funnyhearts | TEST DRIVE MEME 002

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TEST DRIVE MEME 002

HAPPY HEARTS HOTEL

You wake up in a padded box. It rocks, gently, as though suspended in mid-air. You begin to stir, confusion or distress pushing you to try to sit up — and then the air begins to smell sweet, and you fall back asleep.

You wake up in a padded box. For a moment, you are beatifically calm. You don't know how you got here, or why, but that isn't really all that important. You don't need to know where you are. You're just... here. And here is a wonderful place to be.

But there is a niggling suspicion growing in the back of your mind. A suspicion that here is not somewhere you wanted to be. That it is not where you're supposed to be. You remember... chasing a white rabbit (or was it a person)? A mirror? Bright light, and green ivy crawling over your skin... Before you can worry too much, the box jolts, and then settles, and after a long moment the walls fall from around you to reveal —

A hotel lobby?

"Welcome to the Happy Hearts Hotel and Casino," says an attendant behind a desk. "We're so pleased you could join us. We have your room keys and Empathies here, please make an orderly line and we'll hand them out once we've confirmed identities. After that, feel free to explore the hotel! We highly recommend starting with the casino. Everyone's a winner here in Happy Hearts!"

Is this normal? It doesn't feel normal. And hey — you could swear you had shoes before!

I. THIS IS OUR GET ALONG SHIRT

You haven't been at the hotel long when you run into another Oyster. Hardly unusual for the hotel, after all. But there's something about this person, something that draws you in. Do you know them? Perhaps they're from your world, perhaps you've seen them around the hotel before, or perhaps you've never met at all?

No matter. Hopefully you enjoy this person's company, because suddenly you're unable to go more than a few feet away from each other. Maybe it's like a cord that snaps you both back together when you try, invisible but somehow there all the same. Maybe it's a feeling, a desire to stay together, a fear of being apart. Maybe it's physical pain when you're separated, and the sensation of comfort or pleasure when you're together. Maybe it's any combination of the above.

Whatever it is, looks like you'll be getting to know each other very well. The connection doesn't appear to be going away any time soon.

II. HONORARY STAFF FOR A DAY

It seems the hotel is a little short-handed at the moment. Why? Oh, no particular reason. These things happen to every establishment, of course. But since you're here, would you mind lending a hand? It's a two person job, and the staff member giving out assignments is just far too busy to help. Find a partner and report to your assigned area! They're preparing for something very exciting the Queen is putting on for guests. And of course, you'll be rewarded for your assistance.

There are a number of possible tasks that you could be assigned to.

Perhaps you'll be asked to assist with food preparation. You and your partner will be granted temporary access to the back area of the buffet to work with the kitchen staff — you can cook, can't you? Well. Perhaps you can put together some sandwiches. It will soon be clear that the food you're helping to prepare is all things that would be perfect for a picnic. Staff members will cheerfully inform anyone asking questions that the food is for the Queen's special surprise.

Or perhaps you'll be put to work sorting and cataloging a large inventory of items. Sleeping bags, tarps, pillows, toiletries, first aid kits, fire starting materials; all must be counted and sorted. A staff member will hand out a number of backpacks, and request that each be packed with one of every item. Not to worry about the size — each pack will have exactly enough room to store all the items.

Still others may be placed in a room lined with bookcases overflowing with books and loose leaf pamphlets. Examination of these will find that all are related to identifying native Wonderland plant life. Some are about edible plants, some discuss those that are medicinal, or poisonous, or likely to try to eat you should you get too close. Buried in all of that, you may even stumble across a particular poem. You will be given heavy card paper, pens and water colors, and tasked with condensing the information into portable, easy to read info packets.

At the end of the work shift, anyone who assists will have the expressed gratitude of the staff members they supported. They will also find an additional item from home, aside from what they were carrying with them, waiting for them in their room.

III. TIME TO UNWIND

What better way to unwind after a long day of work than with a massage? A staff member will hand you a token for the hotel spa. Yes, yes, all services are free, but this is an enhanced service. Premium massage oils, access to a relaxing tea, the devoted attention of the most skilled massage therapist, all for you.

When you arrive to take advantage of the offer, you'll find another Oyster waiting there as well. Did the staff member not mention it was a couple's massage? Oh dear, it must have slipped their mind. Or perhaps they just assumed, given how so many of you Oysters seem to be in pairs. Well, you're both here, you might as well take advantage of it.

