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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[ The trick to dying, it appeared, was not remembering the exact moments of death.Only glimpses of his fate that leaves him wandering, lost, through the empty streets of this strange and dying town. A smile. A laugh. A flask by his hand. The sound of a bell ringing. All as blurred as the red sky overhead, a permanent ethereal twilight.

And a voice that he remembers.

Goody, leaning out of a strange looking house (they all are strange, really) shouting something about seeing something. Smile as bright as the sun and voice just as warm. And he’s foolish Icarus, dashing across the empty road to reach him, flying towards his sun. ]

Goody-

[ He remembers himself soon enough. Slows his pace to a casual walk. As much as he wants to kiss this man, to check him for injury, to hold him close and try to make sense of it all, he cannot. Who knows who might be watching. ]

You forgot this.

[ He holds out the flask, hidden in his pocket. The last vestiges of Home. ]

[ Now there's a voice he hadn't thought he'd ever hear again. There's a small comfort in it. With how much has happened, with being in this strange place, it's nice to have one thing he recognizes. At the same time, he feels a little guilty about it. It seems that it's still the same. Where he goes...Billy goes.

His delighted smile still goes so much warmer to see the man rushing...and then not towards him. As much as he wants to run to Billy, meet him halfway, he knows he can't. Not in public. People might be watching.]

Billy. [ He puts his full feelings into that one word, rolling it off his tongue like a prayer before he laughs at the gift he had been offered. ] It seems I have. Thank you. [ He'll take the flask, but his fingers brush and linger just a little too long for mere friendly partnership. Then he's tucking the flask away into his gray coat and taking Billy's wrist to tug him towards the door.]

You have to see this Billy. It's a miracle.

[ Billy is a miracle in and of himself, and because of that, he needs to share this amazing thing with him. Drag him into the door of the house and to the switch next to the door. ] Flip it up! Go ahead.

[ Where Goody goes, he follows. Doesn't that always seem to be the way? He had hoped- even in the middle of his drunken binge- that Goody would leave for good. That one of them would have gotten out of this alive. That he would have many years ahead of him.

It was not the case.

Their fingers linger together on the flask, the smallest bits of affection that they can share. Lithe fingers wrapping around his wrist and dragging him towards the door of the home. ]

Plenty of things here that are miraculous, Goody.

[ But there's a wisp of a smile, and he follows Goody through the door. He closes it behind him, shutting them off to the outside world. The switch can wait a moment. For now. He wants to take Goody's hand and hold it properly. ]

You shouldn't have come back...

[ The grip on his wrist speaks volumes. That he's glad that, at least, if they had to die they died together. ]

[ That is indeed true. So many things are miracles here. He's got the largest miracle right here with him. A part of him doesn't want to let go, afraid that if he does, Billy will disappear on the wind. Disappear with the flap of the Owl's wings. He's relieved when that door is closed and they can hold hands in peace.

His brilliant smile falters. He doesn't want to be reminded. Reminded of how much of a coward he had been. How he had turned tail the night before the storm hit. He's run away and left Billy there alone. Alone to die.

He shakes his head.]

He would not stay for me, and who can wonder? He would not stay for me to stand and gaze. I shook his hand, and tore my heart in sunder, and went with half my life about my ways. [ Of course he would go and quote a poet at a time like this. ] If I really left, it would have been a half life. I realized I would have rather lived a full life next to you for however long we had.

[ He uses the hand in his to pull the man close and risk a hug. On the ground floor there is still a danger of anyone seeing them though musty curtains, but right now, he will take that risk. ] I am sorry, Billy. For dragging you to that place.

[ It wasn't cowardice. It was superstition. It was madness. It was the wings of the angel of death come to reclaim his title from the both of them. The owl's wings.

All the same, he shakes his head as Goody starts spouting off poetry, the smile slipping from his face as he becomes somber once again. And then arms around him, Goodnight pulling him into a hug that has his own hands sliding up his back and gripping tight to his grey jacket. ]

We had our reasons, Goody. You and I.

