ROAD TRIP CONFESSIONALS

[thewinemom]

TIMELINE:
It's the days after the purple worm incident. The beautiful Fantasy Australia scenery is composed of dirt, some embarrassing shrubs, and a whoooooole lot of despair. It's gonna be a looooooong drive to the temple if we don't figure out some way to pass the time!

What does that mean?

It means: It's time to get to know each other, assholes!

Post a top level so your party members can approach you with their probing personal questions!

Respond to other people's top levels with your probing personal questions!

Mix! Mingle! Make friends!

Comments

Nin

[thewinemom]

ON THE ROAD:
Nin spends a lot of time staring out at the passing, despair-filled scenery. Is she also filled with despair? It's hard to say. Maybe you should ask.

IN CAMP:
Camp is, thanks to the constant threat of purple worms, a very quiet time, which Nin is all for. Quiet is nice, and in short supply when you're traveling with the Half-Orc & Drow Comedy Duo. She seems to really like the journal Bowen forced upon her, and spends a lot of time scribbling in it after the driving has ceased, but she won't object to interruptions if you wanna.

Camp

[lizardtits]

As far as interruptions go, the most acceptable ones involve food, right? Because that's what going to happen. Granted, the food wasn't much. More or less a makeshift stew using rations and some water. Not the tastiest, but it is hardy and better than dry jerky and even more dry hardtack.

Velo takes a seat next to Nin, handing a bowl of stew and a biscuit over and keeping another one for herself.

"Here. Eat before the dog gets to it."

[thewinemom]

The most acceptable interruptions are food-based, it's true. Nin looks first at the proffered food, then up at Velo, and accepts the stew and the biscuit with a small, quick smile.

"Thanks." She immediately takes a bite of the biscuit, and almost instantly wishes she'd started with the stew; the bread is bone-dry and the giant mouthful she stupidly took is not easy to chew or swallow. "Mmph."

Yup. So that's how this interaction's going to begin.

Velo

[lizardtits]

In the Car
Ever since passing the storm wall, Velo hasn't been looking so hot. She's doing her best to hide it, but whenever she's not taking her turn driving she's leaning against the door in the backseat, staring off into nothing. Of course, her leaning over means her tail and butt are probably pressing up against whoever is sitting next to her.

At Camp
Free from the confines of the car, Velo spends the evening (gently) walking about on harder surfaces and places that won't summon wyrms, writing or doodling in her journal. She can also be found near the fire, arranging the rations they have into something resembling proper food. Once night falls, she's sprawled out in one of the tents, either writing or trying to get to sleep. People are more than welcome to bother her, or just ask her to not take up the majority of the tent.

CAR

[daddyissuesdrow]

Varis doesn't take up a lot of room on account of his skinny ass, but even that doesn't save him from being smooshed by a dragon butt. He doesn't really mind it too much, but it does rouse him out of one of his meditation nap things. After stretching bit and flipping his hood up, he leans over to check on Velo.

"Hey. You feeling okay?"

Please don't be carsick please don't puke in the car oh nooo.

[lizardtits]

Velo is not okay. At least, not okay enough to not be startled by Varis. She jolts upright, probably ending up sitting on the poor boy even more.

"Ah. Um... I-I'm fine. Just a little off, is all. Should be fine further away from the storm."

Gorudak

[strictlystrigidae]

On the road:
For the most part, he is driving, mostly because he does not trust the majority of the party behind the wheel. When he feels himself get tired, he switches with Velo so that he can take short naps while keeping watch. He does not instigate conversation unless he needs to ask for some water. Aside from that, he's silent.

Camp:
He's usually taking first or second watch and is constantly reminding everyone to keep chatter and general noise to a minimum. He's issued a 100 word limit to Varis which he intends to enforce. Aside from that, he's generally making sure that all noise is kept to a minimum. They stop well before the sun officially sets to make camp, and they don't officially set out until the sun is in the sky for at least an hour or two, just to be certain.

On the road

[thewinemom]

When she gets tired of watching the boring-ass scenery roll by, Nin observes her traveling companions. They're a lot more interesting than the scenery, that's for damn sure. It's been a little while since the drivers traded off, and she's been wedged in the back next to Gorudak as an elven shield between the lingering worm-vomit stench and the rest of the party. That'll teach her to make offhand remarks about how horrid smells remind her of the swamp she grew up in. Just because a smell is familiar doesn't mean it's welcome.

But, that's neither here nor there.

"You're not the only one with eyes here, you know. The world won't end if you nap for longer than ten minutes at a time."

[strictlystrigidae]

Truth be told, the smell and the...stickiness...that remained after the fight with the worm wasn't entirely pleasant. In this heat and in his armor, Gorudak was probably the most uncomfortable in the group. But complaining about it would do nothing. He had his arms crossed and his head lowered in an attempt to take up as little space as possible. He wasn't nearly as big as Velo was now, but he wanted to at least give his companions proper space.