Or perhaps something that gets the heart pumping is more to your speed than relaxation. A staff member may excitedly tell you about a rave occurring at the The Rabbit Hole nightclub. Invitation only, of course, but the staff member is happy to tell you the code to get in.

There is indeed a party in full swing at the club that night. Live music, flashing lights, alcohol flowing freely, the works. You may find that the alcohol packs more of a punch than you're used to. You may even find that drinks that are supposed to be nonalcoholic, ones that you've had before in other parts of the hotel, suddenly pack quite a punch as well.

It's all in the name of enjoying yourself, right? Hopefully you won't be too hungover in the morning.

IV. WELCOME HOME

Maybe you just want to be alone — well, that's what you have your room key for! Oysters room on the second and third floors of the hotel, one to a room. You were assured your room would be exactly what you'd always wished for — and for some, that's right! It's exactly as you would have decorated it yourself. But for others, their rooms are totally wrong. A grizzled cowboy can't have a pink room! Hotel staff are firm, though: every room is exactly as its owner wants it to be. Search your feelings, Oyster. You know it to be true.

On each bed are the Oysters' personal effects, minus weapons, as well as a towel folded in the shape of a heart, and a single foil-wrapped chocolate. If eaten, the chocolate is delicious, and incites a feeling of tender warmth in Oysters — not lust, but a desire for closeness. Why spend time in your room, when you could go find a new friend in the casino?

For purposes of the TDM, you're welcome to play with having more than one linked partner! If you choose to app in the next round after playing on the TDM, there will be an extra add on to the application for you to claim your additional item from home. Please direct any questions to the first comment on this page, and happy playing, Oysters!

PREMISE RULES FAQ TAKEN RESERVES APPLICATION MOD CONTACT HIATUS & DROPS WORLD INFO NPCS CALENDAR AC REWARDS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Lan Zhan! Hands on your own paper." He pouts but his scolding is more playful then mean. He sets the paper aside as he considers it complete and picks up another one.

He taps the end of the brush against his lips as he considers his next masterpiece. Then he remembers something and begins to draw again. He hasn't ever drawn a monkey before but he is going to try now.

Selecting a brown paint, he sketches out the little creature.

His body moves a little as he listens to Lan Wangji hum that tune.

"Hm..." After some thought. "No." It was a thoughtful, soft. He thinks that picture with the couple hugging is actually incomplete, so bringing that painting back. He sees a couple hugging with small red hearts, but it looks empty.

"Wei Ying, you're rushing through this. This picture is incomplete. Let me show you." So while he is painting the picture with a monkey, he's going to show Wei Wuxian his vision.

Lan Wangji demands a lot of black paint, and with a generous amount, he paints the picture with black around the couple. It wasn't clear at first, but then he draws in details like stars in the blackness, and it's clear he's drawing a starry night and with white paint, draws a moon in the corner.

As he is finishing his monkey he looks over at the other picture. He smiles as he turns his attention back to his own.

"Is that our night under the stars?" Of course it is. Either the one they had here or the future one they will have when they actually get to return to the outdoors.

He adds a few more details to the photo like a tree the monkey is sitting in as well as the grass below before looking back at the other picture a Lan wangji finishes it up.

"Yes, that's correct. It's our night." As his reward, he dips his head between his shoulder, nuzzling him, and kisses him on his cheek.

Continuing with his picture, he draws a lot of stars against the nightsky, then adds in the trees, painting the branches pink which is cherry blossoms, drawing out his dream.

"Do you like monkeys, Wei Ying? If you like, I can tell you the story of Sun Wukong and his journey to the west. I read the original book and I have a copy in my Jingshi."

"Mm..I'd like to listen to the story." He has other reasons for drawing the monkey though that Lan Wangji might not want to know. He sets this picture aside and relaxes against him, closing his eyes. He's comfortable like this and if Lan Wangji is going to tell him a story then he doesn't want to be distracted by painting. He sets the brush down on the table.

Lan Wangji was about to tell him, but it's a story he already memorized well when he noticed Wei Ying's picture is unfinished and incomplete when he puts the brush down.

"I'll tell you all about it later because it's a very long saga. I'll usually tell you everything eventually. But first, your picture. Finish it. Your story comes first. Tell me, why the monkey?"

Opening his eyes he looks over at the painting. He's quiet for a moment before picking his brush back up. He resumes painting on it, filling the page with the branches of the tree around him.

