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June-July 2024 Test Drive Meme
June-July 2024 TDM
Introduction
Welcome to Folkmore's monthly Test Drive Meme! Please feel free to test drive any and all characters regardless of your intent to apply or whether you have an invite or not.
All TDMs are game canon and work like "mini-events". For new players and characters, you can choose to have your TDM thread be your introduction thread upon acceptance or start fresh. Current players are also allowed to have in-game characters post to the TDM so long as they mark their top levels ‘Current Character.’
TDM threads can be used for spoon spending at any time by characters accepted into the game.
Playing and interacting with the TDMs will allow characters to immediately obtain canon items from homes especially weapons or other things they may have had on their person when they were pulled from their worlds! There will always be a prompt that provides some sort of "reward" to characters who complete certain tasks.
🦊 New Star Children meet the Fox still in their worlds, and she brings them into the new realm of Folkmore. As you follow her, your body begins to change and new characteristics emerge. These may stay for a while, or perhaps they will hide away after. And during all of this, the Fox explains to you where you will be going: to Folkmore.
and then... you fall like a shooting star, falling to the land in a burst of starlight.
🦊 Experienced Star Children are already familiar with this time of the month. There are shooting stars all across the sky, and some fall to the land, which means the Fox has brought new arrivals. These newly arrived Star Children will face some tests, but Thirteen wants the more seasoned residents to participate as well.
Perhaps you follow the falling stars on your own, or perhaps the Fox simply teleports you there, but it appears you too will be part of this.
Content Warnings: Ghosts, Potential Violence, Potential Death
Summer has hit. It's hot, and nowhere is it hotter than Cruel Summer. Naturally, new Star Children arrive in Cruel Summer with no indication of which direction to go to escape, unless they're so lucky as to arrive near the Selkie River. The water provides a break, and a selkie skin will protect Star Children from the heat. Though beware the cruelty of leaving a selkie without their skin. Along with the heat, Star Children can hear whispers and the echoes of screams throughout Cruel Summer. There's no obvious source of the noises. Not the normal creatures. Not anything anyone can see.
Whether new or old Star Child, anyone lost, overheated, in need of a rest, or anything else will find a friendly spirit will find them in the sands, rock, or shores of Cruel Summer. They'll guide the way toward the huts found in Cruel Summer. These huts have changed; the huts are bigger and grow together, making them one interconnected twisting winding empty town. No one appears to live there. The wooden town is in disrepair, varying from building to building. Even so, they are cool inside, a welcome break from the summer heat.
No matter how one entered, even through the swinging doors to the saloon, that exit disappears behind Star Children. There's no turning back. The only way out is to explore the way through the buildings. This fact continues to be true building to building as exits continue to vanish. The abandoned town isn't as empty as it first seems. As Star Children explore the branching paths through the wooden structures, they see ghosts of spirits going through the paces of their lives. They're familiar to these spaces and interact with missing objects that sometimes shimmer in spirit energy.
Spirit Children may interrupt these routines to try to talk with the ghosts. Some ghostly spirits are friendly. They may interact with Star Children as though they're someone else, someone the spirits used to know. Others, like the bartender, may treat them like a new customer. Other ghosts are determined to stick to their routines and, should Star Children continue to interrupt, will attack those who disturb them.
These spirits may kill Star Children when they attack. Normal weapons won't hurt them. There are revolvers, shotguns, iron pokers, hunting knives, and other plain weapons around to grab in self-defense. Salt bullets and iron will dispel ghosts. These weapons may be grabbed at any time. However, doing so attracts the creatures in Cruel Summer. A blood red worm spitting yellow acid may break through the floor to eat or spray Star Children. An enormous coyote may leap through the window. Whether attracted by the use of weapons or passing by, any dangerous creature found in Cruel Summer seems agitated when they come near these structures and will attack them and anyone inside. They will focus especially on anyone with a stolen selkie skin.
Should Star Children die, whether to ghosts or creatures, they will not immediately return to life.Do not pass go. Instead they will haunt the ghost town for one week in the room where they were killed. Other Star Children may recognize them and work to snap them out of their routines. Yet nothing will free the Star Children's spirits before the week is through. At the end of the week, they'll come to, alive, in their bodies in the room they died in. Best get through and out of the ghost town before dying again!
