TEST DRIVE MEME 003

[happyheartsstaff]

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. SHALL WE DANCE, SHALL WE FLY

Those of you hoping to make use of The Pool of Tears today are in for a disappointment — it appears to have been shut down for the day to make room for a special event! Dozens of small vehicles that resemble pink flamingos are parked along the grounds by the pool, and others are being flown above it with varying levels of skill.

People wearing name tags identifying them as guest instructors mingle around the parked vehicles to offer lessons on how to fly the flamingos. They'll also allow the flamingos to be checked out to be used for recreation, regardless of whether the person checking them out has had flying lessons or not.

Why is this taking place in the pool area and not outdoors, you may ask? Why, because a crash landing in water is so much softer on the bones than on solid land, of course.

Or perhaps you were hoping to spend some time at the Caucus-Race, making use of the hotel's private gym. It seems that, too, had been taken over for an event — dance lessons! There are more guest instructors there to lead dances of all kinds, from groups to couples to private instruction. Even if you didn't intend to partake of them when you came here, you may find yourself bustled away and facing your partner for the lesson before you know it.

Still another handful of guest instructors have set up in the Mad Tea-Party, offering a variety of art lessons — from paintings to drawing to pottery to glassblowing! Have a glass of wine, or something stronger, and try your hand at one! Anyone who chooses to do so will get to keep whatever masterpiece they produce.

II. WE TRADE IN FAVORS

The guest instructors aren't the only ones visiting the hotel today. It seems some traveling merchants have come to pitch their wares, and they've set up shop in the hotel lobby. There's display cases of delicately crafted jewelry, all manner of glassware, bolts of fabric, boxes of precious stones and crystal.

Why come to them when you can get what you need for free from the hotel's boutique? There's just no comparison when it comes to exquisite craftsmanship, of course, or the quality of their raw materials. But should you need a reason beyond that — there's something a little magical about their wares. This necklace is spelled to ward off evil, that circuit will grant clear thought, anything made from this bolt of cloth will always keep the wearer perfectly warm or cool, carrying that crystal will give a boost of healing or luck.

They deal only in trade. Teas, if you have them, will fetch the highest price and get you the most unique items. If you don't happen to have a tea, you're not out of luck — they will also accept favors. Perhaps they will ask you to convince someone else to make a purchase as well, perhaps they will send you on a hunt for a specific item. Perhaps they will ask you for something more intangible, like the shape of a smile or the salt of tears. Not your own, of course, you must inspire them in someone else. Hopefully there's someone nearby who can help you with that.

III. SECRET MESSAGES

By your second or third pass around the hotel, after all the visitors have left, you may notice something that looks a little out of place. A loose rock in the otherwise solid structures of the pool area, a shimmer of green tucked in among all the white abstract sculptures in a hallway, an odd knot in the wood of a bench or chair somewhere in the hotel.

No members of the staff seem to have noticed it so far, but for that to remain the case you'll have to work quickly — and work together. Maybe the rock is up too high for one person to reach, maybe the sculptures are too heavy for one person to move, maybe someone needs to stand guard or distract the hotel staff while the other pries out the wood knot.

All those who succeed in retrieving the piece of heavy green paper hidden away will find the same message: a drawing of a caterpillar, accompanied by a series of numbers and the words call a friend.

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?

Anyone who participates in the second prompt will receive an item with a minor enchantment of their choosing! For players apping in this round, you can include it in your list of items. Current players can reply to the second comment on this page to receive approval of their enchanted item. Please direct any questions to the first comment on this page, and happy playing, Oysters!

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© tessisamess

Comments

[scaredofdogs]

Think about it, Lan Zhan..We don't know everyone's lives. What if they are here without the person they care about most? If it was my wedding and you didn't have your Wei Wuxian here..would you really want to celebrate?

Even just being around others who are happy would be difficult.

[billowing]

"If that were the case, I would come and wish you luck on your nuptials, and leave." After all, he would be happy for the two of them, but have such intense yearning in his heart. Especially if this was before he knew Wei Ying's feelings.