He eyes Nin when she speaks up to him and he merely nods his understanding.

"I prefer to be on guard. We don't know what we're getting ourselves into. Besides, I'm used to functioning on minimal sleep."

He lowers his head again, peering out the window from the corner of his eye. He does speak up once more, though, as if he had to remind himself.

"I appreciate your concern."

At camp

[lizardtits]

Aside from the town and wyrm thing, this trip was boring. That was probably a good thing. Boring meant less of a chance of horrible death than not boring. Still, boring isn't something that Velo handles well, or wants to handle well.

So she decides that it's bonding time with one of the most boring members of the party.

"Hey, Gor-bear. I need your help testing something."

[strictlystrigidae]

"Why do people assume nicknames are endearing?"

His tone is a mixture of exasperation and genuine curiosity. Social cues and norms tend to escape someone who was raised sheltered in a barracks.

"What is it that you need help with, and how loud will it be?"

ROAD TRIP

[gogodwarvenranger]

So, despite the fact that Gorudak's not a chatterbox while he's driving, the navigator has to keep talking to him.

"It's straight. Still."

Even though, as it turns out, this isn't the kind of difficult, winding trip that necessarily needs a ranger to guide it.

"... and... you're going to keep going straight for a while."

But she has to let him know that she's paying attention, too. And she can only give him so many updates to let him know that the route's not changing. The man has enough things trying his patience.

"So." She looks around. Strums her finger on the car's door a bit. "Did you do much traveling before this?"

Re: ROAD TRIP

[strictlystrigidae]

"You do not have to update me so frequently. I'm aware of our general heading."

Aside from that, Gorudak doesn't really say much else. He does answer her question, though.

"No. I was bound in service to Drodon. I had no opportunity nor desire to travel."

CAMP

[daddyissuesdrow]

It's still pretty early in the evening, so Varis feels pretty confident that he can do some chatting for a while without aggroing any giant fucking worms. Thus, he's perched himself on top of the car (for some fucking reason) and is obnoxiously protesting this 100 word limit BULLSHIT with as many words as he can spit out (complete with 'come at me bro' chest thumps) before Gorudak finally gets annoyed enough to do something about it. At the very least, he isn't raising his voice. See, he isn't completely stupid.

"What are you gonna do about it, huh? You gonna climb up here and do something about it? I don't see you fuckin' climbing up here to fuckin' do something about it. What? Now what? Is that all you got? You're just gonna stand there? That's what I thought. That's what I thought. One hundred word limit my ass, I'll show you a hundred word limit-"

Yeah it's about like that.

[strictlystrigidae]

Gorudak is in the process of trying to set up tents before the tapping of stakes into the ground draw potential wormy hazards. Exasperated, he looks up from his work and glares at Varis.

"If you do not shut your mouth, I will be more than happy to stake it closed."

Varis

[daddyissuesdrow]

On the road:
Shocking probably everyone in the fantasy car, Varis spends most of the days chilling quietly in the back with his dumb poncho hood pulled over his face, napping. Or whatever it is that elves and shit do. Some sort of meditation nap thing? Who fucking knows. Either way, the sunglasses he stole from wherever the fuck only do so much to protect his shitty Drow eyes from the desert sun. Covering his head and hunkering down for the day isn't exactly exciting, but he needs his eyeballs to keep working.

Or maybe he just died in the seat next to you and that's why he isn't saying anything? Either way.

Camp:
He only has a couple hours before nightfall to stretch his legs, and by god he intends to make the best of it while it's safe to do so. That dog? Gettin' played with. Gorudak? Getting harassed for a quick sparring session. Everyone else? Absolutely getting their ears chatted off. After nightfall he's at least self aware enough to keep his voice down, and he stops annoying people when they decide to go to sleep. He's perfectly willing to keep watch all night, since it's the only time he can see anything and he spent the whole day resting anyway, but shit. It gets lonely.

Camp

[thewinemom]

Yooooooo, guess who else doesn't need to sleep and is also, therefore, awake in the middle of the night?

If you guessed this girl, you're correct!

Nin doesn't actually approach Varis with any particular thought for conversation in mind. She's finished meditating and prepared her spells for the coming day, so it's either stare at the roof of her tent until the sun comes up or sit with Varis under the stars. She's had enough of the tent, so it's time to work some variety into her dull routine and hang out with the baby drow.

Also, the stars out here are pretty fantastic. Basically the only good thing this gods-forsaken outback has going for it.

"Hey." That's it. That's her quiet greeting as she plunks her butt down on the ground next to Varis. What's up, kid?

CAMP is it safe to assume this isn't immediately after the worm

[gogodwarvenranger]

"I'm starting to think he likes you better than he does me."

