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singillppl2025-08-05 10:18 pm
singmod) wrote in singillppl2025-08-05 10:18 pm
Entry tags:
August 2025 Test Drive Meme
AUGUST 2025 TDM
PROMPT ONE — ARRIVAL: METHUSELAH'S FEAST: A new group of arrivals find themselves lost in the frozen wilds and vulnerable to the dangers of nature. With luck, they make it to the town of Milton, and to a friendly face offering food, warmth and shelter — and the current inhabitants, their fellow survivors.
PROMPT TWO — IN THE WOODS SOMEWHERE: Interlopers take a walk through the woods, and discover who they are as a person in this Quiet Apocalypse.
PROMPT THREE — BEACHED: A threat emergences from the sands of The Coast, threatening to drown Interlopers in a tarry grave.
ARRIVAL: METHUSELAH'S FEAST
WHEN: Mid-month.
WHERE: Milton, Milton Outskirts.
CONTENT WARNINGS: potential animal attacks, potential injuries, potential cold injuries/hyperthermia risk.
'You are the Interloper. You are not part of nature’s design.'
It’s the last thing you hear. A dark, deep voice. Impossibly ancient. You feel afraid. Maybe you’re dreaming, maybe you’re wide awake. You saw the lights, and then your world went dark. But you hear it in the blackness, you won’t forget those words.
These are the words of the Darkwalker, you’ll soon come to find.
You awaken. You are not where you were before. It’s different for everyone, there doesn’t seem to be much of a pattern in where you find yourself. You may open your eyes to find yourself in a cold, dim and dank cabin. The air is stale, dust hangs in the rays of weak sunlight that shine through the tiny windows. Someone lived here once, but they aren’t to be found. This place has been ransacked, abandoned long ago. It is quiet. The wood creaks around you.
Or perhaps you may awaken to find yourself shivering in the yawning maw of a cave, the freezing stone below you. Or maybe you’re unfortunate enough to sit up to find yourself lying in the snow, in the middle of the wilderness. Snow lies thick around you. It’s freezing out. You haven’t felt a cold like this before in your entire life. Cruel and biting. You have no idea where you are, and what’s worse — you are completely alone.
The sun is bright, enclosed in light fog. It is a strange kind of twilight.
You may feel different, too. Any powers or magics you may have feel... absent. Disconnected. Things that may not have affected you previously now do. Something in you has changed.
You know you can’t stay where you are. You’ll need to move, try to work out where you are and how you came to be here. So you walk, head out into the unknown, in hope of finding a trail or a road. You’ll find one soon enough. It’s here you may find someone else in the same boat as yourself, equally freezing and confused. You’ll both need to keep going. It won’t be easy. You hear howls of wolves around you, and the terrain is difficult: slips and falls are likely. You’re completely vulnerable out here in the open.
Or it’s possible you may come across someone else here. Someone who looks far better prepared to deal with the freezing cold and frozen landscape, out hunting or gathering. They’ll likely offer help and get you into town. However, for the unlucky ones who don’t come across anyone, you’ll carry on until you see it: the lazy trail of smoke rising in the air. Fire. Not just one, but several. Civilization...?
Follow it, and soon enough the way you’ve taken will certainly become a path or road. Unfolding before you in the mountainous forests, you’ll see the most welcome of sights: a small mining town tucked up in the valley. Battered, rusted road signs will direct to “MILTON, POP. 947”. You’re almost there, you keep going, and it looks like other people have had the same idea as you. In fact, you’ll hear the muffled sounds of life. People! In the town!
As you head into the outskirts and then further into town, you’ll find it’s a little easier to walk but the cold has gripped you hard. You’ll find the buildings, both shops and homes, some are dark and lifeless, some of them are boarded up, some of them are occupied. People are going about their business, or stood watching from their tiny porches of their small, timber homes. For a town this big, there doesn’t seem to be many people. Several dozen at most, but no more.