A constant through these scenes are the spirits' spoons, visible somewhere in each scene. The ghost spoons are whole. Once free of the ghost town, Star Children may choose to travel to the Shattered Spoon Shrine in Never Fade to search for the broken fragments of any of these spoons. They are in such small pieces, however, that no Star Child may feed them enough Lore alone to bring the spirit back. Two or more Star Children may spend time in the Shrine creating and feeding Lore toward the spoons to heal them. It just may be enough to bring someone back.
Summer has hit. It's hot, and nowhere is it hotter than Cruel Summer. Naturally, new Star Children arrive in Cruel Summer with no indication of which direction to go to escape, unless they're so lucky as to arrive near the Selkie River. The water provides a break, and a selkie skin will protect Star Children from the heat. Though beware the cruelty of leaving a selkie without their skin. Along with the heat, Star Children can hear whispers and the echoes of screams throughout Cruel Summer. There's no obvious source of the noises. Not the normal creatures. Not anything anyone can see.
Whether new or old Star Child, anyone lost, overheated, in need of a rest, or anything else will find a friendly spirit will find them in the sands, rock, or shores of Cruel Summer. They'll guide the way toward the huts found in Cruel Summer. These huts have changed; the huts are bigger and grow together, making them one interconnected twisting winding empty town. No one appears to live there. The wooden town is in disrepair, varying from building to building. Even so, they are cool inside, a welcome break from the summer heat.
No matter how one entered, even through the swinging doors to the saloon, that exit disappears behind Star Children. There's no turning back. The only way out is to explore the way through the buildings. This fact continues to be true building to building as exits continue to vanish. The abandoned town isn't as empty as it first seems. As Star Children explore the branching paths through the wooden structures, they see ghosts of spirits going through the paces of their lives. They're familiar to these spaces and interact with missing objects that sometimes shimmer in spirit energy.
Spirit Children may interrupt these routines to try to talk with the ghosts. Some ghostly spirits are friendly. They may interact with Star Children as though they're someone else, someone the spirits used to know. Others, like the bartender, may treat them like a new customer. Other ghosts are determined to stick to their routines and, should Star Children continue to interrupt, will attack those who disturb them.
These spirits may kill Star Children when they attack. Normal weapons won't hurt them. There are revolvers, shotguns, iron pokers, hunting knives, and other plain weapons around to grab in self-defense. Salt bullets and iron will dispel ghosts. These weapons may be grabbed at any time. However, doing so attracts the creatures in Cruel Summer. A blood red worm spitting yellow acid may break through the floor to eat or spray Star Children. An enormous coyote may leap through the window. Whether attracted by the use of weapons or passing by, any dangerous creature found in Cruel Summer seems agitated when they come near these structures and will attack them and anyone inside. They will focus especially on anyone with a stolen selkie skin.
Should Star Children die, whether to ghosts or creatures, they will not immediately return to life.
A constant through these scenes are the spirits' spoons, visible somewhere in each scene. The ghost spoons are whole. Once free of the ghost town, Star Children may choose to travel to the Shattered Spoon Shrine in Never Fade to search for the broken fragments of any of these spoons. They are in such small pieces, however, that no Star Child may feed them enough Lore alone to bring the spirit back. Two or more Star Children may spend time in the Shrine creating and feeding Lore toward the spoons to heal them. It just may be enough to bring someone back.
- Whispers, echoes of screams, etc become common throughout Cruel Summer
- Huts become bigger, interconnected, growing together. Anyone lost, overheated, in need of something in Cruel Summer gets a friendly spirit redirecting them to these buildings
- Buildings will still be in some state of disrepair, but like a whole twisting winding town
- Insides are a cool respite
supernatural ghost spirit air conditioning - Only way out is through, no turning back, as the exits disappear behind you
- Many are friendly, but some are not. One can attempt to talk to them, but how interactive they are varies
- Occasionally other creatures from Cruel Summer may burst in and attack
- If a Star Child dies, rather than return to life immediately, they stay a ghost for about a week, part of the tour
Content Warnings: Fire, Coerced Confessions
Fire! Fire across the realm! For the second half of June, wildfire burns everywhere. While it doesn’t hurt Star Children, it can reduce everything else to ash: homes, businesses, gardens, spirits. The local spirits will be in a panic and beg Star Children for help from small ice mice in Wintermute to fennec foxes in Cruel Summer. How can Star Children help? Confessions. Anything the person they are with doesn’t know. The more earnest and meaningful the better.