[ He had wanted to fight against Bogue as much as the next man. As much as Goodnight did. He could have left any time. ]

... I'm glad you came back. Foolish as it was of you.

[ He knows they did. Both of them. But that still doesn't mean he can't blame himself for what had happened. All their plans for the future had been cut cruelly short because an Irishman had come on a mission from Sam and said the magic words.

Just like he knew why it was that Billy had stayed behind after that night. After all that had been said. None of that matters now because he's got this again.]

I had to warn you all...I had to. [ He had to because he had seen just the sort of horror a gatling gun could cause. He'd seen one rip apart regiments. They hadn't been prepared for it and if he had left them, many many more would have died.] And you can all me a fool all you wish, cher, but there was no place I would have rather been. Where you go, I go. That'd the deal and I reneged.

[ Cher, he calls him, and it makes his eyes close as his fingers wind their way up to Goody's shoulder blades, lingering in this embrace. Just give him a moment to enjoy this, damn the consequences of whoever might see. ]

Still foolish.

[ But maybe Faraday had made it. Maybe Bogue had been killed. Maybe Goody's warning had been enough to save Rose Creek and its inhabitants. God knows. ]

.... What was this other miracle you wanted to show me?

[ Enough sad talk. Enough wallowing in could haves and should haves and what might have been. They are here now. And they have each other. ]

[ It's with reluctance that he must step away. But his hand remains, seeking and holding Billy's. He can't let go. Not yet. He won't argue anymore. That last fight they had, he never wants to feel that again.

His smile returns a little and he pulls Billy towards the switch. Takes his hand to place it on the little thing. ] Watch.

[ He'll move both their hands and those electric lights go on and bathe them in brightness brighter than any oil lap. ] Watch.

[ And off. ] Isn't it amazing!

[ It's... Amazing, honestly. Like summoning sunshine. Brighter than any candelabra or oil lamp could ever be. He flips the lights on and off again, marveling at the bright lights that bathe them both in sunshine. ]

It's... Incredible.

[ He tests the lights a couple more times, looking at Goody. ]

... This house is different than anything I've ever seen. Is it where you're staying?

[ Is it where they'll both be staying? Settling down for a bit while they plan their next move? ]

[ He's not watching the lights. He's watching Billy's face. He's reminded again and again why it is he adores this man. Why he's so pleased to share such a thing with him. He almost looks forward to more of these little miracles. ]

I had read something in the news papers from the East on this, once. Edison and his electrics. I thought it was a lot of hokum. [ After all, this is very very recent. ] I suppose I was wrong about that.

[ He nods. As much as the polite well born gentleman in his doesn't like the idea, he has long ago been disabused of the notion of genteel manners. You lived where could. Barns. Abandoned cabins. Inns. Camps out in the desserts. So this house, it's as good as any. He just has to think of it like those cabins on the trail. Just another in a long line of abandon houses. ]

It's as good as any. I haven't seen hide nor hair of the original owner. Not even family portraits in the drawing room. [ Not that this type of house has a drawing room, and it's photography now and not paintings. ] So if you find it suitable, we'll stay here. If not, we keep looking.

[ The restlessness in him, the drive that keeps him going from place to place, tells him that this will be temporary. That this is no homestead of their own. A shelter, like an abandoned barn in a storm or one of the many isolated cabins that dotted the wilderness. It's as good as any. It could be a pit in the ground with a tarp over their head and as long as he was with Goody, it wouldn't matter. ]

Where you go, I go.

[ A vow and declaration, taking his hand again. Thumb tracing against the back of his hand. He wants nothing more than to kiss him. To talk about what they are going to do here. This town of Penance where the dead live again.

Someone might be watching, so he settles for dragging Goody deeper into the house, trying to get a feeling for how big it is. Certainly bigger than most houses he's seen, especially in towns like Rose Creek. ]

Come on. Let's see what we're working with.

