TEST DRIVE MEME #1

[cursedmods]

TEST DRIVE MEME #1

A Blood Offering

---

You wake up cozy in bed at the Saturn Motel. As you observe the room you may realize that it looks a little dated. Or, perhaps from your point of view the lamp and TV are wildly futuristic. Or, like Goldilocks, it may seem just right: close to the world you just left behind. Either way, you just had a very strange dream (see the arrival scenario) and now you're here. And you're not alone: there's a bed next to yours and someone else is waking up just like you are.

You can chat for a while if you like, but if you try to leave you'll find the door is firmly locked and no amount of kicking, punching, or hitting it with an object will do you any good. Instead, there's a letter on the nightstand which reads:

"Good morning and welcome to your new home!

You may be wondering why you're trapped in this room. Fear not, the door will open easily if you offer a bit of blood. More than a few drops but not enough to be a serious wound. A handprint's worth will do, let's say, and it only needs to come from one of you.

I'll let you sort that out yourselves. See you on the other side.

Sincerely,
The Mayor"

And indeed, a handprint's worth of blood pressed against the door will unlock it and let you out into the world. Do you volunteer your own blood? Do you take it from the other person by force? It's up to you! But there's no food in here, so you better figure it out eventually.

Roller Rink

---

As a celebration of your new lives here (and an apology for the whole blood offering thing - they were just testing something out, really) the Mayor has invited everyone to the Crazy Eight Roller Rink for a private, after-hours party.

Attendance isn't mandatory, but it is heavily encouraged so that you can meet your fellow Cursed and know who's in on the whole secret. It'll help you down the line at some point if your Curse gets out of control and you need someone to wrangle you.

As a reward, everyone who shows up and completes at least one lap around the roller rink (you must be wearing skates, but you can crawl the lap if you can't get the hang of them) will receive a free walkman with a mystery tape inside. The color, style, and mystery tape your character gets are up to you.

Mallrats

---

Everyone loves the mall! Right? Right! And this group of newcomers is lucky enough to be here for the White Pines Mall Grand Opening celebration! Feel free to walk around the mall and partake in sales galore, check out the attractions, or just get to know the layout of the place.

The Mayor has given everyone a gift card for $100 that can be used anywhere in the mall as long as they attend the Grand Opening.

They also strongly suggest that you familiarize yourself with the mall and its layout, just in case you ever get stuck there for a while and have to compete with others for food and resources. But that probably won't happen.

Extra Info

---

The test drive meme and the IC intro log will have the same prompts, and threads between two accepted characters can count as game canon.

The first prompt is flexible: technically you're supposed to be with one other person, but if you want to do larger groups that's fine.

Rooms at the Saturn Motel initially contain two beds for the prompt, but upon leaving and returning characters will find that they all have their own rooms with one bed. If you want a roommate, someone better be ready to sleep on the floor or snuggle up! The room doesn't have to look exactly like the reference image as long as it's not too fancy and suitably dated.

Comments

stede bonnet | our flag means death

[funhinged]

blood offering.

[ "Dated" is indeed all a matter of perspective. Stede does not have that perspective. He's a man of particular tastes and also from the 1700s, so he's kind of merely trying to survive right now. Like any weird little man in full aristocratic ensemble and heels with bows on them. Mostly in the sense that he's pretty sure this is either an extensive horrific nightmare he's having or that he's somehow completely gone round the bend into a full mental crisis, but there's someone in this room full of mysterious stuff with him, which means he can't just... like, have his Moment about it.

That would just be poor form.

So clearly the sooner the door is open, the sooner he's alone to try to deal with this whole situation, the better. Hence: dealing with this letter. ]

Oh, that's just impractical. [ Local man valiantly staving off breakdown with a sharpened stick, not actually having too hard a time of it because there's plenty to be offended about in the meantime. ] Clearly someone needs to have a word with this "mayor" about their methods. And, with all due respect, a word about the color scheme in here. That's not even getting into the texture on the towels.