When wildfire erupts and spreads, Star Children may stand in or in front of an area they want to protect and confess something to another Star Child who happens to be nearby. Their neighbor? Their partner? A stranger lost in a new land? These confessions simply need to be something the other person doesn’t know to protect structures and spirits. Memories related to the confession will show in the fire. The fire will fuel these memories until they run out of energy, dying down to embers. At least in that place at that time.
Should something start to burn before someone confesses, multiple confessions are necessary to catch the wildfire’s attention and distract it from the fuel source it is feeding on. Two or more Star Children will need to make confessions whose memories are shared in the flames. Water powers can also help quell the flames, but confessions are necessary in the end.
Once July hits, the wildfires are mostly gone, only sparking up here and there on occasion. In their stead are embers. They spark in the air like fireflies and fly around Folkmore, attracted to Star Children. These embers land on Star Children and make them glow. There’s no pain. In fact, the embers provide sparks of insight into memories, situations, and other emotional dilemmas that Star Children haven’t previously understood. Talking the issue over with another Star Children provides further emotional clarity.
Spirits are welcoming to both embers and Star Children. Confessionshelp Folkmore grow as well. Gardens bloom in beautiful displays. Crops grow healthy and joyful. It’s even possible to hear humming from some of the vegetables and fruits. The land grows with the Star Children. Anyone who lacks a green thumb can work their way around that with confessions! Save that dying plant and grow those tomatoes.
One time that a Star Child confesses, either to wildfire or to embers, they will find a jeweled box shaped like a flame. The peak of the flame comes off to reveal the insides. Within, there is an item from home. It may even be a weapon or magical item. Larger more meaningful confessions are more likely to receive weapons. These items may even be larger than should fit in the box or its entrance. Whether the box should only hold a single ring or fill the palm of one’s hand, these items fit. Star Children also can keep the jeweled box, and this one item from home can be stored within the box. Other items too large to fit the box will not enter it. Only the one from the box.
Fire! Fire across the realm! For the second half of June, wildfire burns everywhere. While it doesn’t hurt Star Children, it can reduce everything else to ash: homes, businesses, gardens, spirits. The local spirits will be in a panic and beg Star Children for help from small ice mice in Wintermute to fennec foxes in Cruel Summer. How can Star Children help? Confessions. Anything the person they are with doesn’t know. The more earnest and meaningful the better.
When wildfire erupts and spreads, Star Children may stand in or in front of an area they want to protect and confess something to another Star Child who happens to be nearby. Their neighbor? Their partner? A stranger lost in a new land? These confessions simply need to be something the other person doesn’t know to protect structures and spirits. Memories related to the confession will show in the fire. The fire will fuel these memories until they run out of energy, dying down to embers. At least in that place at that time.
Should something start to burn before someone confesses, multiple confessions are necessary to catch the wildfire’s attention and distract it from the fuel source it is feeding on. Two or more Star Children will need to make confessions whose memories are shared in the flames. Water powers can also help quell the flames, but confessions are necessary in the end.
Once July hits, the wildfires are mostly gone, only sparking up here and there on occasion. In their stead are embers. They spark in the air like fireflies and fly around Folkmore, attracted to Star Children. These embers land on Star Children and make them glow. There’s no pain. In fact, the embers provide sparks of insight into memories, situations, and other emotional dilemmas that Star Children haven’t previously understood. Talking the issue over with another Star Children provides further emotional clarity.
