January - February Test drive

[indigo_events]

➞ Post with a character you wish to test drive in this game's setting.
➞ Tag other people's starters and thread out shenanigans!
➞ Invite your friends! Try out new characters! Come play with us!
➞ Have fun!

NOT SURE WHERE TO BEGIN YOUR TEST-DRIVE JOURNEY?
CHECK OUT ALL THE LOCATIONS WE HAVE AVAILABLE IN:

JOHTO | KANTO | SEVII ISLANDS

Feel free to make various prompts in multiple locations!

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OTHER USEFUL LINKS:
NAVIGATION | RESERVES | APPLICATIONS

Comments

[vrdantwind]

[Claude laughs, deliberately light, not wanting to let Lorenz get bogged down in deeper emotions again - not over this, at least. He wants Lorenz to be able to relax, to smile, to be happy again. He knows that won't be easy, and that it'll take time and work for Lorenz to get there...but the heavy issues can be dealt with in their own time and place. Right now, when it's just a matter of going out for a meal with a friend, he wants Lorenz to set aside those heavier things for a little while.] C'mon, Lorenz, it's just dinner. No need to blow it out of proportion.

[But he squeezes Lorenz's hand back, all the same.

Claude considers their choices carefully, and soon settles on guiding Lorenz inside a bakery. He knows Lorenz is fond of cakes and sandwiches and pastries - namely the sorts of things that go with tea - but also he can tell this place serves heartier fare, too. He's specifically eyeing the soup bread bowls. Something nice and hearty and filling seems like it'd do Lorenz a lot of good right now.] This place seems nice. Why don't you go get us a table while I order us some grub?

[That word choice was deliberate. He wants Lorenz to be a little less deferential, and he figures the quick way to that is to low-key annoy him with a word as inelegant as 'grub'. Just something to get him a little huffy, stir up that banked spark of Lorenz's spirit.]

[silky_bearing]

[ Hearty and filling might be asking a bit much, Claude. But he's willing to try at least, he has no idea what sort of food a place like this has so he's going to have to lean on Claude a little bit. Still Claude is absolutely right. The moment the word "grub" leaves his lips Lorenz snaps his attention back to him, nose wrinkled and looking affronted at the very existence of the word. ]

Ugh. Must you?

[ Why do you have to be disgusting, Claude? Lorenz half rolls his eyes, turning away to huff off to find them somewhere to sit... only to turn on his heel and march right back as soon as he sees the glass case of pastries up front. ]

I'll forgive your horrible language if you bring me one of those nut rolls.

[ Whatever else Claude is planning to get him a maple and pecan topped cinnamon roll just sounds too heavenly to pass up. ]

Please.

[ A murmured afterthought, torn between the demanding huffiness that feels so natural with Claude and not wanting to be rude. Then he finally wanders off to claim a table near the front windows so they can see outside.]

[vrdantwind]

[Claude's wicked grin at Lorenz's clear annoyance is perhaps the brightest he's had on his lips thus far, because this is Lorenz. The Lorenz he remembers, who was working on being more tolerant but who still had certain standards, someone with the fire and spine to call Claude out, someone Claude enjoyed teasing and who, Claude suspects, secretly liked their little back-and-forths despite himself. If Claude can like getting upbraided, then surely Lorenz can like doing the braiding.

It was just...part of how their relationship worked. And because they liked each other, Claude had liked that - and he likes to think Lorenz did, too. So seeing that familiar dynamic raise its head again, even out of Lorenz's depression...it feels good. Great, even.

The fact that Lorenz follows it up with a demand is even better. (The 'please' doesn't detract from this, both because Lorenz would be polite and proper even when making demands and because the fact that it was made at all is the main thing.) That gets a bright laugh out of Claude, and he answers with a wink before heading to the counter.

Lorenz has made a grave mistake. He's let Claude order the food.

Claude, a man who loves feasts.

So when Claude brings over the trays of food...Lorenz is going to find out he's ordered way too much. For one thing, Lorenz definitely has two of those nut rolls, and they're not small. But for another...Claude seems to have ordered enough food for about four people, because it takes four trays to convey it all to their table. (In fact, Claude has to pull over a second table to set two of the trays down on.) Several large sandwiches, two bread bowls full of (different kinds of) soup, three chocolate-drizzled croissants, a large bowl of macaroni and cheese, a flatbread pizza(white sauce, like Lorenz), two chai lattes, and a large salad that definitely has a lot of chicken in it.

And Claude begins distributing the food between them as though this is totally normal and not something Lorenz is going to be aghast about. Especially since an awful lot of the food seems to be ending up on Lorenz's side of the table.]