fortiscor | TDM #1

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TDM #1

"Well, good morning, Sleepy Head,"

The voice was sweet and pleasant on the ears. You open your eyes to find a smiling face looking down at you. A face that looks human enough. Two eyes, a nose and a mouth, all in the right places. But something feels off about it... "We've been waiting for you to wake. It's about time!" The nurse, for now that she's moved away you realise that she is indeed dressed how you would imagine a nurse would be dressed, continues to talk and fuss about the room. In doing this, she explains:

❝You've been asleep for such a long time! Several years ago there was an Event that caused many people to fall into deep, deep sleeps. Some woke within days or weeks of their fall, but there were some, like yourself, who have been asleep for so much longer. It's hard to tell just how long you have slept, and I fear the world you remember is very different now, but we are here to help you through your transition from Dream World to the Waking World.❞

The nurse leaves and you are left alone. You will find that even though you have been in a coma for years, you are as physically fit as you remember. Any injuries you believed you had are gone now, as if they were never there. At the foot of the bed are clothes and any items you own. Take them. Go. The urge will take you. Once you leave, you will find you can not enter the hospital again, nor can you quite remember how you got out in the first place. All you can remember is the strangely haunting nurse and her words...

Welcome to Williamsburg!

The town before you is a hodgepodge of colour and style. No two houses are exactly the same. Some made of wood, or brick or even strange metals. Some are no more than holes in the ground. But all are warm and welcoming inside and not many are inhabited. In fact you'll find that the town itself isn't that populated at all. The busiest place is Main Street. Here you will find all the shops you need.

From food to beauty and fashion and furnishings for home and garden, there is a café selling the most delicious of sweets and a pub that never closes. The Main Street is the place to be, if there is something you are lacking. And it is only a hop, skip and a jump from the Hospital and around the corner from everywhere else.

● [The Nowhere Inn] is the local watering hole where you can come and share a drink with a friend. Or, if just passing through, spend the night. Here you will be greeted by Bert, the owner and bartender. A seven foot tall bear of a man with a magnificent beard and a loud, booming voice! And a desire to one day create a cocktail that will take the world by storm. It's just a shame that not all of his little experiments hit the mark... Newcomers to the town will be offered a drink on the house. Choose wisely, as some of these drinks can often come with side effects, both good and bad.
✦ Apricot Smash: A refreshing glass of fruit squash. Made from the concentrated juice of a sour and sweet type of apricot, this is a simple and thirst quenching kind of drink. If asked nicely, this can also be made into a slushie! Anyone who tries this deliciously fruity drink will find themselves enjoying a chance to dance and/or sing at any given opportunity. (Side effect: It can cause insomnia.)
✦ Lemongrass Twilight: Made from spicy and sour lemongrass syrup, this mildly alcoholic drink is served in a tall glass with round, purple coloured balls of ice. The drink is a swirling green, yellow and purple colour. Those who try this drink will find themselves feeling very mellow and warm and more inclined to feelings of affection. (Side effect: It can cause headaches.)
✦ Mint Blast: Pale blue-green with light swirls and served in a wine glass. The drink is heavy on the mint and light on the alcohol, with even a little sprig of it resting on the rim of the glass. Drinking this will leave you feeling a chilled and shivery. A nice cuddle should soothe those chills away. (Side effect: It causes sleepiness in the drinker.)
✦ Blue Smooch: This drink is a deep blue with white, creamy foam atop. The drink smells like chocolate and tastes wonderful. It leaves the drinker feeling happy and optimistic, almost childlike. (Side effect: It is rumoured to cause truthfulness in the drinker.)
✦ Burning Wine: Pale gold with yellow-orange swirls, this mulled wine is served in a clear glass mug and tastes like cinnamon and oranges, with a hint of chili. It has a nice, warming burn as it goes down. This drink will put a fire in your belly and keep you toasty and warm through the cold nights. It may also make drinkers a little more amorous than usual. (Side effect: It can sometimes cause tingling and numbness in the extremities.)
✦ Frosted Starlight: Sapphire with silver flecks and glittering sugar around the rim of the glass. This is an intoxicating alcoholic drink that is only served in the evening and at night. The drink itself smells like coconut yet there is no coconut within the drink. The taste is almost floral, with a slight hint of grape. Those who have tried this drink often find themselves with the brief ability to touch another and see their surface thoughts. (Side effect: It can cause blackouts.)