Spirits are welcoming to both embers and Star Children. Confessions
One time that a Star Child confesses, either to wildfire or to embers, they will find a jeweled box shaped like a flame. The peak of the flame comes off to reveal the insides. Within, there is an item from home. It may even be a weapon or magical item. Larger more meaningful confessions are more likely to receive weapons. These items may even be larger than should fit in the box or its entrance. Whether the box should only hold a single ring or fill the palm of one’s hand, these items fit. Star Children also can keep the jeweled box, and this one item from home can be stored within the box. Other items too large to fit the box will not enter it. Only the one from the box.
- Last two weeks of June, wildfire burns across Folkmore. After that, they are rare.
- Confessions can protect or rescue buildings, land areas, and spirits.
- Come July, embers spark across Folkmore like fireflies. They provide insight for Star Children. Talking helps.
- Confessions help the land grow.
- Confessions reveal a jeweled box containing an item from home.
no subject
That wasn't Layla. ( he says, gesturing at where the image of layla and steven had flickered into life and then, just as quickly, faded. it's meant as an answer as to why he's not outwardly, notably surprised, but it's the sort of non-answer that marc's best at, the sort that makes sense to him but often lacks the verbalisation of linking details for it to make immediate sense to anyone else.
after that, he closes the distance between the two of them with a step, displeasure sitting in the lines of his face and the curve of his lips. ) Close enough, ( he admits, careful and bitter all at once. ) But she died twelve years ago.
( he lets that sit for a moment and he takes in the differences again — the accent (what is that?), the energy, the excitement, the curiousness, the hair, the—. a flicker of consideration, and then his expression smooths — it doesn't soften, not really, but marc seems to reach a decision that's reflected in his features, and he waves a hand, dismissive. disinterested.
where steven had been careful with what he'd said for concern of how marc would react, marc's the opposite. it's intentional, then, when he tells steven— ) And you're not him.
( marc's met versions of himself before, moon knights and not-quite-moon knights with the same and different mission. he's been to space (not his thing, actually—). he knows the multiverse exists. surprise would be for a younger marc, one who spent his evenings asking a statue what he was supposed to be doing, who had a lingering fear that he was mad.
and — crucially, perhaps — even if he was surprised, surprise is an emotion that, like so many others for marc, morphs quickly into frustration and anger. he can't do anything with surprise, but he can do things with anger. ) It doesn't take much to figure out if that was supposed to be her, someone calling himself Steven is playing at being Grant.
( a beat and a concession, still just as forceful. ) I've seen stranger.
cw: general hollywood DID stuff
You're thinking of another Layla. [Spoken careful but far more firm this time, because after all they've been through, he refuses to let someone else tell him his reality isn't "right."] Because she's very real, and I don't think she'd like hearing you say that to her face. Wouldn't take it as nicely either.
[Despite this not going how he would've hoped, the first thing that comes to mind is how his Marc will take this, and how they'll have to deal with the reality together. At least they have each other.
The paranoia about his identity and sense of self he's been working so very hard to establish here claws its way back to the surface with just a few simple words: you're not him. The feeling gets stuck in his chest and throat. It doesn't take a genius to understand what this Marc means, especially when the reality of his existence is one Steven struggles with on a daily basis. He'd been getting better about it, feeling more confident, but apparently not better enough.
Even so, despite the way he wants to run from this situation, he steels himself (still feeling that tightness in his chest, still breathing shallower than before) and doesn't move away, a heavy frown set in his expression as the other Marc steps closer. He's taller, sure, and broader, but Steven refuses to be intimidated.]
I'm not playing at anything. I am Steven. Maybe not your Steven, but you're not my Marc. [He hates to put it that way but if that's how this is going to go...] You don't have to be an arse about it.
no subject
andrea had asked marc once what their — steven and jake's — opinions were on everything marc did, on his tendency to make unilateral decisions for all of them. marc had been forced to reach the conclusion, had been forced to speak aloud the fact that he's never asked.
(he knows their opinions on moon knight, he doesn't need to ask that. the rest of it—.
he's always had his assumptions. he's never bothered to find out if he was right.)
but in all of it, he's never thought of either of them as being his, even if marc's never been particularly free with allowing them control over their lives, over the body. not since the early days, not after his desperate attempt to convince marlene and jean-paul and gena and crawley that they were just disguises he could don at a moment's notice, identities useful for being moon knight and nothing more. ) And Grant's his own person, he's not my anything.
