atonementooc | Test Drive 001

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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.

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[ 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)

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Test Drive 001

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