Towards the center of town, you’ll find the building from which the biggest of the smoke trail rises: a school-house of sorts, or some kind of community hall. Perhaps both. You’ll find more and more people all drawn to this place, each and every one of them in the same position as yourself (and your companion, if you’ve found one). Some are in worse states than others: some are bloodied, nursing bite wounds or cuts; others might have some other kind of injury sustained in the journey here from falls. Others may look as if they could faint from the cold at any second.
The door opens, and you’re greeted by the gnarled, wizened face of an elderly man, dressed in thick furs. He has a kind face. He smiles warmly, and with pity, ushering you in with haste.
“Ah. Once more, you poor souls come.” he nods gravely. No, this is not the first time that this has happened. “I am Methuselah. I welcome you, Newcomer, although I’m sorry for how you’ve come to find yourself here. You are not the only one, the lights are changing things. Come. Mother Nature has not been kind to you, but there are plenty here to help.”
The room is dim, lit only by natural daylight through the windows. A roaring fire sits at one end of the huge hall. It crackles, bright and cheerful... and warm. Even as big as this place is, the room is pleasantly warm. You’ll also find basic cots set up down one side of the hall, and while it seems there's a few people already living here, there's enough space for those in need of them. There's places to rest for a moment and get your bearings, or just trying to recover from the cold. Down the other side are tables and chairs, and long tables laden with food, drinks and bottled water similar to one might find at a soup kitchen. Once again, Methuselah offers a feast, aided by some of the other Interlopers.
There are canisters with hot herbal teas, mostly. But some coffee can be found. There’s also soup and stew and trays of charred deer and rabbit meats, plus some grilled fish. It’s very basic, but it’s hot and filling. A feast for those who have battled the cold to come here.
Methuselah will continue to busy himself, still; there is plenty to do. He will fetch blankets, tend to wounds, serve food and drinks — aided by a handful of others in the Hall. Your fellow survivors, but those who have been here for some time now. He does not have much time to talk. More and more people seem to be coming in from the cold. He will not stop to sit and rest until everyone is seen to, taking up a place by the fire to gaze silently into its flames.
He will encourage newcomers to get warm and eat, and when they are ready to — they can explore the town and find one of the many empty homes to call their own. He will not speak much, but gesture to your fellow survivors. They will have better answers than him.
IN THE WOODS SOMEWHERE
WHEN: The month of August.
WHERE: Everywhere…?
CONTENT WARNINGS: amnesia memory loss; skeletal remains of animals and humans; themes of honesty; themes of deep/thoughtful conversations/self-realisation; mention of eye-injury/body horror.
You do not remember falling asleep. You open your eyes to find yourself lying in the snowy undergrowth of a burned-out wood. The scent of charred trees hangs in the air, a little petrichor. The world is cold and empty and dead. The sky above you is a pale lavender-grey, a strange half-light gloom and a mist drifts around you. The stillness is not peaceful. Instead it feels like a sense of loss.
You do not remember your name. You do not know who you are.
There are only two things you do know: this is the ending of all things, and you must find out who you are.
When you look down, there are shapes in the snow and dead undergrowth. You reach for them, only to find the things you reach for— bones. Animal. Human. Scattered, half-bleached by the elements. You may be filled with horror, loud and jarring. You might be filled with sorrow. You might be filled with indignant and defiant rage. You might even be filled with something muted and quieter, something like resignation. Because, after all: this is the ending of all things.
You don’t recognise this place, nor do you know where you’re going but you still move forwards — picking any direction and hoping for the best. You trudge through the snow, looking for… answers. Even if you don’t know what those answers will be.
You find another, equally lost as you. Someone else who shares the same situation: not knowing they are and only knowing the same two things as you do. You walk for a while, trying to work it all out. But the woods are endless, and no matter which direction you head in, the burned and blackened trees never seem to thin.
