sixthiteration | Test Drive 21 (October & November)

→ Holds and applications are always open. Holds are required for all applications.

→ Choose one of the scenarios below or make up your own. Feel free to try multiple scenarios.

→ Write LOGS or TEXT prompts, or both.

→ THERE ARE ONLY THREE RULES FOR THE TDM:

1. It has to take place in the 6I universe.
2. It cannot be the character's arrival into the game.
3. Please only test new characters who do not have a version in the game. Our cast list is here.

→ TDM threads cannot be used to meet AC, but if the character is accepted into the game and both players agree, you may keep the CR.

→ Character want ads are here.

Prompts

STAYING POWER - Go down to the bunker, they said. You can get yourself amazing powers from the vending machine, they said. Well, you've done that, and you've made your choice, but one thing nobody told you was that unless it's a power you're familiar with, you might be on a teensy bit of a learning curve when it comes to keeping it under control. You have a week to figure it out without killing anyone; have fun!

FORGIVE AND... - You poor thing, you've gotten into some dust moths. Not that you can remember that, because depending on how big that swarm was and how quickly you got out of it, you might not remember much at all. Better hope somebody's got some Forget Me Nots on hand.

HIT & RUN - Life in the village can be pretty sleepy... until suddenly, it's not. Were you being a troublemaker? Were you disturbing the local wildlife? Because it's now disturbing you, chasing you down the street in front of everyone. Maybe it's a herd of chupapaca or a swarm of fireflies. Or maybe you went old school and it's just a really pissed off badger. Godspeed and good luck.

WILDCARD - Choose your own adventure. Maybe play powers roulette.

Texts

All characters are fitted with a smart watch-like device on their left wrist, which they can use to send text messages to other villagers.

- Texts may only be 140 characters long
- No video or voice, text only
- Display names may be changed by characters on the fly, but anyone can tap to see someone's real full name

Please list your CHARACTER NAME, CANON & PROMPT in your SUBJECT LINE.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Even the thrill of his name toyed with by that mouth doesn't do much for the way his stomach gets weird at that. He goes and gets lost for a year, and Vasquez isn't just messing around with men, but got himself some boyfriend. A boyfriend who...

"What kinda name is Bobo?" Yeah, because that's the proper answer in that moment. "Ain't that something in your language like all those names you call me?" He glances back at him, not wanting him to see his expression too much. What kind of dumbass fool gets himself upset over a man that isn't likely to be interested in the same things Faraday's gotten into his head.

That's what he gets for thinking that someone giving back as good as they got felt the same. Not that he'd felt this way about another man, so maybe he's just let his head get all twisted up for nothing. Or maybe that's what happens when you disappear for a year.

"I don't know, I don't ask. What kind of name is Goodnight or Red Harvest? I just assume you're all strange," is what Vasquez says dismissively, oblivious to Faraday reacting to the comment in a bad way, mostly because he's just not thinking that he cares at all.

If he cared, he'd have replied to Vasquez's come-ons, wouldn't he have?

"You can ask him when you see him. You're staying with me, aren't you?" he asks it like he's not entirely sure if that's going to happen, but he wants it to, he desperately wants to be able to have Faraday near to him, especially after he'd lost him and was looking at a stretch of never seeing him again. "I don't call you too many names. Just the few," he adds.

"Don't insult him too much, maybe he'll take a liking to you, even, let you stay," he jokes.

"You can't go judging on Indian names," he points out, because that's obviously the important point there. "And yeah. I guess so. Place is weird, and you're not. Not like this," he says, finding more important things. Especially as Vasquez goes on, the important part becomes clear very quickly.

"Wait. Wait. Wait." He waves his hands about, frowning and so confused because he can't have this right. It can't be.

"You're living with this Bobo?" Because that's what he gets from staying with Vasquez and being allowed to stay. "So what? If your friend doesn't like me, I'm going to be thrown out? We fought together. Back to back."

Oh yes, that is important to him. Not just in being there for one another, but Vasquez was someone he trusts. He was there with him, thought he was there for him. And some ... some Bobo is just going to get him thrown out?

Vasquez shrugs, like he doesn't give a shit what he says about the Comanches (Red's not here to kill him, after all), but still, "Goodnight?" he reiterates with a disbelieving look, because fine, the Indians can have weird names, but Goodnight is not normal.

"Sure, I'm staying with him for warmth, but I have my own bedroom," he says. "And there's a third one, so you're coming with me," Vasquez insists, opening the door to the inn to head up to the room he's temporarily been in to fetch some cigarettes and a jacket. "You don't get rid of me that easily, querido."

"No, Goodnight was not weird," he says. "Now Billy calling him Goody? I mean, not surprised that Billy's the husband there but..." But come on. Goody is a girl's name. A woman's name. Historically even.