● [Sugar ‘n Spice Café] is a peculiar place. From the outside it looks like any other store front, but as you enter and the little bell tinkles, you will find the interior to be bright and open. Warm colours and bright lighting, and from somewhere soft music is always playing. A very modern sort of café selling a wide selection of handmade sweets and pastries as well as an espresso machine.
For the next month, if you come in for a hot drink you can have your choice of their specially made, homemade cheesecake free of charge. Subject to availability, of course.
✦ Roasted strawberries and cream cheesecake: Made with a chocolate biscuit base, sumptuous strawberries and homemade cream.
✦ Coconut cheesecake with lime and passionfruit sauce: This zesty citrus cheesecake has a buttery base, creamy coconut filling and fruity lime and passionfruit sauce.
✦ Triple choc upside-down cheesecake: The name may say upside-down, but this cake looks right side up to us! Juicy raspberries give it a fresh bite and for the chocoholics - oozing sauce.
✦ Gingernut cheesecake tart with sticky maple pears: A creamy cheesecake with high visual impact for that special dessert finale to your dinner party.

● For those looking to add a little something extra to their wardrobe, they'd be best heading to [Dreams Come True Boutique]. For the month of April the clothing store will be offering all new arrivals free vouchers for up to three new outfits of their choosing. Within reason, of course. But most all of the clothes here are decently priced with an odd array of fashions from the very old fashioned to near futuristic.

● [Linlae Botanical Gardens] resides not far from Main Street. Part of the gardens are covered, housed within a large green house, but most of the gardens are outside and easily accessed. There is much to see here, from the [Hedgemaze] with the secret gazebo at it's centre, [Hanging Gardens] and the weeping willows reaching into the waters of a large koi pond. If you're lucky you might see a large white carp, said to be 2,000 years old by the name of Etherus. Who knows how long he'd lived in that pond, but they say if you catch sight of him it's a sign of good luck. And if you manage to see him during a full moon, he may grant you a wish.
There are benches all over, places to sit and take in the peace. But don't expect much quiet, the twittering of birds is a near constant companion within these gardens.

● [A Home]. As you explore you will realise that you're going to need somewhere to stay the night. Of course you could always go to The Nowhere Inn and wait until morning, or you could just... open a door.
87% of the houses within the town of Williamsburg is vacant, and well maintained, for many years. These houses wait for someone to come and bring life into them. Inside your pocket you will find a key. If your key doesn't fit the lock, that house is occupied, so find another. When you finally open a door, you'll notice that the key has changed subtly. That key is now unique and can be used only for this house. It is yours.
Some houses come fully furnished, some might need some work. You might even be surprised to find that the house is one that looks vaguely familiar...

A Familiar View

It may have been immediate or it may take days for you to notice, but when you do...

The memories of your Dream World are coming back to you. It doesn't feel much like a dream at all. Those things that happened, those feelings you had, all seemed so real!

And then you find it.

It could be something as simple as a book, or as large as a building. You know this thing. This thing has been pulled directly from your memories, whether those memories are good or bad is entirely up to you. But there it is, as large as life, right in front of your eyes. What does this mean? Which world is real and which isn't? How did these things from that other world make it into this?
This is your chance to explore this new addition to Williamsburg. Maybe you will find the answers you seek? Or maybe you will be left with more questions. Just know that you aren't alone. It seems that almost everything in this world was pulled from another, brought here by 'others', and left here.

Maybe this new landmark, or item, leaves you with a warm feeling and questions are the last thing on your mind? Perhaps you would like to share with your friends, or even a perfect stranger, the joy that this thing brings you? Tell them your story. Share with them it's the history. Or maybe the feelings attached are feelings of anger, of horror and fear? Misery does love company, so don't go through with this trip down memory lane alone.

Down the Rabbit Hole

It starts with something small shifting around you. Maybe it’s a door or window, but as you walk down the street things take a turn for the bizarre. It’s far too late to escape by the time you notice the buildings themselves bleeding into the sky or folding back onto themselves.

You are stuck in The Corridor now.

And you appear to be alone. Or are you? As the buildings creak in protest you seem to hear footsteps. Is that a fellow waylaid traveler?

Before you can determine the direction of the sounds, one thing becomes clear to you: these homes and businesses, all that brick and mortar, seem to be closing in on you…

It is a gradual squeeze but you can tell that if you don’t get out of there you’ll eventually be crushed. As you explore this place where time and gravity seem to have lost all meaning and your senses may even betray you, you search for a way out or an end to this madness and that is when you finally realize that the buildings are taking shape according to your will. The more you panic, the more claustrophobic and chaotic things become. But if you remain calm and focus your attention you find you can tame the buildings back into their original shapes and places. Of course, it helps if you have a partner.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Grimmjow nods, taking his time chewing it just so he can enjoy the taste for longer. It's weird, but in a very good way.]