Out of nowhere, a woman’s voice drifts through the trees: What kind of survivor are you?
The question settles on the air. You look at your companion, speechless for a moment. But if you take a little while, the words will come. The truth of yourself: what kind of survivor are you? And you’ll talk with your companion, talking about yourselves like it’s so new to you. You speak honestly. There are no lies here. You begin to remember a little more. A memory, an event, an instance. What kind of survivor you are. You will get your first answer.
Soon enough, another question will come: When you lost everything you knew and loved, how did you keep breathing?
Once again, the words will come. Between yourselves, you will answer and find the answer about yourself — speaking the words as if you are breathing life into your very existence. And more questions will come, giving you and your companion plenty to talk about.
The third question: Do you survive for yourself alone, revelling in the solitude? Or do you hunger for a connection, seeking out others?
The fourth: Do you settle into the silence, and embrace it? Or do you crawl into it whimpering and it crushes you?
The final question: Who are you and how will you face this Quiet Apocalypse?
You remember who you are now, don’t you? Your name. What kind of person you are, what shapes and guides you.
A woman stands before you in the woods. She is dressed in furs. She is gaunt, exhausted — her left side of her face is black and withered, her eye absent from the socket. Her other eye is blue and sad. She looks proud, and she smiles. This is Enola, the First Interloper.
“I see you.” she says softly.
With the blink of an eye, you are no longer in the woods but wherever you last remember being. Your companion is no longer with you, but you’ll find them again soon enough.
BEACHED
WHEN: The month of August
WHERE: Beaches/shorelines of The Coast, Silverpoint.
CONTENT WARNINGS:
The shorelines of the Northern Territories’ Coastal Region have been a boon to those who live there, thanks to the many opportunities for beachcombing and the occasional crates of random goods that will wash up on the shore from long-forgotten ships, along with regular fishing opportunities. However, in the month of August, there's a strange kind of emptiness to the beaches that even keeps some of the locals away. Interlopers who speak with Molly and Jace will be told that something about the beach creeps them out.
Jace in particular will mention that he has seen strange footprints in the sands made of tar. While he’ll point out where he’s seen them from a distance, he doesn't recommend Interlopers going to check it out. It’s bad vibes, and generally when that sort of thing goes down it’s best to stay away.
But he can't exactly stop anyone who wants to go see what the fuss is about.
Interlopers who go to explore the beaches will feel overcome with the strange sensation of hollowness; like something has clawed away at you from the inside. Some may describe it as a sense of sorrow or grief. Others might describe it as a strange kind of inner-disconnection. Some may describe it as a kind of stillness, the kind that comes after death, or standing in an empty room after someone has just left it.
The feeling is small at first but the longer an Interloper spends time on the beach, the bigger that feeling grows.
Interlopers who followed the footprints of tar in the sand after an extended period of time on the beach will notice that the footprints will actually be actively moving. You will see them being made in real time. Soon enough, the footprints will start to turn and walk towards the Interloper. They never hurry, but make a beeline at a steady pace — easy enough to outrun, but will catch the Interloper if they’re not careful enough. If the footprints catch up to them, they'll soon find out just exactly what is lurking within the sands.
Figures burst forth from the tar, writhing and scrambling towards you. A mass of several of them, a mob. The beings look human, but are twisted and distorted, and appear to be entirely made out of the tar. Their eyes are green and smoking, their hands are sharp and clawed. However, they’re extremely solid, as if they are a person after all. They hiss and shriek, trying to grab at you in hopes of pulling you down into the tar that pools and floods around them.
You can shake off one or two of them but let enough of them swamp you, and you’ll be dragged down into a tarry grave — never to be seen again.
The beings can be fought off — guns and bows can keep them back but won’t hurt them. Flames work well on them, too. If they manage to claw at you and draw blood, the blood itself will actually be harmful to them and they’ll cower away from even a few drops. Fighting them off will have them retreating back into the sands, leaving nothing but a pool of tar behind.