"When I was with the other Lan Zhan, we were discussing the notes to tell people to be careful. And I drew a rabbit on the paper. I agreed to not draw rabbits for anyone else and to draw a monkey instead. Since I've never drawn a monkey before, I wanted to practice."

He still doesn't know how his Lan Wangji will react when he tells stories about what he does with the other one. So it makes him hesitate in telling them. He doesn't want to hide the fact that he spends time with him, and has promised to always tell the truth to both of them.

Lan Wangji for once is actually calm. He already knows. He can feel the other hesitate and become tenses. In response, he only rubs his back, and then watches him paint. If anything, he is perplexed.

"You agree not to draw rabbits? But why? I don't understand. Why monkey over rabbits?"

He smiles a little, amused by the reasoning really. He washes the brush so he can select a new color and adds little buds of red flowers to the branches.

"Because..rabbits are our thing. So not everyone is allowed to have my drawings of them."

And by 'our' he includes this Lan Wangji in that statement as well. It's Lan Wangji being selfish in his own way.

"That's why I agreed to give them monkeys." And which is why he wants to give the other one this drawing of a monkey..almost to tease him.

Watching him painting flowers gives him pleasure. He loves flowers. The red flower, it's a Peony. He remembers he threw one at him when he was blindfold at Phoenix mountain, and he kept it as a bookmark. But he figured Wei Wuxian do not remember at least for now.

"And that's fine. Drawing rabbits only for me. I preferred rabbits, but it's good to draw monkeys or whatever you wish for others."

He nods and finishes by placing one of the flowers in the monkey's paw. Then cleans the brush out so that he can change to black and scrolls his name lazily in the corner of the photo to sign his artwork. Then he sets the brush back down again.

"Now it's done." He will deliver the photo to the other Lan Wangji later once it has had time to dry. But it probably means this one will have to carry it back to the room since it is likely Wei Wuxian will be in rabbit form once they leave. It wouldn't be decent to wander around the hotel in just the white robe.

He relaxes back again, content to sit like this while Lan Wangji reads or draws.

It's cute, with monkeys and flowers. If one interprets, it's mischievous and loving, but there's a sense of sincerity within the painting.

With a nod, "Mn. Now, wait for it to dry." He will help him, by taking the paintings back to their room. Meanwhile, he has an idea and brings the picture of the beach and the ocean back. It's unfinished, so he wants to draw some finishing details on it.

"Let me show you." With the brush, he dipped it into green paint, and on a sandy shore, he draws a green blob that over time becomes a turtle.

It's relaxing to sit and watch Lan Wangji paint, those long rabbit ears drooping down to frame either side of his face. He watches as the turtle takes shape on the picture.

"I can turn into that." He can turn into anything at the moment. But being a little turtle wouldn't be as cute as a rabbit.

Lan Wangji took a few moments to think as he finishes painting a turtle scuttling on the painted sandy shore.

"Wei Ying, when you shape-shifted like this, did you drink a tea? Remember, whenever you use your powers, you exert yourself."

Dipping the brush into the bowl, he paints another turtle.

"You're fine being a rabbit."

"Of course I drank a tea! How else would this happen?" He watches the second turtle take shape.

"I haven't done too much. I've only been a rabbit." Well he did change into a couple other things but so far he feels okay. "Maybe it won't be like using Inquiry. Maybe I will be fine." Too many maybes..

Lan Wangji thought about it. "If you can shape-shift into anything, then..."

He looks at Wei Ying, looking into his eyes. "There was a time when you're very handsome in your first life. You have long hair and you let it down. When you look like that, that's the Wei Ying I remember so vividly."

He looks at the other man and there is a small twinge in his heart. The one Lan Wangji sees in his memory...is his other self? At least that is how he understands it. But he nods and changes into the other version of himself. His original body, original face..everything except the clothes because he can't quite get a handle on how to change with clothing. But his face is just how it once was. The face that his soul-twin still gets to have...

Mo Xuanyu..apparently your face isn't good enough for either Lan Wangji. He smiles, an expression that lights up his old appearance as it once did even though it doesn't extend into his heart.

"Is this how you remember me?"

In that moment as he watches Wei Ying transformed before his very eyes, he begins to trembled with emotion. From the hairstyle, the eyes, the way he originally looks since his youth, the smile. He gazes at him longingly, completely entranced.