But certainly, he would not resent that they want to get married.

[scaredofdogs]

"See.." He wraps his arms around him, which is not at all what the instructors are telling them to do. But a hug is necessary when discussing such things.

"There could be some here that might not even be willing to do that much because it would hurt. I don't want to be the reason someone is sad." He's done enough of that for two lifetimes. He would really like to break that cycle.

[billowing]

Lan Wangji shakes his head. "Wei Ying, we will all go home soon," he says. "There is no need to be sad." He hopes, anyway. And for anyone who's upset because their loved ones aren't here... that's fine, but at the same time, Lan Wangji has waited sixteen years to marry Wei Ying and he doubts they will be any less obnoxious to the other guests if they didn't have a wedding.

[scaredofdogs]

He nods with a small smile. He just hopes that there aren't any major shakeups before they have their wedding. In a place that is terribly unpredictable, it is hard to look too far into the future.

He slowly lets go so he can resume the hand positions that the instructors are asking them to do. "Maybe by the time the wedding happens, we will have even more family here."

The Mad March had kind of warned him about such a thing..but thinking about that makes an ache in his heart too. He doesn't want to dwell much on what the rabbit said.

[billowing]

Lan Wangji had not had that particular conversation with Mad March, though he can't exactly want to pull in his family to this place which, aside from Wei Yings plural, is otherwise quite a nightmare.

"I have already promised a second wedding," he answers. "For when we return home. If you secure the same, all our family can attend." And yes, he means that right now, they must have a wedding so that Jiang Yanli can see it.

[scaredofdogs]

"Yeah..he said I could have many weddings." He laughs. No sure why he would need to keep getting married but letting the man have whatever dreams he wants.

"Doesn't it seem more complicated for you though? The other me..isn't really the same as the one you know since he hasn't lived through all of that yet. Plus you said you guys go separate ways after the temple."

For him, he knows that things are different. He has the same memories, will return to the same time and doesn't go in a different direction from his Lan Wangji. Their wedding seems inevitable regardless of the world.

[billowing]

"Yes, but I am hoping to bring him home." And time works differently here. They have the same memories up to a point, and it doesn't seem like they remember anything of this place once they return home.

So, he is fairly certain that this is his Wei Ying. In his heart, he is a hundred percent certain.

"He asked me the same, if I was sure he was mine. I am sure."

[scaredofdogs]

He is well aware of the fact that they don't remember anything when they return home. Which means they won't have any memories of the weddings. It's sad, but since they will have one there anyway, it makes it a little easier.

"You want to take this one home? But then wouldn't there be two? The one who shares your memories and the one that doesn't?" That seems complicated..but then what if the one without the memories goes back to their world and that makes the one with them no longer exist since he won't be there to actually experience them. This is way more thinking about uncertain things then he wants to do.

He shakes the thoughts away. Because going home also means that he won't get to see this Lan Wangji again. But if he can take that Wei Wuxian home..then perhaps the chance to move between worlds will open up to them like they had hoped.

"Well..what matters is the weddings here. Because that we can control."

[billowing]

"If I go home, and the Wei Ying I will marry goes home to his time, will he not also join me in mine?" he asks. He may not have known if Wei Ying wishes to marry him in his world, but he is now. So if they go home, it's only a matter of time.

"He need only wait for me. I do not even have to wait for him." It will be essentially the same as taking him home, no?

Regardless, he does want to spend time with this one while he can, in the case they are parted. This, to him, is much more complicated.

[scaredofdogs]

He nods since it makes sense. Though it also makes him a little sad since it means that Lan Wangji will have to go back to waiting for him again. And the man has waited long enough. No one knows that better then Wei Wuxian.

"Then I will figure out how to travel words so I can come to your wedding there too."

[billowing]

Ah. That would be a lovely thing, to have Wei Ying present to see the two of them marry. "Will I see one of yours?" he asks, knowing full-well that Lan Wangji would actually marry Wei Ying several times as he had himself offered to marry Wei Ying every day if he wanted.