Leaving is also absolutely an option, if you can get off the sand itself and back onto land. The beings will not follow and seem to be stuck completely on the beaches.
But the experience will leave you feeling emotionally raw in the days that follow. Interlopers will be left feeling hollow, but spending time around others will have the feeling fading and you’ll feel like your usual self again.
FAQs
1. Arrival threads can be treated as game canon.
2. Items characters have brought from home can be found either strewn around them when they awaken, or in the community hall — as if someone left them out for them to collect. Methuselah will not know how they got there, and will be quite bemused by the happenings.
3. Reminder that all characters are now depowered upon arrival. They can choose not to notice it at first, or can immediately sense something is different about them.
4. If asked any personal questions, Methuselah will smile and say "Oh, you don't want to know about an old man like me. But I have lived all over in these parts for all my life." He will be more concerned with trying to help Newcomers, and is genuinely concerned for them and their well-being. Other Interlopers will say much of the same — there's little to know about him.
5. More information about Milton can be found here.
1. Interlopers are compelled to speak about themselves honestly — describing who they are as a person, using the questions provided. They can talk about canon experiences or simply share their own thoughts about themselves concerning the question.
2. While they will find bones, there is nothing else living in these woods. There will be nothing they will be able to glean from the bones.
1. While the claws are sharp enough to cut an Interloper, the beings aren't aiming to maim — they're simply trying to grab hold of the person to drag them down into the tar.
They would find each other in every universe
(And if Vincent's hallucinating? No different than their usual back home.)
Still wishes his lips could move a bit more, too damn cold to plaster a shit-eating grin on his face. Takes real effort to emote going against the wind. Instead, Vincent waddles through the snow as fast as his limbs will take him, practically shouting, waving his arms: ] Johnny, don't think we're in Kansas anymore! [ Actually, where the fuck is here? Oh God, is Johnny just wearing his usual SAMURAI wifebeater? Fuck, better hurry up to inspect him before he has to carry a popsicle indoors. Over his dead fucking body. ]
but of course~
If Johnny was an illusion, he would've vanished by now to cover the distance between them. Not trudge through all this godforsaken snow shivering his ass off. It's so fucking cold here that Johnny can hear his teeth chattering. It's pretty bad, but despite it all, he can't help but smirk as he inches closer and closer to V.]
Fuck Kansas! I think we're in fuckin' Canada or some shit.
[He laughs while trying his best not to fall into the snow. It's a bit slippery here, choom. Vince better have his snow boots on or something, because Johnny is slipping and sliding in these heeled boots. That is what he gets for trying so damn hard to look taller than what he really is.]
It's cold!
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Never mind, worry about the (lack of) passport later. Johnny is, in fact, wearing nothing but those ass-hugging leather pants, the SAMURAI wife-beater and the heeled boots. In comparison, Vincent's practically built for snow—a baggy jacket over a hoodie, a thick denim pants and combat leather boots, ninja scarf and fingerless gloves. The Let's Infiltrate Arasaka urban ninja fit. ] Come here. [ Wastes no time in seeking permission. Removes his jacket as quickly as possible, shoves Johnny underneath his hoodie, prays the threads will hold as he maneuvers its neck around Johnny's head. ] We look so fuckin' funny. [ Two men wearing the same hoodie, now a jacket too as Vincent puts that back on. ] Probably should just keep your arms tucked under the hoodie. Don't think we'll make the sleeves work. [ Biceps too big. Too tight a fit, restricts circulation.
And they still need to move. Civilization, if it exists out here. ] Don't the Canadians got moose-riding badges or whatever? Mounties? [ Horses? No way in hell would a horse survive out here.
Wait, scarf. Right. Wraps it around both of their necks and mouths. Close as they are, they can still hear each other through the cloth. ] So, uh, where to? 'Cause this ain't no desert, my nomad skills are useless here.