( that's where he almost stops, where he almost leaves it. he takes a step back and half-turns, prepared to have that be the end of his half of the conversation before—.
mm. he's always hated it when people have the wrong idea, always hated when he hasn't been able to control the narrative of how he's perceived. steven tells him he doesn't have to be an arse, but marc has a point to make. about who marc spector is in comparison to steven grant, whoever steven grant is. marc's the unreasonable one, the difficult one.
that's the point of him. )
—I didn't say Layla wasn't real. I said the one I knew is dead. That whoever that was that you held, had die in your arms—. ( it does occur to him as he speaks that there's a better way to put it, but marc has never extended himself pleasantries, has never extended himself grace. the person that marc has always been worst to is himself — and by extension, steven and jake. blunt and pointed, no need nor want to couch anything in niceties, to soften his words. ) Wasn't her. I'd be happy to tell her myself, the woman I knew was never fond of obfuscation for the sake of feelings.
no subject
He isn't at his best.
He takes a deep breath, eyes briefly closing as if trying to compose himself. His eyes revert to their usual brown at least, meaning he's calmed down. Hands come up in a gesture of quiet appeasement, whether the other wants it or not.]
Perhaps we're all very different then, but surely there's a reason why we're also... similar. I've met quite a few people here who are- [Another vague gesture with his hands, like he doesn't quite know how to say it.] -multi-versal versions of themselves. It isn't the first time I've seen it but it's the first time it's someone- [a pause] -me.
I don't mean to compare, it's just so fascinating, I can't help but have a million questions.
no subject
well, the problem, predominately, is that marc has never been a particularly curious man. he's never asked many questions. he'd been happy to do as he'd been told in the marines, happy to do as he was told as a mercenary, right up until the point that he wasn't. right up until the point he discovered he had a conscience after all, when raul had managed to go a step too far, even for marc.
he hadn't asked questions, not even when khonshu had said that the only way to stop mephisto was for khonshu himself to rule, for marc to fight his friends and take their powers.
his only response is sharp. )
What?
no subject
[He repeats, unsure if Marc wants him to actually ask him things here and now in the middle of the street, with the fires still blazing, or if he's just... annoyed. "Annoyed" seems to be the default mood here.]
You don't? You're not curious at all? This is an every day occurrence for you?
[As interested as Steven is, he's also been incredibly private about certain details of his personal life in Folkmore. He isn't sure if he trusts this Marc yet, which he honestly feels guilty even thinking.]
no subject
No. ( he admits. ) But like I said, I've seen stranger.
( and then he looks past steven, to the remaining fires in the relative distance before shooting steven a sidelong glance. it's meant as a 'if you want to talk, we're walking and talking' kind of glance, punctuated by marc saying precisely nothing to relay the intention.
what he does say is— ) What is there to be curious about?
( neither marc nor steven had ever told marlene that their father was even alive, not until she'd been the one to answer the call asking for him to visit before he passed. none of them had ever been honest about THEMSELVES, preferring instead to lean into the story that each identity was a disguise to shrug on and off as needed for moon knight.
there are details of his life that exist in the public arena, in the consciousness of people from his world because of how high profile it'd been — moon knight, the guy who makes all the wrong decisions.
he's got enough of his own guilt to carry around, his debt and his duty. what of that would be something he'd want to share, want to compare and contrast? it sounds like his worst nightmare. )
no subject
He's fine with walking, and maybe their discussion will help put out even more fires along the way. Steven keeps an eye out for any stray spirits or other residents who may need help too, not wanting to leave behind anyone in dire need.]
For starters, I'm curious what the... Grant you know is like. [He shoots the other a sidelong glance, using the surname he seems to prefer.] What makes us so different? What does he do?
