spherememing | December Test Drive Meme.

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A new day has come.

So unlike many other places, the Sphere doesn’t celebrate New Years on New Year’s Eve. Instead they celebrate it in s three day festival commencing on January first to the third. The festival starts on the first at dawn with people waking up early to watch the first unofficial sunrise in the Sphere. Unlike most other days, this sunrise is universal, moving into each of the domes and filling them with such a bright light that it looks like an idealized version of a bright summer’s day. Groups of people join together to watch it in the dormitory dorms as well as in several public areas. The agriculture dome and the recreational domes are popular places for such activities and there are several places where there appear to be flowers blooming and almost the sound of birdsong.

Also in the more public places, there are large tables filled up with what seems to be a standard light breakfast of fruit, cheese and various loaves of bread, including a particular loaf of bread that everyone is given either in their attendance or in the dome itself. It’s a circular loaf with nuts on it that’s perfect for sharing. Indeed people keep trying to share a piece with the characters around them.

One thing that’s missing though? None of the places seem to have any sort of caffeine in any form. If questioned about it, someone knowledgeable will respond: “you can’t have caffeine until the sun sets!” The words come with a good natured laugh and characters are then handed a glass of fruit juice.

Out with the old and in with the new.

As the sun is about to set on the first day, crowds gather in the rec dome. There in the middle of the area there’s a large bonfire set up. The smoke billows up towards the top of the dome before it disappears. People gathered around the fires are throwing old possessions into it, some of which are their own and some of them are the possessions of the people who had left. The idea is to unburden yourself of things to face the new year with a clean slate.

There are smaller fires around, and they burn different colors with the smoke being sweet smelling and light. Some people show the newcomers how to gather the smoke in their hands and release it over their heads, in order to clear out dark thoughts and whatever is troubling people. The smoke gives people a slight feeling of euphoria, and makes them feel as if whatever is happening isn’t quite as bad as they think it is.

And we’re dancing through life.

On the second day, the public domes are fairly dead. The merchant dome is closed and only a few restaurants are open, and only those are for delivery. The entire city almost seems to be holding their breath and waiting for something. When the clock turns to eight pm, it’s almost as if the entire city is lit in a combination of stars and candlelight. In the gardens in the Rec dome, a large ball has been set up. Everyone in the city has been given their ideal fancy dress outfit, including mask in order to wear to it. The idea behind it is that the characters are in the middle of their transitional state. Day one was the day they put their old life behind them, and day three will be the day that they form their new selves for the year ahead. Which is why at the ball, people wear masks and have the option to give into some of the things that they wouldn’t normally do.

Wanna eat that there whole pint of ice cream? Go nuts. Wanna drink a bottle of vodka? Hey it’s your liver and it’s not like you can die! Wanna hook up in a dark corner with a stranger. It’s your life and there’s some nice velvet couches over there; out of sight and out of mind.

Dinner is in the form of an elaborate meal, sort of along the idea of Fat Tuesday in New Orleans, no expense is spared and everything is extremely well done and extravagant. Rich food, insane desserts, open bar, everything this night is too excess. At various points in the evening, the sky which has been showing stars shifts into things like fireworks, and glowy nebuleuses, causing people to burst into spontaneous bouts of applause.

All the while, there are various and shifting dance floors with an assortment of music to dance to, including classical, swing, fiddles, big band, pop, R&B, and basically anything that you can think of. The dances that people do there are as varied as the population, the drunkenness level and of course the all important dances of people's native Caucasia.

The party goes until dawn, at which point, the drunken releveries spill onto the streets, and people return to their personal domes singing loudly and off key.

...Is that… a squirrel?

For anyone who has been in the Sphere for any sort of length of time, one thing has stood out: there are no living creatures within the Sphere other than the people themselves. All of the meat has been generated versus harvested, and there’s not even bugs involved. Of course, all of that changes when there’s suddenly a random black squirrel darting in among the trees of the park in the recreational dome. It’s not frightened of people for the most part, unless someone tries to touch it. Then you better hope to god you’re a bard or you’ve got some ranks in handle animal, but this thing does not want to be touched.

Yeah, people who make the effort are going to get bitten or scratched. Yeah, that kinda looks infected. You may wanna see someone about it. Or hope really hard. But either way, at least the clinic is there for you.

Wildcard
Choose your own adventure. Some suggestions: network posts, roommates meeting, before the party, randomly interacting with shops or restaurants, trying to find a job, etc. Go nuts.

Inspiration images

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Seregil wasn't trying to let Alec win. The man needed to learn to gamble properly, and Seregil had always been the competitive sort, so the win came as a bit of a surprise. Not moreso than the question that Alec asked. As far as Seregil knew there wasn't a single person who knew about his past or his family that would dare utter a word of it to anyone. Especially not to Alec. And yet ... Alec had mentioned exactly that. A past that he took great care not to bring up, not to remember.

For once the schooling that he had worked so hard to perfect failed him and the ghost of the old wound crossed his face. Without ceremony he removed his glove and tossed it to the side.

"I have to wonder what sort of teachings I've given you to cause such odd questioning." He slid another piece into play.

"You'll see them again."