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I said I think we're in Canada, asshole. I actually have no idea where the fuck we're at.
[He laughs despite his teeth chattering. Johnny realizes he's seconds away from hypothermia at this moment. He can feel his mind become sluggish as the terrible cold bites down on him. Fortunately, Vince has a solution for that. He cuddles against Vincent's body after the man shoves him inside his hoodie. If Vinny had any concerns that Johnny was real, this would have dispelled them. Vince can probably feel Johnny's heartbeat thundering loudly within his chest. They're that close now.]
Yeah, no problem! I don't think I can wear you as a meat suit anymore, Vinny.
[He laughs while keeping his arms to his chest for now. His fingers are so cold that the joints are beginning to ache.]
The mounties would've found our dumbasses if they were around. After all, we're leavin' tracks in the snow. [He mutters while soaking up Vince's body heat.]
I think we're kind of fucked here. Unless we find someplace to warm up, we're as good as dead.
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Because they're not dying. After the gauntlet that was storming Arasaka, beating Smasher to a nub, Vincent refuses to be taken out by the elements. It's undignified. Accomplishing the impossible only to be taken out by the mundane? Not on his watch. ]
You smell good. [ Cigarettes, leather, musk. Could never smell Johnny before, bunch of zeroes and ones stuck deep in his cortex, ghost in the already occupied machine, uninvited but beloved tenant. Toned arms instinctively tighten around the rockerboy. ] That's not gonna happen. [ He reaches down, down, intertwining their fingers together, rubbing some warmth back into those digits. ] Take my gloves, Johnny. We're about the same size. [ Uncanny, really. The Relic can't be doing all the work.
He scans the horizon, past the tree lines. ] Wait. Look! Lights! [ Smoke too, from a chimney, if he had to guess. ] Oh, thank fuck. C'mon, Johnny. We beat Mikoshi, we can do this.
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I do? [Johnny asks while purposely inching a bit closer to V to get a good look at the man. A smile curls onto his lips as he stares into those familiar brown eyes for the first time since becoming the ominous voice in V's head. It feels good to be free despite the biting cold. He stares into Vince's eyes for a long while, completely forgetting that he lost his sunglasses somewhere within the snow.] That must be the booze talkin', Vinny.
But I would rather smell nice than smell like a fifty-year-old corpse.
[It's been fifty years, right? Johnny can barely keep track of what's going on at this point. How could he when he has Vinny's arms wrapped around his waist like this? Johnny lets out a slight sigh. He shouldn't be allowed to feel this happy, this enthralled. He almost wants to smack himself across the face.]
Keep the gloves on, choom. We can't have both of us freezin' our fingers off.
[Besides, he kind of likes how their fingers are entwined right now but something feels off. He wants to look down at Vincent's hand but gets sidetracked once he sees lights in the distance.]
We're better than this; fuck this snow!
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Ego death at the very least. ] Feel nice too. [ Holy shit. They're hugging. Touching.
Get it together, Vincent. We're in danger. He moves both forward slowly but with purpose. The faster he gets them to shelter the quicker they'll figure out what to do about these revelations, together.
Together. Holy fuck.
His fingers grip onto Johnny's the entirety of the arduous journey towards the light. Only a couple of minutes but might as well be an eternity. His grip loosens a couple of times to work some circulation back, but return soon after. Afraid that, if his hands let go for too long, Johnny with disappear.
No, he's not going through that again. It was hard enough to say goodbye to Johnny once, keep a straight face and nod in acceptance instead of crumbling to his feet, beg Alt to take them both through the Blackwall. What a horrible lesson it was to learn that, in the end, he didn't care about his dying body, that saving himself meant nothing if it took away the one person he cared for the most. ] Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. [ Through and past the center of town, the final steps up and across the schoolhouse's threshold, are the hardest. If people are staring Vincent doesn't give a shit. The warmth of the community center's heated interiors falls over them like a balm. He listens absentmindedly to the old man's greeting, not out of rudeness but concern for Johnny's state.