Bowen says that without even looking up from writing, just from listening to the sounds of Varis playing with the dingo. She doesn't sound bothered by it, though — in fact, it's easy to hear the amused grin in her voice.

"So, hey, would you believe he was already doing pretty damn well for himself, back before the two of us chased him down?" Okay, now she's checking back over her shoulder, just to be sure that he's listening to the story. "That's the big reason he was living down at the port, and not somewhere out here. He must've known a place to get handouts on almost every block."

For a moment, Marse looks proud of himself.

Bowen

[gogodwarvenranger]

ON THE ROAD:

Bowen is acting as navigator, sitting up front next to the driver. The dwarf ranger is actually doing a decent job now, which may come as a surprise after how poorly she did before — maybe she was still recovering from the boat ride. She has no trouble staying focused on the task for hours and even days on end, so she's probably talking to the driver more than anyone else.

Marse is in the back, and probably not staying in one spot. Sometimes, he's laying on the floor; other times, he's standing in someone's lap, watching out of the car. It seems like he enjoys the wind in his face.


IN CAMP:

Since it's maybe not a good time to get the dog riled up and making noise, Bowen's given the order for Marse to get some sleep. He's dutifully obeying, laying on the ground and keeping mostly still.

Bowen, on the other hand, is quiet for other reasons. She has her journal out, the one she's been writing in every night — but she's not writing. She's staring at the blank page with a tired look in her eyes. It's the look of someone who's sitting in class while the math test is being handed back, and who already knows that she has the lowest score in the pile.

But hey, you were there for the battle. You can probably guess why she's disappointed in herself.

Camp

[thewinemom]

Nin has noticed Bowen's distraction, and figures hey, since the drow and the half-orc are forced to silence due to the worm threat, now is a great opportunity to finally (quietly) talk to the woman. It doesn't matter what about. It seems as if they've barely spoken ten words to each other since they left Waywright's ship, and even for Nin - a woman of few words anyway - that's a pitiful number of words.

"You look down." That is a statement of fact as well as an invitation to open up, all wrapped up in one neat little phrase. Words are handy like that. She sits down next to Bowen at what she gauges to be a friendly, but not invasive, distance.

On the Road

[lizardtits]

While Gorudak does most of the driving, Velo does take her turn from time to time to give the guy a break. It's better than sitting in the back all the time, at least.

"There is absolutely nothing out here. How do you manage to navigate when there's nothing to navigate off of? We could be stopped and I would barely notice the difference."

Velo did mostly know the answer already, but she was bored, and wanted to make some conversation to pass the time.

Naeris

[snackattacks]

[CAR RIDE]

After a brief stint as driver--one that involved far too many purple worms and party members getting eaten--Naeris is happy to hang out in the back of the car, comfortably squished between people much bigger than she is. But that's okay. She's more used to close physical proximity and being tactile than she is with being on her lonesome. Her slender fingers work diligently on some cord and beads, and that's where most of her focus is, although she may stop to laugh at any inevitable squabbles that pop up.

[CAMPING OUT]

No matter who's cooking, or what meager rations are served, Naeris is eating with gusto (Where the heck does it all go?!)! She's generally pretty happy and cheerful, but it's when there's food involved that her eyes really light up. If anyone comes to speak with her, she'll generally respond with a full mouth and lots of gestures.

CAMP

[daddyissuesdrow]

It's all good man Varis is probably stuffing his face just as enthusiastically as Naeris is. Let's see if they can hold a conversation that consists entirely of full mouths and random hand gestures.

Varis will start by kind of holding up his own bowl, pointing to Naeris, pointing at his bowl, and then giving her a thumbs up with kind of an 'ehhh??? EEEHHHHH???' look on his face. This translates roughly to "Hey how do you like the stew? We had jack shit to put in it but I did the best I could on it."

CAR RIDE

[gogodwarvenranger]

So, sure. Naeris is good with the close proximity to other people. But how is she with close proximity to animals?

Because Marse, the lovely white dingo dog, is riding in the back with the rest. And right now, he's realized that it's been, like, hours since he last ate something, and that's awful. And hey, Naeris seems like someone who might have packed a snack for the road, right?

So, he rests his chin on her knee, and looks up at her with his biggest, begging-est puppy eyes.

"Is he bothering you?" Bowen says, aware of what her dog is doing even without looking at him. "If so, you can just tell him to lay down, and he'll leave you alone."

Car

[thewinemom]

One of the people Naeris is squished next to is Nin, who divides her time between watching the dull, boring landscape and watching Naeris work. Mostly she's watching Naeris. The thing she's doing with the cords and the beads is much more interesting than the dry, rocky desert they're driving through.

Eventually, she gives in to her curiosity to ask, "What're you making?"