And he's cranky now and unhappy. More than that, he's angry at himself for caring. Not about Goody and Billy, but about Vasquez and... Bobo.

"Where the hell did you get the idea I was trying to get away. Way I see it, you're the one that walked away for a year." Which is cruel, since he doesn't know that Vasquez had no choice, and had gone through hell because of it. "But sure. Fine. That works for me." Because that's the only choice there is. He's not giving up Vasquez. This is his call.

Vasquez raises a brow, because he'd noticed that Goodnight and Billy had been too close, but he hadn't expected that to be something that Faraday had seen too. How is it that Faraday could see that, but not the way that Vasquez kept flirting with him? That's what he wants to know.

"I didn't walk anywhere," he says, annoyed. "I stayed for the whole battle, I fought it, and then I rode off before I got here. Pendejo," he mutters under his breath, like he needs to get that frustration out. "Here," he says, handing him a cigarette. "Smoke that, maybe it will make you nicer."

Because he doesn't expect the one man he's ever wanted to like him to notice him. He just never thought it was something that happened to him. Course it happens with an Oriental and someone like Goodnight. Not him. Definitely not some masculine Mexican like Vasquez.

He tenses then though, because for as far as he knows he was not there. He ran. Even though he knows there's something not right about it all, but what he knows and has not experienced, it makes him suspicious of what he did. Or didn't do. And more than that, hateful that he's being taunted for it... even if he knows he's not. He doesn't think so, anyway. Not after that look from Vasquez before.

He takes the cigarette, but he doesn't light it. He doesn't ask for a match. Just walking, not able to find words that usually come so easy to him.

"I need clothes."

It's all he says, hating these night clothes even more now.

Digging into his things once he has the cigarette, he goes for the linen shirt next. He's had two of them, now, so he supposes that he can lend one out to Faraday. He gives over the one that has the embroidery all the way down the sides of it, making it a little like a vest.

Also, it's less giving and more throwing. "I'm not giving you pants, you'll stretch those too much," he says dismissively. "Your shoulders will still make that pull, but I don't mind a shirt too big," he says, before digging out the next most important thing, grinning as he unearths the whiskey.

"See, I knew I had this. Let's have some fun."

Putting the unlit cigarette in his mouth, he takes the shirt and looks over it. Twisting it this way and that, nodding. "That works. Good. Okay then," he says, figuring this can't be too bad.

Until the comment about pants.

"What? It ain't my fault you are built like a twig," he says, having checked him out often enough to know just how long and lean those legs are. "How am I supposed to walk around in this underwear?"

Making a face, not at all happy about that. Then he sees the bottle. He's coping without alcohol, hasn't been here long enough to get over his addiction and seeing that bottle makes his heart leap and his gut twist.

"Fucking hell, why didn't you start there."

And he might be revealing part of what is bothering him, why he's so grumpy in this place.

He's not built like a twig. He's still got some meat on his bones and he's muscled and lean, even if he goes more up and down than anywhere side to side, but since when is Faraday going to listen to any of this? "And maybe I started with it last because I only have two bottles, if you drink it all now, then I'll have none."

And while he prefers smoking to alcohol, he's not so generous to Faraday that he wants to see it gone, no matter what he feels about the man.

"Go easy," he insists. "Or I'm not taking you to come live with me."

Faraday is smirking at him as he sets down the bottle, mostly to hide the shaking in his hand. Pulling off the scrub shit, wanting to put on something he knows he'll be more comfortable in. He's quiet a minute, thinking about that when he talks about only have two bottles.

"You might want to take that back then." He shifts, looking away and then looking back at Vasquez. "I haven't had a drink since I got here. I... You know how long before that I went without a drink?" Because he can't remember. A few hours? Maybe. That's it. Overnight because he's asleep? "I start now, I'm not giving that back."

Which might explain how much of an asshole he's being, though it is perhaps the nicest thing he's done in warning Vasquez before he drinks it all.

Vasquez takes his fair share of a look, even though he finds himself feeling guilty and forced to look away, not because he feels improper, but because he's expecting to see scars and wounds there that don't exist. This isn't the same Faraday, thank god, but he's not going to see him without expecting that anytime soon.

His breath is still shaky, all that skin on display and his mind thinking about all the ways he could touch the other man circling through his head. "Fine, you get to have that bottle of whiskey, but no complaining when it's gone."

As if Faraday could ever stop complaining, which is a ridiculous idea. "Are you going to start here or are we going to our house?"

In truth, he doesn't even think about it in that moment. Just thankful to have that weirdly cut and oddly shaped shirt off and into something that feels familiar. Even if as he pulls it on he smells sweat and smoke and something that had become, in such a short time, entirely familiar to him. It was Vasquez, close and yet not close at the same time, nut there's something to it that's primal and sexy to him. Which leaves him uncertain and confused. It's not how he should feel as he slides into that shirt, tugging it down as his hands smooth over the fabric.

