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duplicitymemes2022-07-10 07:11 pm
duplicitymods) wrote in duplicitymemes2022-07-10 07:11 pm
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TDM #25
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It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit. Yet, solace is found in the lies we tell each other, comforted by the peace of knowing that we're not alone in our depravity, and once on this path, sin itself becomes the lesser of two evils masked in a cloud of normalcy. This is how Duplicity has functioned since the beginning. The divide of power and social standing is overt in that Dominants influence the decisions made both publicly and privately while Submissives cater to the rules presented to them. It is the way of Duplicity to assign random designations at birth with no leeway in altering what has been given. Climate in the Up is far stricter than that of the Down; violating outlined personas for a Dominant or Submissive while in full view of others is punished by degree of infraction. In the Down, many tend to turn a blind eye to these sorts of offenses. To counteract the discovery of the deceit gene – a natural "negative" response to all stimuli – the LIEs program was founded. The program had been designed to introduce new subjects to the current environment and test for the deceit gene through immersion in Duplicity's standing society. Sexual impulses and encounters increase the chances of detecting the gene within these individuals. Participants are typically released from LIEs after a year; however, results have remained unsatisfactory and testing still continues. ... and you're here! Finally! Welcome to Duplicity. After choosing a door and stepping through to the other side, the first thing that greets you are the enthusiastic faces of people in medical scrubs and pristine lab coats. Their enthusiasm translates to eagerness as they strip you of your clothes to perform a thorough examination—you will be healed, bathed, and given a paper gown to wear until your items can be processed and delivered to your residence later in the evening. You are also given a device that accesses the network as well as the time and location of Orientation. If you enter Duplicity into the Up, congratulations! You're a Dominant, which means you are immediately picked up by a limo after processing and taken to your high-rise. Here, it is two Dominants per floor with separate apartments. If you enter Duplicity into the Down, congratulations! You're a Submissive, which means you are directed towards public transportation with the address of the motel you'll be living in. Here, it is two Submissives per room with a shared common space for all rooms. Enjoy your free time until Orientation! Participation is mandatory for all new and past arrivals. Skies are clear and the weather is warm. |
 After stepping through the door and participating in Orientation, LIERs are assembled together in the Up for a tour of Duplicity in its entirety. Seats are in pairs and randomly assigned to Dominants and Submissives alike. Traveling from Fiddler's Square, the train journeys through various parts of the Up, showcasing society and examples of lifestyle. Along the way, frequent stops are made; a variety of passengers can be seen exiting and entering the doors. A Dominant with a kneeling Submissive takes a seat near the front of the train at one stop. A small group of Submissives board and sit closer to the LIERs at another, all seemingly content in their roles. As the tour continues through the Up, the train passes close to the Market and White Wall Bridge and zips by North Park before heading into the Down and bypassing Red Wall Bridge and South Park. The train makes a "final" stop at Riddler's Square, where inhabitants of the Down are instructed to return to their temporary housing. Those who live in the Up are permitted to stay on the train and revisit the same locations while returning. |
 (cw: aphro/drugs) LIEs has once again partnered with a local coffee chain, Peek-A-Brew, to promote their summer menu and help play matchmaker among those in the program. Along with the usual goodie bag, each character will be handed a small slip of paper after Orientation with a date and time, location, and three fun facts about a mystery partner they're to meet for a coffee date. These "facts" may or may not actually be true — they're simply meant to spark conversation. For the duration of the 1-2 hours the pairs are expected to spend getting to know one another, they will receive unlimited free iced coffee, tea, and lemonade and a discount on any other menu items. Seasonal specials include fruity parfaits and popsicles in a variety of refreshing flavors. Naturally, all goods are spiked to make the consumers more agreeable, more truthful, and perhaps a bit more handsy than normal. Though the meetings are not mandatory, contact with the paper brings on an inexplicable sense of curiosity about meeting their partner and discovering who they really are. |