[ Like honestly. Have some taste. Stede claps his hands once, not unlike a well-meaning mediocre manager in the workplace. ]

Right! Best get cracking, then. Give me half a minute to roll my sleeve up, I'm not bleeding all over one of my best coats. [ Especially since it's the only one he... has. Right now. God, he might need to have a cry about that later. Also of import: ] Have you got a knife? I'm afraid I'm missing my usual.


roller rink.

[ Hmm. On the one hand, time has proven that this is maybe not a huge nightmare or elaborate mental construction of his own design. All looks very real, feels very real, he has no idea what's going on half the time, terrifying, horrifying, confusing, complete and utter lack of familiar faces or circumstance, steep learning curve only eased by other people in the same boat and the locals being positive he's from another country.

Which isn't wrong, technically?

On the other hand, it's not Stede's first go at an overnight transition into a lifestyle with which he has zero familiarity or experience, so at least there's that. No, wait. That's barely a positive. So really on the other hand is that there are ways to have fun here. Nothing's as good as what he had going for him back home, of course. But this whole... thing... is definitely happening. Colors! Music! People, he guesses!

Stede shows up, because what else has he even got to do. He gets the roller skates on, he makes it to the rink. He falls down a lot and makes a lot of cartoonish sounds about it until he winds up clinging to the outer barrier and inching his way along. (Which he is ready and prepared to repeatedly describe as "just getting my sea legs".) ]

It's really exhilarating in here, isn't it! [ That's genuine. Never mind how acquainted he's becoming with the floor, or his full inability to comprehend synth music, or the fact that when he gets his walkman he has no idea what to even do with it. Stede looks no less than maniacally pleased about the weird fucking time he's having right now.

Big gremlin energy. ]

Gosh, and a lot of people are awfully good at this already. [ Maybe including whoever he's talking to. Or maybe not, considering his "holding onto something and shuffling" position in the rink. ] I should've asked about lessons.


mallrats.

[ Finally... Stede's area of expertise. Shopping.

He thinks this might actually be his new favorite place. Not ever, seeing how he didn't ask to come here and wants to go back home, but like, maybe his favorite place in this specific town. There's all kinds of neat stuff.

He mostly spends time trying to figure out clothes. It's not a terrible budget to work with, depending on the shop. He has no idea what's "in" around these parts, but it's apparently not like what he's used to? Oh no... how dreadful... to have to try on a lot of things and figure out what he likes... to start building a wardrobe...

Mental and emotional stress whomst. He has pastels and vibrant hues to coordinate. Be wary lest ye be asked for opinions. Or watch in real-time while he learns that bartering is no longer the done thing in retail environs.

The mall is also a good place to try to get a social lay of the land in general, though, it turns out. Get acclimated. That's a really fancy way to say catch Stede sat on a bench and blatantly people-watching while like, teens have messy breakups in the food court or people gossip about their work drama or whatever. Quiet people-watching used to be his whole non-reading hobby of choice.

Or, last but not least, catch him in the appliance store trying to learn how to use half of the shit he keeps encountering in day-to-day situations that most people seem to already be used to. Look, if his first response to trying to figure out a microwave was screaming when it beeped, that's his business. But it turns out there are instruction manuals and demonstrations and a lot of statistics that he has no idea what they mean?

He might be about to stick his hand into a display toaster to get the lay of the land. And if that doesn't explain how likely it is that Stede will be banned from returning to this store by the end of the day, nothing else will explain it. ]


wildcard.

[ or yeah, up for hashing out other scenarios/prompts/etc ✌️ feel free to throw whatever or hmu for plotting! ]

roller rink;

[stevieboy]

[ Speaking of people who are awfully good at this, here's Steve Harrington, who's never met a sport that didn't like him. That includes rollerskating, which is barely a sport he thinks but it's the principle of the matter.

He's long since completed his one lap, now he's just skating because what else is he gonna do? Take his Walkman and leave? Well, yeah, okay, but maybe he's actually enjoying himself, and he can't help himself when he sees the poor man clinging to the barrier while somehow also having the time of his life. ]

Here. [ Steve skates up with a walker, like what you'd find on an ice skating rink to help people practice and stay upright. ] Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy. I learned in like, a week one summer to impress a girl. No sweat.

[funhinged]

[ Local youth a hero, a friendly angel walking the earth. Rolling the earth. That's one to think about. Stede will not remember to think about it.

He invests his thought process in registering that he is, in fact, being offered some help by said local youth instead. Color him pleasantly surprised, because he sort of just thought that he'd finish out his little one-man party and that would be that on that. Everyone's dealing with a weird time right now. ]

Oh, fab. Thank you. [ A nice thing about a practice walker is that it's very straightforward. Stede can get what it's going for. This is so much easier than dragging himself along? ] Wow. I know we're all going round the same circle anyway, but a little range of motion really makes a difference! I feel like part of the gang already.

[stevieboy]

[ Steve has absolutely no idea where this guy came from, and he can't help the way a bemused sort of laugh comes out of him. Who even talks like that? ]

Yeah, you fit right in.

[ It's not really a lie. This place is full of all sorts of them, all pulled from different places, all trying to make sense of what's going on with them. And not everyone's having a good time on the rollerskates, so, you know, Steve's not lying about that, either. ]

I'm Steve.

[ He figures, hey, he's already here, he might as well help the man make it around a lap. ]

[funhinged]

[ All the work it took getting used to climbing ropes and ladders on the Revenge, just to be back at coordination square one with these skates. Truly life is a never-ending series of weird little hurdles.

This one is not horrifying and seems to really be fostering a sense of teamwork, which is nice. Stede's never one to complain about getting a "you fit right in."

If he ever meets the Mayor, he'll keep that in mind as a talking point. It'll help his other criticisms go over. ]

Oh, I'm Stede. Listen to that, we almost match! [ They could be part of a really weirdly specific club. ] Do you have a lot of stuff like this back home, then?

[ He pulls a hand from the walker exactly long enough to make a circular little "basically this entire building" gesture. ]

[stevieboy]

Yeah.

[ Steve smiles, a bit awkwardly at the comment of nearly matching names, unsure about what to do about someone being so excited by something like that. Especially when that someone is a grown man. But, hey, to each their own, right? And Steve's working on being a bit more accepting of people.

So he gladly carries on to the next point of conversation, which is a lot easier to talk about. ]

This? The roller rink in Hawkins is pretty lame, honestly, but the rest of it's pretty much the same. Do you, uh ... Not have one of these where you're from?

[ Somewhere not America. Canada, maybe. ]

Blood Offering

[janescayre]

[Whoever was assigning rooms needs a sound punch in the nose. And then the gonads.

After the introductory kerfuffle (most of her shrieking had been averted as he was so comically out of place), Fukawa opted to stay wedged in a corner, glowering, as the man pittered and pattered around like a wind-up toy gone rogue. He was inescapably foppish, horrifically old, and dressed like he was waiting on a stage cue that would never come. In contrast, she was encroaching on twenty, surly and suspicious, and dressed in a school girl uniform one stitch away from falling apart. The tear in her skirt went nearly all the way up the leg, her sleeves were split and snagged, the tie missing a chunk, and the whole thing smelled of smoke, dirt, and old sweat.

If this Mayor character was fishing for a screwball comedy situation, they had another thing coming.]

Oh, f-forget about the damn towels. What's the matter, do you need to take a shower? [Of all the stupid things to whine about. They've basically been kidnapped and he's complaining about toiletries. Honestly.

Fukawa scowls and peels away from her corner at last, powerless against her own curiosity. The stick didn't work, no surprise there, but there had to be an alternative. It was the most contrived trap she'd ever heard of. Was there some kind of platelet counter wired into the door? Ridiculous.

When he wiggles his sleeve back and begs for a blade she almost freezes cold. Right — okay yes, finding another way is now number one priority. Maybe she could pass it off as something mundane, but anyone would have questions about why a young girl keeps several pairs of scissors in a holster under her skirt. Or why they're sharpened on both sides.

Best to avoid that.]

Uh — [Quick quick quick — her eyes dart around. Anything, anything will do.] Listen! Let's not rush into this. What makes you so sure it h-has to be blood anyway? Maybe...it just has to be a thick liquid. Like soap! Or some kind cleaner? Should we check the bathroom? It's not like they have cameras or anything in here. How would they know what we're p-putting on it?

[It's a crapshoot, but it's the best she's got.]

[funhinged]

[ Of Stede's motley assortment of passions and talents, straightforward priorities and doing a good job of reading the room have never strictly been included on the list. He's prone to a little tunnel vision like that. To his brand of pittering and pattering and touching random furniture and being weird about the towels.

He doesn't find anything during his sort of restless "if I stay in motion the gravity of this possibly-imaginary situation simply cannot find me" tour of the room that looks like a better way out. Even the windows are stuck. What if there's an emergency? There's a whole child in here!

It occurs to him, belatedly, that everyone just generally being expected to have a knife and be on board with having it used is... perhaps... not best applicable to being kidnapped into random buildings. It's maybe more of a piracy thing. Even when he's the one volunteering to do the handprint. Everyone's got their hangups. ]

Oh, I dunno. Who knows how they even got us in here in the first place? Bit of a rabbit hole, honestly. [ If he doesn't admit to not knowing what a camera is, then he can still look cool. ] But I do think it's highly important to encourage creative problem-solving, so maybe you've got a point. Can't hurt to look into all our options.

[ (no worries re: canonblindness stuff ftr! Stede is technically British; i'm super loosey-goosey about the accent thing though. like i personally can't imagine him not sounding inexplicably Full Rhys Darby™️ in-universe, but canon also never acknowledges it one way or the other, so there's basically no wrong answer LOL) ]

[janescayre]

[Fukawa raises one brow to her hairline. What a cavalier attitude to take. Was he really so clueless about the mess they were in? At his age?

Despicable. If he wasn't putting on a so-called brave face for her sake, then he was a pure idiot.]

Th-they probably drugged us. Isn't that obvious? [That's more or less what happened last time. And even if the demands are mild, Fukawa can see too many parallels for comfort. It's only a matter of time before it becomes Kill Your Friends if You Want to Escape.

That weird dream had to be a smokeshow. There's no such thing as curses, and oddball or not she can't believe this guy is anything more than a hapless weirdo, just as lost as she. There's nothing supernatural about it. Just a run of the mill psychopath with time to kill and more resources than you could shake a stick at. End of story.]

Good. [She folds her arms, suddenly feeling quite pleased with herself. Usually people just told her to shut up, close her mouth so her breath wouldn't poison them, move fifty metres back before they call security. (The last two were usually Togami.) Perhaps she's gained an air of authority after all she's been through? Wouldn't that be delicious.] I'll check the bathroom. I doubt th-there's anything worth using here, but you can t-take another look.

[With that, she slinks into the bathroom.

After some small time rummaging, she emerges with a travel-sized bottle of shampoo and conditioner each.]

I'm n-not sure which has the better consistency, I mixed them with a little water to help, but. Here. [She shoves the bottles at Stede.] You do it.

[funhinged]

[ He absolutely gives that first question a little shrug. It doesn't seem very plausible considering where he was before he woke up here, but this is a very new kidnapping for the both of them and it's the most valid theory yet.

Since Stede can't strictly say he's working overtime to come up with theories himself at the moment.

He also gives her a thumbs up and a cheery little "will do!" before she slinks off to the bathroom, and does some additional rummaging around of his own in the meantime. There's nothing spectacularly useful in the obvious places, or under the beds, or in the dresser drawers. He manages to nab a letter opener, which is at least useful in a backup-plan sense.

Mostly it's just... more decor he doesn't particularly enjoy. ]

Oh, that's clever thinking! Good on you. And a good thing I already got that sleeve out of the way. Would've made quite the mess. [ He nabs one of the little bottles at random (if he scrunches his nose because he's still getting used to plastic texturally, that's his business), gets it open, and immediately starts pouring some onto his hand.

It's not not a bloodish consistency. As far as he remembers. ]

I'm Stede, by the way. Sorry. I'd normally introduce myself sooner, but this is a real off day.

[janescayre]

[Once again, she is forced to give him a glance askance.]

R-right. Good thing.

[The boggling continues as he pulls a face taking the conditioner, as if she'd passed him a cockroach instead. She shouldn't complain, it's to her benefit that her prison mate is so damn gung-ho that he'll take all the falls. It's just weird.

To be fair, everyone she got stuck with last time was a total wingnut too. With a few notable exceptions.]

...Fukawa. [Her mouth purses. His name doesn't ring any bells. She watches close as her gets to business, the dip between her brows deepening.] Y-you're awful chipper for someone who woke up in a hostage situation. What, is th-this just another Tuesday for you?

mallrats

[energyfieldgood]

[Okay, the microwave scream was annoying. Very much so, actually. But then again, hey, that's people for you. After all, it's mall with all its strange individuals you are forced to deal with when you ventured out into the world to actually purchase things in person. A terrible tradition. He is so glad that's going to die out in the future.

Yeah.

So at first Rodney just tilts his head back, staring at the ceiling with undiluted exasperation, then goes back to browsing, trying to ignore the guy. It's not until Stede moves on from micro jumpscares to making a grilled cheese handwich that he openly stares, face scrunched up in a bewildered and annoyed scowl.]

What are you, an idiot? Don't touch that.

[funhinged]

[ Another day, another 'what are you, an idiot.' Ah, well. He guesses people are people no matter where you go. Apparently including the distant future of the 1980s?

Stede's trying not to let himself think about that part. He's not sure he can afford the emotional retail space it would require to completely admit it. It's easier to just think of everything as really weird. Case in point: this man trying to tell him his business. ]

Oh, come on. If they don't want it touched, they would put out a sign. Live a little, mate! [ Nailed it, definitely guessed exactly why he's getting snapped at.

He does make a magnanimous transition from sticking his hand in there to simply turning it over in his hands, though. ]

Not that this color inspires much livelihood. I like my greens less... muddy.

[energyfieldgood]

Maybe they assume that, oh, I don't know, people around here have at least a shred of common sense.

[Apparently not. But at least the guy is not in immediate danger of mutilating or electrocuting himself. Good. Rescue breathing is so, so, so, so high on the list he absolutely does not want to do today. Or ever.]

Well, I fully intend on doing so. With all of my limbs intact. Unlike you, apparently.

[He's about to turn away and mind his own business when the guy keeps talking to him.]

It's a toaster, not a handbag. What do you expect it to do, match your eyes?

[funhinged]

[ Stede hovers in the valiant mental algebra timeline trying to figure out why he wouldn't have intact limbs. It wasn't even sharp in there. His shopping buddy is so dramatic, no wait never mind apparently this is a "toaster."

Like a thing for toasting.

He doesn't need to pretend to understand how it works or how it's practical for toasting to be built like this to do that bit of math, at least. So maybe... he shouldn't stick his hands into stuff after all.

Not that he'll admit to taking that lesson in. ]

Don't be ridiculous, my eyes don't factor in at all. But I'd expect it to match the vibe I'm looking for, if I'm paying for it. You could make or break a room with a piece like this! Disrupt the entire flow.

[ Local man considers buying a toaster just to look at it in the event that he comes into more money in the future. ]

[labwork]

[ gremlin calls to gremlin —there's a lot to complain about here, but christine's having fun right now. the skate rink's just the kind of thing she'd get up to on a space station in her downtime, too, and so she's far more in her element than stede is. but just as manically pleased. ]

It's great to blow off some steam, isn't it?

[ she's currently skating close to the edge of the rink to have something to hold on to, too, on account of trying to skate backwards instead of forwards. look, she saw someone else do it, it looked fun, she's gonna get the hang of it any second now.

except, ] Do you want some help?

[ if he wants a lesson i skating forward, she can probably manage that. ]

[funhinged]

[ This is what it's all about. Someone speaking his enthusiasm-based language.

Some of the people in this skating circle seem bored or disinterested! Unfathomable. A waste of a really fun party. ]

Yeah, it's great. Always good to have a healthy outlet!

[ One day he'll get home, un-cursed, and he'll just have to take some of the fun ideas he's running into here with him. There is no reality where he considers that roller skating on a very large sailing vessel might not be a practical measure. Right now it's just nice to have a nice time what with everything being... what it is.

Case in point! This nice young lady! Stede avoids another impromptu meeting with the ground and tries to imagine the idea of doing this backwards. It's terrifying. So good on her, she's extremely brave. ]

And if it's not a bother, I wouldn't say no to some pointers. No obligation, though! I'm getting my practice in either way!

[ And what is practice if not half the battle? ]

roller rink

[maritorious]

Oh thank god, [Nancy actually says out-loud, when she sees a man in clothing that looks at least similar to what she might encounter if, say, she happened to be a fancy lady instead of a grown-up street urchin. Her dress is large, but not unwieldy, and she's got it hiked up slightly with one arm so she can see what her feet are doing.]

Sorry- I suppose it is exhilarating. Maybe it has something to do with the year? That these roller skates are common in... the 1900s?

[She shuffles along, holding on to the wall as well. There's a nice little line going of people who don't know what the hell they're doing.]

I think it's supposed to be like ice skating? Have you ever done that?

[funhinged]

[ Oh! A same temporal hat situation? In this weird world? Or at least vaguely similar. He can't pretend he knows what's in high fashion everywhere back home, and he can't say that this dress style looks too in line with what he last noted. Still, god knows it's the closest aesthetic to familiar that he's seen since he got here.

Maybe that shouldn't be a relief what with his social success track record, but he's not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. There is a bit of relief to it.

She's awfully young to be stuck here, though. So many of these people are. ]

I haven't! Not a lot of ice in my region, I'm afraid. [ Might have been a fun way to pass some time. ] Roller skates must be pretty popular these days though, right? If they've got a whole business built on it.

[ The financial security of a roller rink... it must be something. ]

[maritorious]

Apparently so!

[She laughs lightly, keeping a hand on the wall still.]

And everyone seems so good at it. Must come here quite often.

[She sees people spinning, skating backward, it's quite shocking, and fun to look at.] I don't suppose you know what this walkman we're supposed to get is, do you?

[funhinged]

[ Ohh. That's onto something. There's no way some of these people haven't done this sort of thing before.

Which Stede honestly hadn't really thought about. He went very worst-case, everyone must be relatively new to this yet here some of us are struggling. Not that the solidarity of joint struggling hasn't been nice. It's just a helpful perspective. ]

Oh, I have no idea what it is. [ And that's kind of thrilling and mysterious! Mysteries are loads of fun. ] I suppose they're not a very rare treasure around here if they're giving so many of them away. But seeing as we've never heard of it before, it sounds like it's gonna be a rare treasure to us. You and I are really coming out on top tonight!

hi babe 😎 roller rink

[polyonymous]

[The plan, as it stands, is to pretend to play nice. Go along to this thing the Mayor organised, and use it to scout allies. Spot enemies. Investigate. Get a lay of the land.

But then Ed turns up, and it's fun. There's food he's never had before, and he doesn't have to pay for it or steal it. There's weird fucking music that makes him feel like he has ants in his brain (but in a good kind of way) and bright colors and so many bizarre looking characters that even in his leather, Ed doesn't stick out like a completely intimidating thumb.

And, most bonkers of all, the actual skating. Wheels on shoes. Ed's not a fucking wet sock, of course he's gonna try it, it looks fun and dangerous and fast. After a few false starts and some drawn out clinging to the rail, (he's not afraid to take a hit, but if he lands on his knee it'll be fucked for days) Ed sort of has the hang of it. He has decent balance- sea legs!- and picks up how to slow and turn from watching others. Even after being given whatever that weird hunk of plastic is, he keeps looping around, picking up speed, eyes narrowed with a scary sort of focus that makes other skaters veer out of his way.

It's through one of these gaps in the crowd that he spots Stede doing his best to stay upright, and with his heart in his throat, Ed tries to call over the noise, gathering attention (less scared now, more amused) as he waves his arms wildly.]

Stede! Oi, Stede!

[He launches himself through the centre of the rink, creating chaos as he cuts several folks off. Ed doesn't notice. He's not thinking, not about curses or magic or how Stede would be safer and happier at home. He's just happy to see his favorite person.]

a reunion as cool as they are 😎

[funhinged]

[ But soft. What light through yonder mass of skaters breaks? It is the east, and Ed is once again basically the whole entire sun. You know. Based solely on how much Stede's face lights up once he goes from "why am I being yelled at, am I not minding my own business" to actually clocking where the shouting comes from.

Stede was already having a good time being somewhat ferally gung-ho in a skating rink. This is truly a transcendental addition to the mix. It's the most important thing that's happened to him all day including the kidnapping and weird blood sacrifice door. ]

Ed!

[ If he forgets that he's over here struggling to even stay on his feet while he shuffles onward and ~familiarizes~ himself with the whole, process, that's-- well, it's everyone's business right now, because he makes this mistake in public. So instead of dramatically meeting Ed halfway, Stede nearly eats shit. He has to haul his way back to properly upright really quick, looking like his feet have committed the ultimate betrayal.

So instead, he successfully sticks one arm up and also waves, in full "I sure still am over here in case you've lost the forest for the trees, or the singular tree for the forest as the case may be."

Which is basically the same as lighthouse symbolism, really. Except for the part where it very quickly dissolves into Stede just sort of reaching out to make a squinchy grabby hand gesture directly at Ed, once he gets close enough to spot easily. Beauty. Grace. Elegance. Both of them are the opposite of cringe actually.

There is zero point where he worries about the chaos Ed leaves behind in the skating traffic. ]

facts

[polyonymous]

[Was there chaos behind him? Ed certainly hasn't fucking noticed. He's preoccupied watching Stede stumble and catch himself, then wave for Ed as if he's not already making an absolute beeline over there. He's not about to call a grown man cute, but he is maybe thinking it.

He is maybe thinking it so hard that he forgets all that stuff about bending and turning and slowing down, and only remembers it once he's close enough to reach back for that grabby hand, so that their arms sort of end up crushed between the two of them as Ed wallops right into Stede's side, the air rushing out of him in a wheeze. He hangs on tight though, slapping Stede's back and squeezing him in probably the most uncomfortable hug since the dawn of time.]

Fuckin' lunatic. 'Course you'd be here.

[You know, like Stede had any choice in the matter.

Wait. Ed pulls back, looking him over with wide, worried eyes.]

You have that weird fucking dream before you get here? Wake up in the hotel?

[Wake up cursed?]

[funhinged]

[ It's maybe up there on the list of most physically uncomfortable hugs of all time. Including that first time that Ed hugged him, where it was a weird angle and also he was recovering from a stab wound.

Emotionally, it's very gratifying. An ill-advised, arm-crushing, "well I was going to be sore after all the falling down I've done tonight anyway so that's alright," breath-knocking encounter of a hug. The sort of hug that says, Ed is very much definitely here and very much definitely Ed.

He pulls a face. ]

Ohh, that. Yeah. I guess everyone here must have. [ Great for a spirit of teamwork. Sort of.

He's been sorting out his feelings on that. Honestly, the kidnapping is more viscerally upsetting than being told he's carrying a terrible curse. Mostly because he doesn't... feel specifically cursed? He doesn't feel different. So that's conceptually been very easy to ignore, including the little part of his brain that heard "cursed" and went okay, sure, not a huge stretch.

Except!!! If it's happened to all of them then that includes it happening to Ed. Now it's reprehensible and unfair. ]

How are you holding up? [ This is now where his own concerned look-over comes into play. ] You didn't turn up with someone who tried to strongarm you into bleeding on that door?

[ Talking it out or volunteering is one thing. It's another thing to be a dick about it. Important distinction. ]