There's cots. Food. Survival. Inhales, exhales. They made it. They've alive. After everything—Konpeki, Mikoshi, this—they've made it.
It makes him want to cry. ] Should...should get you a blanket. Check you for frostbite. [ Full mother hen. Wife-like. ] Want some soup?
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Fucking hell…[He could barely focus nevertheless listen to Methuselah’s greeting. Johnny is so cold that he swears his bones are chattering. Of course they’re not but this coldness is bone deep making his joints ache like hell. Johnny isn’t built for this kind of weather as a Texan man. He’s used to the sunshine and heat of the Gulf of Mexico.]
J-Just give me a min. [He whispers, his voice coming out all distant and quiet.] I got pins and needles everywhere.
[Johnny is slowly defrosting.]
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So he doesn't waste time to snatch a blanket from the pile, throw it over Johnny, wrap his body and head gently. Hypothermia is heat exhaustion in reverse, right? Need to get warm liquids into him then.
Tea. Sugary tea, doesn't give a fuck what flavor. Yellow one, smells like chamomile. The stuff his mother used to give him whenever his stomach gave him trouble. ] Drink a bit of this then I'll lie you down, okay? [ Tips it over Johnny's lips, waiting for the go ahead. Doesn't want to burn him.
Vincent isn't feeling too hot himself. But he's not the priority right now. His clothing wasn't ideal, but it wasn't a death sentence the way Johnny's was. Once he's warmer, once he doesn't have to peel those leather pants off his legs, afraid he'll take off skin with it, he'll find him some sweatpants, a long-sleeved shirt. ]
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Yep, Johnny is definitely looking a bit paler. It's kind of funny considering his idea of tanning is turning into a lobster. Nevertheless, Johnny looks much paler than usual right now and feels so sluggish, like he's underwater. None of this stops him from worrying about V, though. That's why after he takes a few sips of this tea, he offers it back to Vince to drink.]
You gotta stay warm too, you gonk. [He mutters while trying his best not to slur his words together. Poor Johnny is completely out of it but be damned if he's not trying to wrap some of this blanket around Vince.]
C'mon, sit...sit down for a min. [He tugs Vincent down onto the cot so they can both rest.]
I'll fuckin' be okay.
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Not as good as how solid Johnny is against him despite the chill to his skin. ] It better fuckin' be! I, shit, I... [ Rubs at his face, frustrated with the low temperature acerbating the brain damage. Running on a single gigabyte of RAM, the words won't come, the emotions he's struggling with too complex. And words are futile devices. ] ...be so much fuckin' easier if you were still inside my head. Already lost you in Mikoshi once, not going through this shit again... [ His hand shakes, spilling a bit of the tea on himself. He hisses. ] I'll— I'll blow my brains out first.
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Nothin' is ever takin' me away from you again, so stop bitching.
[While his words might seem a little harsh, there's a clear hint of affection there. He holds Vincent close to him while trying his best to seem strong despite shuddering from the cold. Getting warmed up is going to be an arduous task but at least they're indoors now. The tea really did help warm up his insides a bit. Johnny doesn't feel like he's on death's door anymore.]
Who the hell are these guys? [He whispers while still holding Vince close.] We both know Good Samaritans don't exist.
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Sometimes you mix the past with the present and your happiness disappears. The fucking bhikkhu. He called it. Johnny is here. Who cares what happened in Mikoshi? Can't go back a single second. So stop wasting the ones he does have with the person he's pointlessly mourning.