 (cw: aphro, temporary body changes) With summer heat building, the natives are looking for a reprieve from the sweltering weather. All manner of frozen treats are being sold and consumed and it's not uncommon to see Submissives fanning their Dominants as they walk down the street or ride the train. Sprinkler systems are running day and night in North Park and other city-owned patches of green and plenty of people are taking the opportunity to run and jump through the spray with little care for soaked clothing — or perhaps they aren't wearing clothing at all. Others have taken up squirting one another, as well as whoever is passing by, with water guns or hurling water balloons at anyone who looks like they need to cool down. Especially on the streets near the park, it's a wet and wild battle royale and all are welcome to join in. Getting hit with some of those colorful water balloons and squirt guns temporarily causes those who get splashed to taste like sweet, mouth-watering summer fruits. It's not just their skin either — the effect extends to their sweat, saliva, and even sexual fluids and can last for several hours. Those around them will find it hard to resist having a taste. |
 (cw: violence, public nudity/exposure) If you're out on the streets of the Down, it's not just your wallet you have to worry about losing. It seems that one of the local gangs, the Bulldogs, has set a new test for their junior members and those hoping to join: steal an article of clothing right off the body of someone in a public place. From snatching the hat off their head to slicing the shirt off their back, it's anything goes! These junior initiates quickly get competitive, one-upping each other on who can complete the task in the most ballsy or outrageous manner. Some compete over who can collect the most clothing, either certain articles or overall, or who can score a full set first. As word spreads and more people are going around suddenly missing part of their outfits, the Sparrows, a rival gang, decide to get in on the action purely for bragging rights. Rather than taking the clothing by force, they pride themselves on using stealth and trickery, leaving more than a few people naked and confused. |
Please read carefully. On each Test Drive Meme, there will be a section noting character roles; these will vary each TDM. On an IC level, characters will still have gone through the doors but the assignments are OOCly randomized. When applying, there is a section of the application that denotes whether the character chooses "left" or "right." When participating on the TDM, there will be a third option. Players may link either a top level or a thread (five or more comments from their character) from the TDM and title the link as "Door Pass." This means that the player is choosing to take the designation that they were randomly assigned on the TDM, rather than taking the designation of a door. If the player decides to select a door rather than use the pass, then they are trying their luck; they may get the same designation they had on the TDM or the opposite. Once the application is submitted, players can't change their choice. To assign roles to characters for this TDM, use the following guide: If your character is more of an optimist, they are a Submissive. If your character is more of a pessimist, they are a Dominant. To Note: Characters can only swap their designation for one of the following reasons: an event occurs that allows it or there are OOC reasons that make it a necessity. Any swap always requires mod approval and each character can only ever switch once. Characters that are being reapped will keep their previous designation but players can choose to use new TDMs with different designations for fun! Test Drive threads can be used as activity proofs for characters currently in-game. Please remember to mark any necessary content, and have fun!! |
Hang onto your hats
Things likely hadn't changed much since a few days ago, but you never knew.
So Chris takes to the high cavern ceilings of the Down, pathing high above the city and occasionally landing on rooftops where it seems there's something worth seeing.
A shock of white hair and a piercingly familiar voice has him curving sharp near the train station and practically dropping from the sky onto the building's roof.
Well....there's certainly enough of him on display to confirm who Chris is looking at.
His heart thrums and he can't parse the emotions, just that they're much and tangled and- had he truly remembered what Hawke looked like before now or had it only been an impression of memory? It was hard to tell.
He hops down and clangs onto the metal railing around the entrance, wings flaring back for balance. "Well, well, well let's see what the Hawke dragged in...don't you look gorgeous."
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"Maker's breath, am I glad to see you still here. I mean, from a purely selfish standpoint anyway. How long has it been? I can tell its summer at least so it can't have been too long." He puts his hands on Chris' shoulder, seizing him up. There's wear there, more than was before, but there will be time for that sort of catching up later. He'll enjoy just being happy to see his friend for now.
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Hawke's hands fall familiar on his shoulders and Chris' hands settle on the mage's sides, the callouses on his fingers tracking on the subtle bumps of ribs. 'Sight for sore eyes' had never had much meaning before.
Hawke's words cause his smile to falter, however. "Ah...been a tad bit more than a few months, handsome. It's been well over a year since you left...almost eight months since I got back."