[ Those words. They leave a lump in his throat and for a moment, he's uncharacteristically silent. It makes him warm to know that even now, after everything, that vow of theirs remains. ] Equal partners. 50/50. [ He smiles at the touch. He knows they have a lot to discuss. To figure out. They need to figure out how to survive here until they can find a way to drift again. But for now, they do need to take stock of what they now possess that isn't the shirts on their backs. ]

I'll make a list of what's here. What we need. [ It's nowhere near the Robicheaux Plantation in size, but that's fine. Foyer becomes living area. It's easy to follow through the plan, going from room to room, trying not to marvel at how well stocked this place really is in terms of blankets and furniture. ]

[ It's honestly astounding, how well preserved this house is. Most places they bed down are sparse, stripped, bare bones and blank floorboards. But here, the furniture is in place, well stuffed couches and chairs that belong in mansions. The space, too, it's too big. There's a subtle squeeze on Goody's hand. ]

Are we certain it's abandoned?

[ It looks like the owners could come back any minute. And that would be a problem, wouldn't it? But at the same time, if this place has been abandoned, left to ghosts like him and Goody, well... It's not a bad place to share a bed and plan for what comes next.]

[ He feels the squeeze and drifts back a little. So that he can be side by side with Billy. So that their hips knock when squeezing through doors to check out each room. Each from front to back all the way to the stairs that lead down to what he assumes is a root cellar. His hand remains tight and warm, prepared to let go if Billy needs to suddenly pull that little hairpin from his locks to throw. ]

I can't rightly say, I'm afraid. But this place, I've not seen one person out on the street. Even in the smallest towns we've been in, there's always someone out and about during the day. But there's not been hide nor hair of anyone being here. It's like this place was abandoned. Everyone just plum got up and left.

[ It makes sense too, for him. That all this would be left behind. If you needed to go quickly, you grabbed what you could and disappeared. He is fairly certain that the Robicheaux house was still as he had left it all those years ago. ]

If the rightful owners come back, I'll handle them. Don't you worry about that. I'll make sure things go easy and amicably. For now though, we can stay here and we'll handle things as we always have. [ Together. ]

[ Shouldn't need to reach for a knife or his hairpin, and even if he did he's just as capable of using his left hand. Let him hold onto Goody's hand a little longer as they explore. There are stairs leading to a root cellar, and a door leading to the kitchen.

Which leaves Billy squinting at the peculiar devices inside. A strange looking icebox and stove, and a basin with a spigot. They must be in some upscale home if there's running water inside. ]

Looks like we found where we can get water.

[ He gestures to the sink. ]

Fancy house to have a tap inside.

[ He's glad for the hand. He likes knowing he's not alone. He doesn't know if he would have handled it well. It might hurt to know he's dragged Billy into a terrible place once more, but it's not so bad right now. Right now, his arm isn't hurting too terribly and they have a solid roof over their heads. He has Billy. He can't ask for anything more.

He's still surprised by the kitchen. He makes a mental note to learn where the ice house in town is. So they can keep blocks on order for the refrigerator. He blinks at the spigot though. He's heard of modern houses with such things. Personally, he'd never seen it himself. The problem with being Old Money is that sometimes the innovations of New Money got ignored. So the Robicheaux house still got it's water from wells and the river and out west, such modern marvels were even less common. ]

That's a relief. I hadn't seen a pump out back. No outhouse either.

[ There had been a time, in the quiet conversations, where Billy had said he'd go to the ends of the earth with him. Where if what they had was sin, he'd gladly go to oblivion. And maybe he'd gotten his wish, here with him, supposed to repent for his sins. If this was a sin, if what they had was sinful, it's the one thing that he'd never repent for. They could brand him murderer, thief, idolater- but never would he repent for what he has with Goody. ]

Hey, hold on a sec....

[ The kitchen is hidden away from the windows, at least. A decent amount. And so maybe he'll risk it- cupping Goody's face in his hand and leaning up to kiss him, soft and lingering. There hadn't been time for a reunion after Goody returned. There hadn't been time for last words, last gestures.

Let him take what he can, for just a moment longer. ]

Edited (icon change) 2018-01-14 11:14 (UTC)

[ 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.

Test Drive 001

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