Can't say a thing, choked up. Happiest he's ever felt, yet he's crying. It's alright though. Johnny might make a quip about it ("There you go again, you crybaby.") but it's fine. He's earned it. ] D-dunno. [ Voice reedy, wiping at the corner of his eyelids, shivering closer. Pushing them both to lie down on the cot, trying not to put too much of his weight on Johnny's shoulder. Skull might not be titanium anymore but he could still headbutt someone to death. ] Methuselah's like this immortal guy in the Bible. Thought we were in Purgatory. You know, think about all the bad shit you've done, toil your way to redemption? [ He swallows, inhales, exhales. ] Doesn't feel like a punishment with you here though.
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[Johnny grumbles while absentmindedly stroking Vincent's hair. He knew the tears were coming. Hell, Johnny could almost feel the exact moment when Vince shed a tear. He spent so much time trapped inside this man's head that he still feels his body all around him. It's kind of crazy, to be honest. Here is Johnny in the flesh again and yet he feels like he's still inside of Vincent. It's a weird sensation, one that Johnny can't seem to ignore.]
Unless we're toiling away together in this shitshow, then I don't care. [He grumbles while still stroking his fingers through Vincent's hair. It's as soothing to him as it is for Vinny here.] I don't give a damn what this immortal old fuck thinks about us.
I'm stickin' with you until the very end.
[The arm around Vinny's waist tightens a little--wait a minute. Johnny pauses as he stares down at his chrome fingers. Even though they're still chrome, something feels off. It's like his prosthetic arm lost its usual strength. That's probably due to the cold or maybe something else is wrong here.]
Hey, V. [He whispers to him.] Can you do a diagnostics?
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This, right here, is all he ever wanted—to touch Johnny, be touched by him. Months of learning about each other, every thought, belief, desire, the deepest, darkest crevices of each other's souls. But they couldn't touch at all, two beasts caged yet facing each other every waking second.
It was torture. Vincent's body feels friable by how much power Johnny's caress holds over him, every fiber in his being thrumming with unspent energy. I'm stickin' with you until the very end. As if either of them have a choice in the matter anymore. They're two halves of the same soul now. Cannot be separated.
He's too busy trying to nuzzle into Johnny's shoulder to hear the question at first. ] Umm... [ No, he can't. Not a damn thing comes up when he attempts to boot up the software. ] I can't do dick. They fucked with our chrome. I'm as flesh and blood as they day my mom brought me into this world kickin' and screamin'.
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Something is off with me too. I feel alive but...different.
[It's not being that different is a bad thing. However, the idea of Vincent being all squishy and organic again kind of worries him. The man curled up in his arms was like a virtual wrecking ball of expensive cyberware and augments that would make a Militech ranger blush. Now knowing that Vincent is just human again makes Johnny feel even more overprotective than usual.]
I guess that means no headbutting people to death and trying to rip their arms, huh? [He can't help but smirk a little.]
Let's play it safe, got it?
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The majority of their society traded the frailty of the flesh for the immortality of the machine, saw it as a worthy gamble and said to hell with it. Those who did not did it largely for religious reasons, citing cyberpsychosis, the defilement of god's divine plan, and other, similar arguments.
Ever since childhood Vincent's been drawn towards the stubborn, those who go against the status quo. Iconoclasts. His people are such a group, but the lamenters of the evils of chrome always seem so much more out there.
Yet, sitting here wrapped around Johnny, having his hair played with by Johnny, Vincent's starting to see their side. ]
Fuck, Johnny. I'm gonna miss rippin' people's arms off, beatin' them to death with 'em. [ He chortles. The gratuitous violence wasn't a deliberate choice, more a meandering path he took once his Berserk OS kicked in. It was, in many ways, a last resort—the invulnerability and uncontrollable rage it brought was an oh shit button to stay alive no matter what. But Vincent gave people plenty of outs before picking that nuclear option.
Just a shame Night City runs on nuclear options. So many people, so many ways to die.] Okay. [ They'll have to. They're now blessedly, scarily human. ]
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I don't feel invincible anymore, you know? Then again, I was never fucking invincible.
[That prompts another sigh. Johnny is beginning to miss the days when he was high off his ass and firing his gun into the air like a John Wayne reject. At the very least, he used to feel invincible. Johnny was on top of the world back then, with scores of people continually falling at his feet. It all feels like a distant dream to him now, another life he's left behind.]
Yeah, we're both gonna miss seeing you rip people's arms off. [He muses aloud with a faint chuckle.] But maybe, this time, there won't be any need for all that.
[This isn't Night City, after all. There's no need for that kind of violence here, from what he can tell. While Johnny doesn't trust that old man from earlier, he doesn't feel like they're in immediate danger right now. If push comes to shove, Johnny is going to do his damnest to protect Vince. Until then, maybe the two of them could relax a bit.]
Also, I want you to eat somethin' later, okay? [He stares down at Vincent expectantly, as if daring the man to say anything but 'Yes'.] You haven't had a good meal in a long time, Vinny.
Besides that scoop shit.
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[ Doesn't need to be invincible, not anymore. They got each other. After beating Arasaka in their own home turf, impossible not to feel like there's nothing they can't accomplish together.
And this place is no Arasaka, no Night City. If the only danger it can throw at them is the environment itself and the strange beasts it spawns then, well, fuck... they're both nomads. They're good at this. Nothing they can't handle.
Johnny's no ghost now too. He's flesh and blood. Other people can see him, interact with him. Vincent imagines it must feel like a breath of air, breaching the surface after being underwater for so long.
Vincent's right hand intertwines with Johnny's left, still silver. Kisses the knuckles there one by one. ] I'm okay with that. Got you now, out here. Don't need to fight for the both of us no more. [ Not that Vincent ever minded. It was still an equivalent exchange.
But now it'll be a different equivalent exchange. One that's more tactile, present. It's overwhelming to think about. ]
Okay, mami. [ Better to slip into their usual—giving each other shit. ] And not leave a bite on the plate, or you're gonna ground me?
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I think we won, Vince. [He murmurs, idly nuzzling his lips against Vincent's ear. His lips are scratchy here and there due to frostbite, yet they must feel nice on the outer shell of Vinny's ears.] We may not have won the lotto or anything, but we definitely won our freedom from that fuckin' city.
[While Night City certainly has its own beauty, Johnny always viewed it like a cage. He felt like a wild beast constantly gnawing at its cage. He should've left that damn city when Samurai disbanded. There was no reason for him to stay but he did. He stayed for the sake of his revenge...for Alt.
But now he's free. Fifty fucking years later, Johnny Silverhand is finally free.]
Whatcha doin', you gonk? [He asks in an endearing tone after Vinny begins kissing the knuckles of his metal hand. Even though he can't feel anything, witnessing Vinny kiss his prosthetic hand made his heart melt.] Yeah, I'm not lettin' you carry the load anymore.
I gotta earn my keep, you know? [He gives Vince's hand a very gentle squeeze using his prosthetic.]
Mami? [That definitely got Johnny's eyes rolling.] Yeah, Chente, you better eat all your damn food or else you're grounded for a week.
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It was only fair he wouldn't get to enjoy the spoils of his vendetta. It was just. ] We really did, Johnny. We burned bright and we got to walk away. No happy endings in Night City, not for people like us—that's what you said. But... [ He chokes up for a second, the rough skin of Johnny's lips, his hot breath on his ear, pulling him away. ] ...think this is the closest we can get. Think this is better.
[ Doesn't care what Johnny says. Starts trailing kisses down his palm, the mechanic wrist. ] Can finally grab the world by the short hairs. Again. [ SAMURAI changed the world. Johnny could change this one too, Vincent knows.
From anyone else that nickname would grate. It's too childish (Vicente said in a babyish Spanish accent, Vi-chente), too intimate. Hasn't been used since his mother died. But from Johnny? It only makes Vincent's heart skip a beat. ] You can't ground me. I'm a grown man! 'Sides, if anyone's the mom here it's me.