[Is he here too? Steven doesn't even want to mention the fact that he and Marc are not currently in the same body. It's been a distressing experience by its own right.]
no subject
Investment. Started off with real estate, moved into movies. ( and other stuff, he doesn't say, the sort of things that sit in nebulous legality, the sort of things that mean that it's not just marc, it's steven too, that can say he knows some of the worst men in the world. the sort of things that meant it made sense for grant and not spector to be the person called on for a mission in symkaria, one spent in a room full of rich men and poor women.
it's easier to answer the question about what steven does than what makes them different, purely because all marc has to go on for that is body language, is vibe. the nervous energy and excitability that seems to be all-encompassing for this steven in contrast to the cool, calmness of—
"his" steven. ) Not British. ( or whatever they'll accent is. once upon a time, marc had pretended to be a reporter from manchester but ateven's accent isn't that. london, maybe. estuary—? either way, strange for steven grant. ) Does a lot for charity. Society events, galas. ( used to host them, he doesn't add, before marc had made a mess of that part of their life.
thinly, wry and dry with faint amusement, what he does add is— ) Steven's used to high society and the finer things in life. He's never much liked my lifestyle.
no subject
Steven's never had or needed the finer things in life, content to live in his state of chaotic disarray, because it's all he's ever really known. Losing time and constant exhaustion never really made for anything else.]
What kind of lifestyle is yours, then? [He prods next, suspiciously quiet about everything else, but he has a lot running through his mind for now.]
no subject
while it doesn't escape his notice that steven hasn't offered anything up about himself, hasn't offered commentary on whether (other) steven's life mirrors or contrasts his own, he's also expressed no surprise, no bafflement about the suit, about the hard-to-miss moon details. either he's not observant, marc thinks, which is unlikely if there's even a sliver of similarity between the two grants, or he knows precisely what that means. )
no subject
[Knowing Moon Knight is a thread of connection between them is strangely comforting. He may be newer to all of that but he still understands, even if he (blessedly) hasn't seen or spoken to Khonshu in over a year.]
Is that something you don't... share, then? He isn't part of it? [He hesitates a moment before adding:] It was all still relatively new to me before I woke up here.
no subject
Not often. ( a beat. wait, clarification—. ) We have our skill sets. ( it's the euphemistic way of putting it, a way of saying that steven doesn't like to get his hands dirty. ) We've had ten years to figure out what works, what he's good at and what I'm good at. ( and jake. marc assumes, of course, that the only reason that jake hasn't been mentioned is because here and now, it's just steven and it's just marc. )
Steven has a delicate touch.
( prefers a delicate touch. )
no subject
Even so, hearing the Steven Grant the other knows has a delicate touch makes him smile, something like relief playing across his expression.]
That- That's good. Brilliant, actually. It sounds like you work well together. [Or so he assumes - hopes.] I'm not too fond of the whole vigilante justice business either, though I understood why Marc had to, or at least... why he felt like he should.
[Even these small confessions as they talk seem to be working with the flames around them, little by little, even though they're no longer paying attention to any of that.]
I'm sorry if I came off a little defensive. [A short, breathless laugh, Steven looking up at the other again.] It's not every day you run into someone who knows you from another life. World. Universe? It's all a bit mad, isn't it? This place makes you doubt so much as it is.
no subject
he's never bothered to ask whether that's the truth.
but there it is. "I understood why marc had to." marc meets steven's gaze, unhappy and searching, as he continues, as he apologises for being defensive (was that what that was? cute—), as he follows it up with someone that knows you, but— )
I don't know you. ( level and blunt, even if it's not quite true. if it was, this conversation would be different, and marc would be— well, perhaps not agreeable, but less disagreeable.
that the other marc's (still) moon knight hangs unsaid in the silence between them. marc knows what that means for him, the debt and the duty and the regret, thick and heavy. it means he can guess at what it means for (other) marc and abruptly, deeply, he's hit by the realisation that the last thing he wants is to meet this other version of himself.
none of this is about steven, not really. as ever, it's about marc and how marc feels about himself. how that's reflected in steven. )
Don't make the mistake of thinking we're anything alike.
( him and marc, not him and steven, even if marc doesn't bother with clarification, and the comment's uttered as he looks back to the fires. precisely none of marc's responses this time count as a confession and the realisation sits alongside the realisation that unless they come across anyone else, they're stuck together for however long it takes to get rid of the remainder.
marc presses his lips together, pauses, and without looking back to steven, mutters a soft, quiet noise that's almost a 'fuck'.