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He cuts himself off, realizing that if this is July, that's as good as Solace, and if its been over a year, then...
Hanging his head, Hawke pats Chris' shoulders again and drops his hands. "Right, well, no accounting for the passage of time is there? I'm here now, that's what matters."
Let's just forget that he's his forty years old now, that would make him feel a lot better.
"...I don't suppose I could bother you for some clothes? The flattery is rather nice but this being Duplicity, I think walking around naked will be taken as an invitation rather than something to clutch pearls over."
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He doesn't need an answer, the things he knows about Hawke are trickling back into place just as all his old memories have been, once they've had the dustr brushed off of them.
Instead, he holds a hand out. "We'll go in style and very little eyes on us. I've got a place not too far with some spare clothes set aside."
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"Will your clothes even fit me? I suppose the shirts are billowy enough, but your pants leave little enough to the imagination as it is." He missed this.
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"Then they'll look stunningly painted on over that lovely ass of yours." The lovely ass he remembers Hawke bitching about in the past, so he doesn't give the man a lot of time to do more than take his next breath before Chris yanks him in close, wraps his arms around him and takes one massive flap to push them off the ground. Between the strength in his wings and shoulders and the magical boost of the earrings, it's nearly effortless to take Hawke high above the throng of the city. No one ever looks up and Chris is banking on that now as he leads them towards a generic office building ultimately not that far away.
"When you've some pants on, I'll take you on all kinds of loops and dives, don't want to give your friend whiplash meanwhile." He calls to Hawke as they swoop in an arch and land outside the building's main doors. Though, once they set down, Chris keeps hands on his friend just in case he needs to find his land legs again.
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Best not to think too hard on that right now or his 'friend' might get the wrong idea.
It does take him a moment to find his balance. He's a tall man and certainly not used to being carried, but in short order he's on his feet and pulling just enough away from Chris to show he doesn't need the support but not so far as to imply he's uncomfortable. If he's honest, being naked isn't that big of a deal. If it weren't for prying eyes at least.
"Alright, lead on my fine feathered friend. Maybe if I paint those pants on, as you said, you'll be able to keep your tongue in your mouth." He smirks, having noticed the amount of compliments Chris has paid him in the short while since being picked up at the train station. It's nice. Odd, as he's not used to such casual fluffs to his ego, but certainly has him feeling some kind of way. If it was any other day he might be able to parse what sort of way that is, but today doesn't seem to be a good day for navel-gazing.
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Had he been? He had...when had that started? Or why hadn't it started before?
No, that required some inner focus he wasn't willing to put in right now, he'd just have to be more aware of himself. Hawke wasn't...he wasn't one of the people kept in a radius, that Chris kept at the end of appeals and enticements and sweet word.
That hadn't been him when Hawke had known him-
"Right here." He's lead them down a nearly frigid hallway for how the AC blasts, but he unlocks a plain looking door and steps inside with the full expectation Hawke will come in and lock the door behind them.
Inside, just to the left is a door still standing open and showing a full, if small, bathroom. To the right stand cupboards with open fronts: non-perishable foods and rations stocked as well as water and booze and potions. A table sits on the right hand wall just beyond them, a small store of potions still piled up on the sheet that rests over rectangular shapes. In fact, a lot of the room is odd shapes covered with white sheets, mostly lined along the walls, though there's one or two still out in the open space. The far wall from the door boasts a large bed with purple sheets and full metal frame complete with loops and hooks. To the left is a window, an enchantment of daylight spilling from it and across two chairs below: one straight-backed with a cushion and the other overly wide and soft.
Chris barely looks at any of it, if anything, he almost avoids looking at it as he digs through a cupboard and unearths a pair of black jeans and fairly loose tunic-style shirt in charcoal gray. Not too dissimilar from what he's currently wearing, just minus the leather jacket he was still ever-sporting. "Here we are. Maybe you ought take a shower and I can do a run over to public housing? I could try and steal your clothes for you. Or, if these fit, you can keep them."
