, fingers already going to that vest. ]

It would be my honor to help you out of these and into that tub.

[ Goody's approach has his hands drawing to his scalp, running fingers through the brown of his hair. Pulling him into a kiss full of sweetness, knowing that the door is closed and locked and the only window that anyone could remotely see into is so frosted over as to obscure their vision.

He doesn't want the drawing room. Not when it would mean standing at Goody's side and playing the part of a servant for the rest of his life. No, he prefers the stars above them, nothing but their bed rolls underneath. The crackle of their fire, the low rush of wind across dried grass- as long as Goody is beside him, he's content. ]

Maybe I've acquired a taste for the fine things in life.

[ Another kiss crushed sweetly against Goody's lips, the only fine thing he ever wanted, needed, or craved.

His hands slowly move to Goody's vest to undo the buttons, one by one. He wants to see for himself- that the Devil's Breath has left no marks upon his love.]

[ He laughs into the kiss. ] And where are those, pray tell. [ He knows the answer. At least he hopes he does. After a decade together, he still feels a surge of actual pride to think that somehow he still manages to be something that Billy can consider "finer". That the War and the West haven't fully take his Southern Class away. That he can be classy and elegant for Billy, if even only a little. He honestly thinks Billy deserves all the best in life and hates that he could never give him it.

Here and now, he can. He can at least try.

But that's for later. For now, all he needs to focus on is Billy. Billy's fingers on his buttons. Bill's mouth against his. His fingers shaking just slightly as he tries to undress the other man, just as eager to make certain that he's been unharmed, already preparing for the moment that Billy finds the bloody bandage on his arm.]

Your lips.

[ He trails his kisses from his lips to his jaw, from his jaw to his ear. Wanting to be closer even as he opens the vest and begins working on his shirt. Even after ten years together, the spark is far from gone. These stolen kisses prove it. ]

Your fingers.

[ He takes one hand in his, kissing calloused fingertips one by one. Let him be soft in this moment, stripping all his usual armor off for Goody and Goody alone. No one can see them. No one will know but the only man who matters. ]

Your voice. Everything that makes you.

[ It's one of his few stabs at poetic gestures, but he likes to try. Wants the words he speaks to be worthy of Goody's ear. He may not be Longfellow or Whitman or Shakespeare, but... it's the thought that counts, right? ]

Edited 2018-03-05 03:38 (UTC)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Test Drive 001

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject