TEST DRIVE MEME 001 (#2)

[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 for our grand opening gala. 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. THE CASINO FLOOR

As you pass through the entrance to the casino floor, an attendant passes you a small bag of chips. The casino is loud and bright and filled with games of every kind — you want to play poker? They've got a table for that. Sabacc? There's a table for that, too. Slots, pachinko, and bingo are just a few of the other games on offer. The attendant in the lobby wasn't lying, either — everyone who plays wins. Everyone, every time.

Servers wander the floor with trays of shotglasses full of multi-coloured liquids, offering them to every Oyster "Compliments of Her Royal Highness." If you're expecting alcohol, though, you'll be surprised — these drinks are teas made of the distilled emotions of every Oyster in the hotel. Each colour of tea corresponds to a different emotion, and as soon as you take a sip, you feel overcome with that emotion.

JOY — the distilled essence of happiness, this tea makes even the most rough and tumble of Oysters giddy with happiness — for a moment. The effect fades into a general sense of contentment and affability after a few seconds, and that itself fades away slowly over the course of twenty minutes.

ANGER — this tea, anger in liquid form, can make the most even-tempered of Oysters ready to absolutely blow a gasket. For twenty minutes, anyone who drinks this tea will find themselves much more easily annoyed, frustrated, and all around irritable and snappy.

SADNESS — distilled sadness is a potent tea, capable of turning a stoic, stalwart Oyster into a blubbering mess in moments. Events that may have previously only been a minor disappointment become the end of the world, every repressed unhappiness comes to the fore, and for twenty minutes, any Oyster who drinks a sadness tea can hardly keep themselves together.

II. MAKING WAVES

If gambling isn't to your interest, there are many other areas of the hotel to explore! For the moment, only The Pool Of Tears and the Pig & Pepper Buffet are available for Oysters to peruse, but the staff assure anyone who asks that the other facilities will be open by the next day. Unfortunately, that means no one can buy any swimsuits from This Elegant Thimble, but the staff aren't going to kick anyone out of the pool for jumping in in their clothes!

There are four main attractions to The Pool of Tears: the pool, the jacuzzi, the wave pool, and the lazy river. The water is always just the right temperature, clean and clear and refreshing. It feels as if the sun shines down from above you, warm and comforting. Scattered through the pool area are clusters of modern lounge chairs, just waiting for someone to come relax in them. The Pool is, in a word, serene.

But not for long. The waves generated by the wave pool begin to get choppier, and larger, until it becomes clear that the generator itself is malfunctioning — too late, however, to avoid the tsunami that crashes through the whole Pool and leaves it flooded. Thankfully, no water escapes into the rest of the hotel, and the hotel staff work quickly to rescue those trapped in the Pool and drain the flooding — but you better hope you can tread water until they get to you!

III. EAT ME, DRINK ME

The Pig & Pepper buffet serves lunch foods from across all different cultures, offering something for everyone, and some things you've never even heard of.

On offer with these lunchtime dishes are cookies and biscuits and scones of all kinds, held on tiered trays with signs that proclaim Eat Me! in delightfully whimsical calligraphy. Nearby, hotel staff man a small booth for doling out cups of fruit waters from large pitchers, which have Drink Me! painted playfully on their sides.

It takes a while to feel the effects — perhaps you've even left the Pig & Pepper by the time it happens — but those who eat the cookies and scones inevitably end up growing in size, whether a few inches or feet, and those who drank the fruity water similarly shrink. Eat enough and you might strain the ceiling; drink enough and you'll be the size of a thimble! It's not permanent — if no one else can help you figure out how to get back to normal, the staff certainly will — but it's definitely inconvenient!

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?

Welcome to the (second!) first TDM of Happy Hearts, a new panfandom roleplaying game here on DW! If you have any questions, please direct them to the first comment on this page. Happy playing, Oysters!

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

© tessisamess

Comments

[billowing]

[ Liar and a scoundrel, you are, Wei Wuxian!!

But it doesn't matter, because the illustrious Hanguang-Jun is always prepared, and so he shoots back with a full chop of his arm, creating a large wave. Unfortunately for him, it's quite slow. ]

[scaredofdogs]

[Seeing that attack coming, he scoots back as fast as he can. Which isn't particularly quickly since the water resists that kind of movement, but he does manage to avoid most of the tidal wave.

And once he stops moving he begins a rapid attack with both hands sending water flying. Of course he also gets himself in the process, but most of it is going in the right direction!]

[billowing]

[ Lan Wangji lifts his arm to block but it's kind of... water, so he gets soaked anyway.

He advances on Wei Ying, but due to the fact that he can no longer really glide around, his actions are much clumsier than they usually are. Not used to this feeling, Lan Wangji overdoes it and actually stumbles forward, falling into the pool because there's nothing around to hold onto. ]

[scaredofdogs]

[Wei Wuxian's inital reaction is to laugh that the other has fallen into the pool, but then he also immediately becomes concerned. He takes a couple careful steps closer to where Lan Wangji went in.]

It's so rare to see Hanguang-jun so out of his element.

[billowing]

[ Lan Wangji glares daggers at Wei Ying from where he is sitting, not having stood up yet.

And then.

Suddenly.

He reaches for Wei Ying's arm, and ganks him down. ]

[scaredofdogs]

[Wei Wuxian yelps as he gets tugged down, flailing for balance which is not going to help him in the least. He really should have seen this coming as he falls forward.

And sorry Lan Zhan, but he's going to be landing in your lap quite unceremoniously.]