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He retreats into the small bathroom but leaves the door open so he can still call to Chris through it. It's not as if he has anything to hid, having been in the buff this entire time. He turns the water to hot and waits for the temperature to actually reach what he's directed. When they arrived he would have wanted it tepid but the air conditioner had him changing his mind. "So you kept this place to keep all the sex separate from Festival, right?"
Chris' resolute attention on him and the clothes and nothing else has been noted. He doesn't comment on it directly, but unfortunately for Chris it's something to focus on for Hawke that isn't the mess in his own mind right now.
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He goes digging for a simple snack and some water and, after a second, some bourbon he pours into a short glass from one of the cabinets. He sets all out on the cloth-covered table and then pours some of the amber liquid for himself.
"That was the idea. Sex and kink and all like that'd not be kind for his senses in a place that out be comfortable for him. Besides, missed having access to Lux's basement room, so made my own in spirit of it. It's...served its purpose." And then some.
In the privacy of Hawke's shower, Chris lets his gaze run over the room. There's a stifling sense to it, the same details his mind had found for a week straight stand out to him now, never mind the phantom images of Grayson and his little construct on or near the bed.
"Have you checked to see what friends you've still got about?"
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Lots missing, too, but that's a happy thing given where they are. It's better that Alaric and Anders have gone home, because that's what must have happened. Far better.
"I saw both Anders and Anduin have gone. Where does that leave Haven?"
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"Yeah...Anduin back a few months now. Don't think there's a head of magical healing or whatever that role was, but Kyle Valenti runs it now. Vampire, if you've never met him. Good heart." At least he could maintain a politic tone of voice about that one, he didn't need to start going into that mess right now.
"I worked there a bit, took some time off. Not sure yet if I'll go back, but I think Rhys -ah...both of them- were the only magical sorts left aside from me." Which really meant he should probably go back...but also he'd told Kyle he could call on him if he ever needed him.
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"Maybe I should let him know I have some rudimentary healing ability then. In case of emergencies." That's his sense of duty talking, his immediate impulse to be useful and set a good example, and he knows it. He doesn't actually want to do that. Maker knows he will if an emergency does come up, but he'll do it without having to be called upon.
Funny, he never would have recognized that in himself before.
"I'll miss Anduin. That boy needed some rest and I doubt he'll ever get it at home." The water switches off and Hawke steps out of the shower in a cloud of steam, reaching for a towel. He makes a point of looking a bit away as he dries himself but keeps just enough of his periphery on Chris to judge a reaction. "At least you know when to take a step back. Its good to see you've created a retreat for yourself like this."
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"May if you want. Thought you were just working on that one."
Oh, but now here they were back to the room. What a surprise.
He should probably just tell Hawke, he'd be...well, at least sympathetic? Probably. The thought also just seemed...exhausting. How much would he need to say? Or how much could he get away with not saying?
"Yeah." There's a pause like he's going to say more even though he'd been aiming for 'brusque' and he sighs. Chris pours a little more bourbon into his glass and makes for the overly wide chair by the window.
"It was. Bit of a mess now, but it's still useful to hold to." Probably. "There's food and drink on the table there, if you like it."
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"Thank you, I'm famished." Walking a bit awkwardly, Hawke goes for the table. He doesn't feel pinched, at least. There's enough stretch in the fabric to prevent that. But he does feel a little like a sausage... At least the shirt is suitably billowy and opens to mid-chest.
He leans against the table as he picks at the food there, deliberately taking the time to pour himself a glass of bourbon as well. Yes he's hungry, but the drink sloushes around other gaps inside him and he prefers those seen to before his stomach.
Finally, inevitably, he looks back at Chris again benignly, raising the glass to his lips again in order to sip just after he speaks. "A mess?"
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Hawke goes for the food and it seems a suitable distraction, but Hawke did the exact same thing Chris did: pretend to leave something alone only to circle back around to it later. He'd most assuredly be only a moment.
"You look good in my clothes." He offers, though it's only half the effort of flirtation he'd offered earlier. Because, yes, there it was again.
Chris sighs and looks over at the sheet-covered equipment against the wall to his right.