(he hates this.)
(he almost says he doesn't need to be somewhere new to be overwhelmed with doubt—.) )
—And we don't get along. ( a sidelong glance, something that borders on self-awareness. a gesture with a hand and, lightly, glibly— ) I'm difficult.
no subject
[Steven can't help but push back - it's in his nature - because even though he is trying to be nice here, his annoyance levels are gradually rising as well, despite trying his best to be polite. This is a strange situation to be thrust into, though he keeps reminding himself that this or any other Marc would not be taking any of this lightly, and the reaction is... expected.
Calling himself "difficult" makes Steven chuckle though, nodding his head to one side as if to say well, yeah.]
You can say that again. It's good to be self-aware. [He can't help but tease, glancing to the flames and then back to Marc.] I didn't get along with the Marc I know either - not at first. Sometimes we still butt heads. This place has helped a lot, admittedly.
[Along with dying and all the rest that happened but he isn't about to bring that up out of the blue.]
Look, maybe hanging around these fires isn't doing us any favors, yeah? No one around here seems to be in any danger, they must've evacuated.
not me realising i managed to misread an entire sentence that last tag WHEEZE SORRY FAM 💀
( and it is, kind of. it's the sort of joke that marc — or steven! — would have made in earnest, the sort of joke that would've slot neatly alongside steven's responses to samuels whenever there was mail for marc. the "I'll read it to him"s that no-one else had found especially funny. unfortunately, it's not how ( this ) steven had meant it, which is what makes it distinctly unfunny, which is where the bones of contention sneak into it.
but that's where he leaves it for the moment, point made. they don't know each other, not really — or at least, that's what he's telling himself — not from this life or any other. familiar names and a shared duty, that's it.
—but that doesn't mean there isn't a question, one prompted by what steven says after that. "this place has helped." what's with that? what does that mean? how—. the only times marc has quote-unquote encountered steven and jake has been— morpheus.
(but then, something like that'd make sense, wouldn't it? given the comment about this place making it difficult to know what's real and what's not.)
he almost isn't listening when steven says that sticking around where they are probably isn't the best bet, his attention shifting towards the sky, debating, before— )
Then where?
is it bad I didn't notice.......
[A rhetorical question, Marc...
Steven wouldn't want to leave any stragglers who need help behind but this part of town seems relatively empty now, which is for the best. Thirteen and her games - she'll probably put out the fires here once they're of no use to her anyway. At least no one is in danger.]
Seems like we've put out quite a few without realizing it. This is a test and I believe that means we've passed. [He nods to at least one business completely flame-free now, which is a relief.]
I can show you a nearby town if you want to get your bearings and- [he cuts himself off, eying the suit again] -get a change of clothes too, if you need it. You look sharp but not the most convenient in this heat, is it?
HAHA NO I just would've phrased sth slightly different weeps
but marc is paranoid and suspicious enough to agree with the sentiment that coincidences aren't always coincidences, but he knows well enough that he's paranoid and suspicious, knows that even if he might think that, sometimes coincidences really are coincidences.
can he always tell the difference? no. but— )
Are you trying to say you're from the version of Earth where I'm not crazy?
( rhetorical question for a rhetorical question, steven, because he doesn't believe that for a second.
marc looks down at the suit as soon as steven mentions a change of clothes and, for a moment, he just looks surprised. it segues into doubt, and he presses his lips together. in any other instance, it'd come across as petulance but here and now, it's simply disagreement.
yes, he's hot and he's sticky and he's sweaty, but— ) These are my vestments. ( "hey!"
what that doesn't quite portray is the fact that marc — marc's — wardrobe consists almost entirely of the same suit a dozen times. the same jacket, the same pants, the same shoes and the same gloves. the turtlenecks and the cargo pants and the boots have been left in the past, a relic of marc spector that marc tries not to be.
it'd been fine — by a definition of "fine", the kind of definition that only marc uses — until greer had come back into his life and started poking holes in his careful, deliberate presentation of self.
he'd prefer to be hot and sticky and sweaty and uncomfortable than just ("just") marc spector.
instead— ) I need a shower.
it's all good!