"Take it's not laundry day."

Because that's what you say when you're reacting rather than acting, standing there and just letting that scent surround him.

"I..." He frowns at that though, not sure what he expects, but glad to hear it. Enough so to unscrew the lid and take a deep swallow.

His fingers grip the neck of the bottle until his knuckles are white. Aching to take another drink, to chug until it's gone and the world is spinning and everything is hazy. Instead he screws the cap back on.

Vasquez has to stop thinking about how much he likes seeing Faraday in his shirt, because it's probably not something he'll get to see very often. Shrugging, he doesn't feel guilty about the shirt smelling because, "You don't want to wear it, you can give it back to me." Somehow, he doesn't think that will happen with the temperature outside.

Maybe in the summer, Faraday will walk around more with nothing on, but a man can only hope.

He watches Faraday enjoy the bottle, lighting his cigarette as he does, digging out the half-drank bottle of tequila and gesturing with it. "Come on, let's go start the walk. It takes a while to get there."

"Yeah, no, seems to be mine now," he says, smirking at him as he runs his hands down it, imagining for a moment how that would feel along Vasquez's chest and not his own.

He may not be ready to admit it, and in his mind he never will be, but he's glad for these moments still. He's been positive after the battle they'd never happen again. One way or another.

His eyes stay closed for a long moment, feeling it hit his system. Feeling it spread as he lifts the bottle and takes one more, smaller, drink. Just enough to take the edge off how tight he feels wound, how empty his veins feel. How sober the world is. That's the hardest part for him.

"Okay then. Sure. Lead on," he says, holding tight to the bottle and shifting to try and take the lit smoke from Vasquez.

Vasquez feels his heart thumping in his chest to watch Faraday touch himself like this, reaching out to adjust the collar, which is more that he wants an excuse to get his hands on the man and this seems like the perfect opportunity. Sliding his fingers just around his neck, he pulls them away, feeling everything in him start and stop.

Lucky, then, that Faraday tries to get his cigarette and Vasquez can focus on dodging him, hurrying down the stairs to put some distance between them, not wanting to admit to wanting to touch more like that. "Keep drinking, it will keep you warm. And I think maybe Bobo has more at our place."

Joshua goes still at that touch, wanting him to keep adjusting so much. Blinking rapidly, surrounded by the way that Vasquez smells, the richness of smoke and the tang of masculinity that was about not bathing in their time but known and recognized as that.

He's so close in that moment and wanting him to stay there, moving in that little bit closer.

He snorts though as he moves away, feeling the coolness that comes with that. Rolling his eyes at that, finding it easy to focus on the boyfriend and his dislike there.

"That is the dumbest fucking name."

"He probably thinks your name is stupid, too," is Vasquez's uncaring reply, seeing as he doesn't need to sit here and let two white men bicker at each other and for him to care about it. No, all that he cares is that he's going to have Faraday safe and under his roof.

Bobo will also be there. This is going to get complicated for him, he thinks, but he'll hopefully be able to manage. Inhaling his cigarette and setting it aside, he keeps close to Faraday as they walk, just like he would have in Rose Creek.

"Why do you think I call you guero," he teases.

"I'll see how much I care," he says, giving in and taking another drink from that bottle. Yet he is trying to be careful, thinking about how bad things have hurt since he came up out of that fountain, and how much he isn't ready to run out and be back in that same situation. Maybe he can nurse it along so that it doesn't get too bad. At least for a while.

"Because you like me," he says, tones flat though so there's a chance that he doesn't believe that. Not in the way that those words might imply.

Vasquez stares at Faraday for a very long moment and wonders how much truth he should be saying. In the end, he decides to be as honest as he can be, and shrugs, casual as you like. "Maybe I do," is all he replies, because he likes Faraday too much and he knows that, but that doesn't mean he has to say it out loud.

"Come on, the house is almost here. I'll leave you two to talk while I get some sleep," he insists.

Maybe I do?

Faraday stood there, gaping and confused. It has to be a stunt, right? Has to be Vasquez playing with him.

Blinking, he just nods, moving to start heading towards the house. He has to be taking those words wrong, especially since Vasquez told Joshua he has a boyfriend. Which is odd enough to admit. Even Goodnight and Billy use partners and all. So he has to be reading something wrong here, all the way around.

Especially about those words.

He doesn't even realize Faraday isn't beside him until he's taken another few long strides and suddenly the weight at his elbow is gone. Annoyed, he gives Faraday a look and clucks his tongue at him like he's an errant horse who needs to be told to come along.

"Well? What are you waiting for, more invitations?" he asks, scowling, trying to pass off the part where he'd said he liked Faraday. "Or I'll invite another dirty guerito into my home."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Test Drive 21 (October & November)

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