"Right...start short and maybe we can get longer later, if you're good." Where was the short version, though? "I was stuck in here, by my own design, holding someone dangerous prisoner until his memories returned to him for roughly a week. I don't do so well feeling trapped, even if it was my idea, so...a mess." He shrugs.
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Hawke rolls the drink around on his tongue as he rolls the thoughts around in his head, deciding what he wants to ask and in what order. Finally, he sets the now empty glass down on the table with a formal tap and folds his arms. "Dangerous how?"
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"Vampire, to start." A poor start and he winces to himself. "Not that it means anything...not all are bad...but this one is. Was."
He sighs again and resigns himself to the awkward twist to fetch his glass. When he's seated right again and had a swig from his glass, he continues.
"He's a vampire who thinks in mostly logic over emotion and he didn't see such paltry things as feelings and consent as things to be worried about. He was also not always aware of the farther reaches of his consequences. A large fish used to a larger pond, if you gather. He was killed and, what little reason he'd learned in his time here, was gone again with his return." That...wasn't the main reason they'd done it then, but it was a factor.
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"Was this realization about his lack of humanity before or after he came back?"
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"Jon and I...both had a run-in with him first week he was here. He tried to feed off Jon and Jon fed right back, si neither walked away without idea of the other. He told me a bit later." After Grayson had truly hurt Jon, of course. Otherwise, he got the impression it had been unpleasant, but more surprising than scarring.
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"You said both you and Jon ran afoul and then only told me what happened with Jon." He folds his arms across his chest, looking down at Chris with a practiced placidity to his features but inside he's bracing for his previous estimation of 'something worse' not happening to be wrong.
cw: mention of dubcon and altered memories
His stomach swirls and he keeps carefully still in response to the cool calm of Hawke's reply. "Yes, I did."
There's a long pause, like he might just leave it there. He likely would have once.
"I was a little messed up on some of those mushrooms that sometimes grow in the wet times in the Down. I'd been gathering some for the theatre and got myself hit with them despite my caution. Made me more aggressive. I saw a handsome man and approached." He pauses, tongue sweeping along his lower lip while his eyes watched the swirl of his drink. "He was stronger than me, pinned me and I struggled. He...he offered to let me go if I asked it, but I said yes. Just...didn't agree to the rougher way he treated me. After, anyway. At the time, apparently, I pushed for it. So. It's...complicated." His mouth opens, Jon's name on the tip of his tongue to offer what Grayson did to him was far worse by Chris' estimation, but he bites it back.
Even beyond the fact Jon clearly disagreed, his business was not Chris' to spread, not even to Hawke.
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One way or another, Hawke thinks with a harsh exhale through his nose, condensation misting for just a moment as he wrangles his anger over this having happened at all. And guilt, always on the heels of things even if he knows he couldn't have done a thing to prevent it. He hadn't even been here! But guilt isn't logic and he has to shove it under the proverbial rug with so many of the other things that spark it. In fact, none of that is helpful right now. The guilt, the anger, the vague doubts of motivations and boundaries that can't really be quantified because he doesn't have perfect knowledge of all parties. So he shoves it all under the rug, locking it away to be examined much later when his first priority doesn't need to be the man in front of him.
"This may be a very stupid question, but are you alright? Or are you going to be, at least?"
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It's confirmation enough to add to the burn of disgust and disdain that had bloomed in him at the discovery like a mold. The leading suggestion Chris hasn't been taking up with Grayson in any way sparks another little bit of shame in him, but easily managed. "I've not seen him for some time since we released him. Not in person."
What's more important is that sharp exhale. Hawke didn't need this. Chris hadn't been intending to tell him, it wasn't even the most recent thing to fall on the Cleric's plate, it was just the biggest and longest-lasting in terms of time. He shakes his head and purposefully does not take a drink before or after he answers: "I'm fine. Jon's been instrumental in helping in near every aspect and it's all but handled now."
He gives it another beat before he takes his sip and sets the glass on the floor before rolling over slightly to more lay in the chair rather than sit in it. "Your concern for me's sweet as ever, Hawke, but you've plenty else to mind and I'll not be another stone you've put on your back."
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