Alec didn't need their bond to know he'd hit a nerve with that question. A nerve he hadn't even thought to hit. He wasn't used to Seregil being this cagey anymore; he'd been, once upon a time, but they'd been long for those days.

All Alec could offer was a small smile and a quick apologetic squeeze to Seregil's hand. He didn't linger in the action though, more aware now of Seregil's comfort level (or lack thereof). It was a comforting reminder, in a way; they'd come so far -- apart and together -- since they'd met.

Predictably, with Alec's thoughts so far-flung, the next hand went to Seregil again.

Seregil knew that Alec was trying to be reassuring, which was most likely the reason why it had the opposite effect. As aware of the situation as he was before, Alec had put it in an even more stark perspective with that question.

Alec knew him. Not just the parts that Seregil wanted him to know, but the parts he'd locked deep inside himself and refused to tell anyone. He knew of his family, which most likely meant that he knew of his crime and the reason for his exile. Knew of Ilar, and possibly Korathan as well. Apparently, though, he didn't know of the more intimate parts of his childhood; the things that were even deeper than the betrayal. The things that would kill him if he let them come to light. Burying them was the only way he could keep going. Keep moving with barely a word from those he loved the most.

Winning the hand was surprising to him. He hadn't been paying as much attention as he should have to the game, instead, ruminating on the situation at hand. There was only one question he had, and it came out with no hesitation at all. To hell with his not wanting to know about the future, there was something far more important here that he needed to get onto even ground with.

"How much do you know about me? About my past?"

"I know what you've told me. And you've told me a great deal.

"Our first trip to Aurenen was challenging, at best. I had to know why you'd been banished, or I couldn't very well navigate the waters. And I know that's painful for you now, I'm sorry I didn't realize that it would be."

That was all Seregil would need to hear, Alec was sure of it. He didn't need to hear about what came after, about the necromancer and their stint with slavery, about Ilar betraying and deceiving them both. This was too much for Seregil already, and Alec hardly wanted to upset him further. Wagering secrets, what an idea...

"Your banishment was lifted, after our work there. Adzriel is still working to restore your name, but we're allowed to return now. To visit."

None of what Alec was saying seemed plausable. Him, going to Aurenen? There was no way they would allow it, and there was no way he'd allow Alec to join him there if they did. The humiliation and pain would have been far too strong for him to bear by himself, let alone with an apprentice that he'd have to keep his emotions and face schooled around whenever they were together. It would have been more than he could handle.

The idea that Adzriel was still working to bring him home was less insane. If pressed, he'd say that she was the one who loved him the most, but there was no way that the Iia'sidra woud remove his sentince.

"You realize how unbelievable everything you've just said is?" Even so he slid another piece into play.

Alec couldn't help a derisive snort, and he shook his head slowly. Because truly, after all they'd been through, their affairs in Aurenen were the far from unbelievable. Hell, when Alec looked back at their journeys and misadventures, Aurenen seemed tame by comparison.

"That's not the half of it."

When Alec spoke, Seregil could practically see the weight of it on his face. Weary, perhaps a bit guilty, because a great deal of their hardships were owed to Alec alone. Not directly, of course; not by his own doing or willingness. But Seregil had more than repaid whatever debt he thought he owed for Alec's dragging him across the continent.

But Alec was distraught now. Even if he managed to school his face, his thoughts were scattered, and that did his strategy no favors. The next hand went to Seregil again.

There was something there, a solemnness that Seregil couldn't put the finger on. Then again, he didn't exactly know what his future held (except that he would one day be able to see his family again, and with Alec in tow). So instead, he concentrated on the game at hand.

The win itself felt rather cheap given the mood that Alec seemed to have put himself in, and there was a part of him that thought perhaps it was high time they stopped.

"This should be the last round, I think." His face was a grim line. No matter how much he felt that he couldn't give Alec the lover he longed for, the man was still dear to him. He wasn't about to continue something that would only hurt them both in the end. Gambling and secrets weren't worth that kind of price.

"With only your gloves missing?" Alec asked.

But Seregil was right. This was upsetting the man far more than anticipated, and Alec didn't have the heart to keep subjecting Seregil to information that would vex him.

"I'm sorry," Alec sighed. "I didn't mean to upset you. But I respect you too much to lie to you. You deserve the truth, always. And we don't need a bakshi game for it. If there's anything you want to know, you're welcome to ask. If not, I understand. I'm certainly not going to force it on you."

And that was all. He had to remind himself of that, bite his tongue against the urge to press on about their journeys in Aurenen. Alec held them dear in his own heart, but Seregil was clearly in no place to discuss the matter.

"Can I make it up to you somehow?"

Seregil reached over, resting a hand on his friend. The fact that he'd made Alec feel guilty about telling him the truth created a lump in his heart. Lies and deceit, at least to those one cared for the most, were not the things he wanted the man to learn.

"Never be sorry for telling me the truth. I'll always do the same for you." It was a promise, and one he felt that he had - or would- say in their shared future. Even so, it was his honest feelings.

As if connecting completely though the whole situation, he waved a hand lightly. "There's nothing to make up. Although we could play, as awful as the idea is, without betting." He was fairly sure that Iilor would strike him down for saying that. What good gambler played gambling games without betting at least something.

December Test Drive Meme.

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