[billowing]

[ Oof! Lan Wangji is duly unimpressed, but at least Wei Ying is light in this body. ]

Are you hurt?

[scaredofdogs]

[he sits up and pushes his hair out of his face.]

You don't know your own strength, Lan Zhan! This body is delicate.

[He is pouting slightly but uninjured as he faces the other man. He's not that delicate but he can't help but pretend.]

[billowing]

[ He knows Wei Ying is putting on a show, and it would be exasperating if it weren't so endearing. ]

Get up.

[ He stands up, somehow getting out from underneath Wei Ying, and holds out his hand for him to take. ]

[scaredofdogs]

[He reaches up and takes Lan Wangji's hand, letting him help him up.]

You need to be careful with those arms, Lan Zhan. You could crush someone if you hug them.

[billowing]

I would not.

[ Does he mean he would not hug anyone, or he would not hurt anyone?

Poor Lan Wangji, doesn't even want a hug. Well he does, but he's not going to admit it. ]

[scaredofdogs]

[He knows better. He knows all Lan Wangji's secrets~]

I've been hugged by those arms. I already know.

[Well not those specific arms..but Lan Wangji arms..and there can't be that much difference. He isn't afraid to admit what he knows.]

[billowing]

[ Wait.

What? ]

--When?

[ This is news to him. Is he talking about the carrying? Is he talking about the falling asleep on in the caves? What is he talking about? ]

[scaredofdogs]

[Oh..oh no. Drunken times don't count you fool, he doesn't remember them! And this is not the same man as the one in the hotel. Wei Wuxian mentally kicks himself about a dozen times. He tries to not look at panicked as he is feeling.]

Ah...haha..I'm just kidding, Lan Zhan!

[Fail..don't lose your cool now Wei Wuxian. He's slowly backtracking in the water. Maybe he can play off when he first got put in this body and he tried to make Lan Wangji kick him out of the Cloud Recesses. Does this one have those memories? He has no idea...]

Those times you held me in bed are hardly considered hugging after all.

[...just stop talking.]

[billowing]

No.

[ He pauses, and tries to take a breather. ]

They do not.

[ As long as they're on the same page, this is fine. Right? ]

[scaredofdogs]

[He lets out the breath he didn't know he was holding and unconsciously rubs the wrists that had been tied with the headband the night before he woke up here. Okay so things aren't completely out of whack..however..he is curious again. And curiosity is a terrible thing.]

What was the last thing that happened to you on your world?

[billowing]

After the events of Guanyin Temple, you left to go west and cultivate.

We had been apart for months, and I was ready to come join you.

[ In fact, he had seen Wei Ying - it's easy to follow a man who everyone recognizes by description, even sixteen years later - and gotten his first look at him in months. Everything had felt good, and complete. ]

[scaredofdogs]

We were apart..

[He frowns and he puts his back against the side of the pool as he stares at the water. The thought of that makes him sad. Is being apart from Lan Wangji really in his future? He doesn't know anything about Guanyin Temple. The name is unfamiliar to him. But after everything, he figured they would never be apart again even if it was temporarily.]

[billowing]

[ He furrows his brows as he considers that Wei Ying doesn't know what happened. ]

I had unfinished business.

As soon as I could, I looked for you.

[scaredofdogs]

I see...

[He lowers himself into the water up to just below his nose, trying to hide the fact that just the thought of being on his own again displeases him.]

[billowing]

[ Lan Wangji sits down in the water with him, reaching out for his arm, trying to reassure him. ]

You did not want to return to Gusu. I could not blame you for this.

But I feared if I did not, and speak with the other clans, they would want to chase after you.

[ And so there he was, having taken the title of Chief Cultivator just to have enough influence to repair Wei Ying's reputation. To follow any of the clans into skirmishes just in case Wei Ying was there.

And finally, to give up his title, to go where he needed to be. ]

[scaredofdogs]

[He brings his mouth back out of the water, wondering just what is wrong with the other version of himself. Perhaps more happens that he doesn't know, but as far as he is concerned nothing would take him from this man's side again.]

I'd go anywhere with you Lan Zhan. Even back to Cloud Recesses. Splitting up doesn't make any sense when being by your side is the best place to be. I..

[He stops and turns his face away slightly. Not wanting to say too much. Perhaps in their time things really are different. Maybe they don't feel the same way. Disappointed in himself..when it isn't even the him that does it!]

[billowing]

Wei Ying.

[ How can he explain, that he did not tell any of this to Wei Ying, that Wei Ying had perceived that Lan Wangji had been the one who wanted to end things? And how could he explain that he had done so in order to set Wei Ying free, to let him live his life and do the things he wanted, no longer being trapped, near those who may have forgiven him, but who had also expected his unconditional forgiveness in return? ]

It was only for a little while.

[ Even if he did lead Wei Ying to believe it could be forever. ]

[scaredofdogs]

You deserve better then me, Lan Zhan.

[meaning the him..that is from their..whatever. Too complicated. He smacks the water with his hand, sending a little spray of water in the opposite direction. If that's the future he has to look forward to, he'd rather find a way to change it.]

Even if it's temporary, I don't like it. [Resume pouting.] I guess everyone figures out I'm me and not Mo Xuanyu..

[billowing]

Perhaps they will not.

You did retain your face, in my world.

[ So, that kinda made it a lot harder, both to hide and also to deny when the truth came out.

But the more important thing he says, after a long pause, and looking him directly in the eyes, is: ]

There is no one better than you, Wei Ying.