The word "vestments" is so specific it has to be intentionally used. Steven almost looks confused a moment. Is his suit not magical then? He can't simply remove it here and now, or he prefers not to?]
Right, well... vestments or not, you'll need to buy new clothes eventually. Thankfully, us talking is already earning you money - er, lore.
[He gestures in the opposite direction behind them, deeper into town.] There are stores and housing up this way, if you'd like to pop up with me. Plenty of open flats and homes for the taking. It's odd, but you don't have to buy real estate here, you just claim what you'd like.
There's also a school up ahead: Kuma Lisa. They have showers for students, I'm sure they'd let you use them without problem. I can at least help - I'm on good terms with the spirits there. [He smiles a bit more at that, like he's rather proud of it.
In any case, all Steven really wants to do is help.]
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money's never mattered.
(that's a lie—.)
he's got his own way of making money.
(more to the point—.)
he turns in the direction steven points. he wants to say that he doesn't need steven's help, doesn't want it, and though it's not untrue, not really — at least the latter — he doesn't know where he is, doesn't know how to make any of this work, and steven's the only loose link he has. visible reluctance gives way to agreement gives way to— )
What spirits?
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Ah, the residents of this world. They're spirits that live and work here, and make up most of the population other than others like us. [He holds up his hands to form air quotations as he adds:] "Star Children" is what they call us.
[And then he's gesturing to the sky, as if to imply that's where they all came from, before he starts the trek toward Kuma Lisa.]
Everything the fox explained to you on your journey here is accurate, but I know it was a lot of information at once. I thought it was all a dream when I first arrived.
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Morpheus. ( it's punctuated by a sidelong glance, searching for recognition in steven's features. ) One of Peter's patients. Marlene's brother. ( the loosest, vaguest of explanations. if steven knows layla, then marc assumes he knows — or at least, knows of — marlene, too. they wouldn't be moon knight without the alraune's, after all—. ) You wouldn't know you were asleep 'til you were awake.
( most of the time, anyway. the times he had, it'd been because the happiness he was being offered and shown was like nothing he'd ever experienced, nothing he'd ever had in his grasp. the sort of happiness marc wouldn't even think to hope for, because it's so far removed from anything he's ever managed.
the dreams where he lost marlene, where he fought jake and steven and moon knight— those were the ones he'd never been sure about, the ones that he'd never questioned until he found himself waking. ) It was an easy way for him to manipulate and confuse and disorientate.
( it's the long way of saying he'd been reluctant to believe everything he'd been told. )
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So when Marc lists out certain names like they should be familiar to Steven, he feels a strange pang of guilt in not knowing any of them. He knew Layla though. That further tests part of his early theory here. Steven's expression is pinched with mild confusion but then he's looking up at Marc again, seeing that steely stare, wondering what the other is hoping to get from him.
He's probably going to disappoint a lot.]
Morpheus. [He repeats quietly, more to himself, wracking his brain for any lingering knowledge. Maybe that's someone Marc would know - someone he kept Steven in the dark about.] Can't say the name sounds familiar, but that certainly doesn't sound like a good time.
[To put it mildly. Steven frowns, looking ahead of them as if afraid someone will overhear, before he adds:] The only one manipulating and disorienting us was Khonshu. At least, for the little time I knew him. Thankfully he isn't here. I hope to never see that old bird ever again.
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It wasn't, ( he answers, attention shifting to the sight of kuma lisa in the distance. a little pointedly, a little petulantly, he adds— ) None of what we do is a 'good time'.
( he doesn't say, because of the differences that have become evident, that he's never been sure whether khonshu is or isn't present, never quite been convinced as to how far he can trust his perception, how much of what he's done has been khonshu and how much of it has been madness. the number of times he'd stood in front of that statue, hoping that this time it'd answer him, give him direction—.
the number of times he's regretted it since.
blunt and harsh, without glancing at steven, he rebuffs steven's hope with a: )
He's in prison. Asgard. Moon Knight's an apostate.
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