They were, very clearly, hopeless.

[scaredofdogs]

"Of course! You will certainly see the one here, won't you? And if I can travel to your world, then clearly you'd be able to travel to mine." Unless that is some odd power that he gains specifically from the hotel..which probably isn't completely impossible. But certainly he could figure out a way to make it work both ways.

"I wonder if it will seem strange..To see you marrying someone else." The Lan Wangjis look basically alike. And he certainly has always looked past the differences. His heart beating solidly for both. But for him, his entire body is different. So to watch his old body getting married to someone he cares about will be a little odd. Like he is watching a play of his life.

[billowing]

He would find it odd to see Wei Ying marry someone else, but knowing that someone else was him... it would seem like a very good play of their lives.

"If it makes you uncomfortable, Wei Ying can visit at another time. My door is open."

And if he's so concerned about other people being sad... there's no need for Wei Ying to be sad.

The music stops, but everyone seems to be having so much fun that they request another song.

[scaredofdogs]

"Of course I would visit other times as well. If I can travel like that then I would visit a lot! We would go from seeing each other every day..to almost never. I wouldn't like it." Which means he would visit for the wedding and as many other chances as he could get.

He barely paid attention to the last song but he also doesn't want to stop..kind of..learning these dances with lan Wangji so he waits patiently for the next one.

[billowing]

Lan Wangji doesn't even stop dancing with Wei Ying as they wait for the next song to start. There's more freestyle available here, and they could really use the practice. "We can figure out something to see each other more often." Because he wouldn't want to stop seeing Wei Ying so often, either.

[scaredofdogs]

The freestyle is more fun and easier then getting glared at by the instructors when he stops paying attention to the steps. "We can lay out a whole plan once we know how to do it." For him it isn't a matter of 'if' anymore. He's going to make sure they can continue to see each other for a long time. He created demonic cultivation..certainly he can figure out dimensional travel. Obvious the queen did, so the knowledge exists.

[billowing]

Wei Ying is ridiculous, but that's one of the reasons that Lan Wangji loves him so much. He gives Wei Ying a twirl and draws him into his person, holding him steadfast. "Promise me."

[scaredofdogs]

He smiles up at him, his expression soft but full of his feelings for the other. He wraps his arms around Lan Wangji's midsection. "I promise!" And he is going to do his best to keep it no matter what.

[billowing]

Lan Wangji doesn't fall over as Wei Ying does this, he doesn't even wobble. He does stop dancing, to hold him tightly.

The instructor comes over to helpfully tell them they're too close, but Lan Wangji gives them a glare that is the equivalent to him hissing like a cat.

[scaredofdogs]

Since he can't cover his mouth with his hand, he hides his laugh by placing his lower face against Lan Wangji's chest. It muffles the soft sound into his robes. He can't help but be amused by the expression that crosses his face in regards to the instructors approaching.

He has managed to turn Lan Wangji into the troublesome student and that pleases him as well.

[billowing]

He'll back away as the song starts, but he doesn't prefer to dance like this. He likes it much better to hold Wei Ying close. So he modifies his steps so he can do just that, much to the ire of their instructor.

[scaredofdogs]

"We are making them mad, Lan Zhan." As if he cares. How many instructors has he irritated in his lifetime? He can just add them to the list. He moves his arms so that he can drape them around Lan Wangji's neck, making it easier to move with him.

As long as the instructors don't try to pull them apart or give them different partners, then he can just ignore them.

[billowing]

Lan Wangji, of course, studies the movements and so he does them quite well considering that he isn't much of a dancer. Anyway, they are learning for their respective weddings, so naturally they will want to dance the way they want to dance.

"They are not getting married."

[scaredofdogs]

He laughs as he follows along, "We will get to dance together on that day as well, right?" He wasn't sure how everything was going to work but he assumed that he could dance with anyone he wanted.