"...Wei Ying is always Wei Ying. But this is how I remembered you, yes." Reaching out to cup his face, carressing the side of his profile with the back of his hand, not wanting to pull away.

"..." Without saying another word, although his expression said nothing, tears form at his eyes, dripping down, and he catches his tears as he felt his own brokenness from the years he was gone. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't ask this of you."

He looks away, his own heart shattering into tiny pieces. He figures Lan Wangji is crying because this is the version of Wei Wuxian he wants. That in his heart, no one else will do. And that the version he is stuck with right now..isn't good enough. The soul is the same but the one that Lan Wangji loves, died in the burial mounds.

"It's okay Lan Zhan...I can't keep this face for very long but I can let you see it for awhile. You don't have to be sad."

He will never be able to beat the person he used to be...The body that Lan Wangji fell in love with. But there is someone else in the hotel that can fill that need for both of them. And it isn't him. He should have seen that sooner.

He looks back at the other man, at least these old eyes can gaze at him for a little longer. "Don't cry, Lan Zhan. You can still see this face everyday." There is still someone in this hotel that has it.

He can see that his request made Wei Ying hurt, but he didn't understand the complexity of his grief. It's correct that the one he loves had died in the buried mounds.

"No. It's you I want. It's this body of yours that I wasn't able to said good-bye properly. When you were gone, I went searching for you. I cannot find your body."

Without saying another word, he tilts his head and closes the distance between them to give him a crushing desperate kiss to release whatever grief is still in his heart.

Wei Wuxian still doesn't know what to do, or what to think. But as those lips crush down against his, he feels almost numb. He kisses him back, wanting him to feel better from whatever seeing his former appearance did to stir his heart. He wishes he could keep this form if that is what would make Lan Wangji happy.

Before he had been a little happy that he never had to worry about being mistaken for his soul-twin..but now that he shares that face again, he wishes that was the problem he had. It would be easier then accepting that this body would never compare to the other.

He clings to the front of Lan Wangji's robes as they kiss, realizing that the tears he had so desperately held back before are now easily streaming down his face. As if afraid that this kiss is the last one he might get to have.

He kisses him passionately, out of desperation, in a tight lip lock. Memories rushed fast through his mind from their youth to the time he has stolen his kiss in Phoenix mountain, to the funeral where he forced himself to accept he died.

When the kiss is over and he sees what happened before him, reeling himself back from the past, and into the present, he made Wei Ying cry again. Feeling immense guilt for feeling incredibly selfish.

"..." There was an awkward silence between the both of them. Unable to find words. He waited for Wei Wuxian to collect his thoughts to form any words. In fear, he suddenly felt constriction and pain in his chest. When Wei Ying feels sad and in pain, he feels the same suffering.

His response is to immediately change back into the rabbit. Certainly rabbits don't cry...And this way he doesn't have to look Lan Wangji in the eye. So instead, the small gray fuzzy creature disappears into a pile of sheer white robe. He doesn't have to deal with having either face if he looks like this.

Because Lan Wangji likes rabbits. And even if he can't make him happy with his new body. At least as a rabbit..he knows he will hold and care for him. Even if it is a temporary change like all the others.

He changed again. "...You overexert yourself." He repeats. Did he hurt Wei Ying enough to turn into a rabbit? Rabbits don't talk. They just need hugs and care. They just need to be cute. It's more simplistic and less complicated.

He picks up his robes and puts it on. Very gently he scoops the rabbit up in his arms. He waited for the paintings on the table to dry. He will keep them.

Eventually, he felt better but learned a lesson that he will never request Wei Ying to change who he isn't or never was out of his own selfishness. That includes reliving the past.

In silence, almost in a lethargy, he gathered the drawings they did together. Holding the rabbit in his arms, he left the room to go back to the elevator.

He doesn't have to tell Lan Wangji that he can talk in this form. It's easier this way. His ears are flat against his head as he rests in the man's arms. He just needs a little time to be able to figure out how to process the things that were said in the room. He knows he could just pretend that everything is fine, smile and move on, but that doesn't make it hurt any less.

He'll take the time as they are walking to try and decide what to do. For now he can just enjoy the comfort of those arms as he lays in them. It feels just like it does when he human, warm and strong around him.

HAPPY HEARTS HOTEL

I. THIS IS OUR GET ALONG SHIRT

II. HONORARY STAFF FOR A DAY

III. TIME TO UNWIND

IV. WELCOME HOME

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