Yeah, I like it. Is it done? This one ain't crunchy no more. Still kinda tastes like the first one, but with rocks and other stuff. Seasonings, I guess.

Yep! Now it'll be time to eat, so we'll need to find bowls.

[Ichigo turns off the heat on the stove and starts looking for bowls and chopsticks for eating with.]

Why don't you see what there is to drink in the fridge? I mean, we can have water from the sink, but there might be other drinks, too.

[Grimmjow doesn't know where things belong in kitches, so instead of helping he just gets himself out of Ichigo's way, eyeing the pan like he's about to sneak another bite out of it with his nails when Ichigo asks him to check the fridge.

Luckily he's picked up a few things already from being in this world, so that sentence actually makes sense to him. He goes over to the fridge to yank it open and peer inside. He's not even surprised that it's cold, this time. His gaze drifts over the contents, and he picks out what he hopes are drink glasses and takes them over to the table, putting one in front of each seat.

One of the bottles is sake. The other is lemon juice.]

[Ichigo makes sure each bowl has an equal amount of rice and stir fry, then takes them to the table. He does his best to not laugh at the two bottles. But he does reach for the lemon juice first.]

This is called lemon juice. It's incredibly sour and acidic, so not great for drinking. It can be used to make things or to flavor things, but you wouldn't like it on its own.

[Reaching for the other bottle, he opens it and pours a bit into each of the glasses.]

This is sake, it's alcohol made from fermented rice. This is a drink, but if you've never had alcohol before, you'll want to go slow with it. Alcohol alters your brain in ways like messing with your balance, causing your reaction times to be slower, it can impact your judgement, and even make you slur your words. But it can also make you feel warm, happy, silly, and a little clumsy.

[It's a good thing he holds the laugh in, because Grimmjow is watching his reaction like a hawk, only relaxing as Ichigo explains what the two drinks are, wrinkling his nose a little at his mistake.]

Yeah, well, only stuff Aizen ever gives me t'drink is water or tea.

[He shrugs, like this is a perfectly normal thing to have said, and picks up the glass with sake in it. Alcohol, at least, was something he understood even if he wasn't directly familiar with it. He'd had plenty of wins against drunken idiots.

He took a little sip, made a bit of a face, before huffing out a breath.]

It bites. I like it.

It's good stuff. I don't know if you've been to the inn in town, but the bar there has some good drinks. They're called cocktails, I'm not sure why, but they have sometimes more than one kind of alcohol, as well as other things to affect the taste of the drink or the look of it.

[Ichigo picks up his chopsticks, says his thanks, and starts to eat.]

[Grimmjow inexplicably turns crimson when Ichigo mentions the inn, as he pretends to focus entirely upon getting the chopsticks set into his hand right.]

Yeah, I been there.

[Has he ever. He tries and fails to keep himself from thinking about what he did to that bar while Aizen was fucking him. This is about to get very uncomfortable.]

[The bright blush on Grimm's face makes Ichigo frown a little. He reaches across the table to press the back of his hand to the arrancar's forehead. Like he'd be able to tell if the dead man had a fever.]

You feeling alright? You're not having a hard time swallowing or breathing are you?

[Oh god, please don't let him be allergic to something Ichigo cooked with!]

[He jolts a little at the touch, but doesn't try to pull away or bite, blinking up at Ichigo.]

Uh... no. I'm fine. I just... did somethin' really embarrassing there.

[And hopefully he doesn't have to make something up.]

Oh. Well, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to.

[Ichigo has had many embarrassing moments in his life that he doesn't want brought up, so he drops it.]

I think the food turned out well, though. Next time, you can help me more if you want to. Or you can just keep me company while I cook.

[Grimmjow relaxes, nodding a little as he went back to trying to eat. He was struggling a little with the chopsticks, but seemed to be mostly headed in the right direction.]

I like t'watch. And it smells real nice, too. Like a better version of tea.

Then you are more than welcome to hang out and watch anytime I'm cooking. Though underwear is required at a minimum when I'm doing so.

[Mostly to minimize distraction, really. Though the tea comment had Ichigo snorting softly.]

Sounds like you haven't had good tea before. My place has a variety, and I'm a big proponent of putting things in tea to make it sweeter or otherwise elevate the flavor. I'm betting you never had those options in the past.

[He snorts at the underwear requirement, but he smiles anyway and takes another clumsy bite. It's clear he's well out of practice, but he's not getting pissed off about it, at least.]

I dunno, I got nothin' to compare it to. An' no, you take it how he puts it out, you think I'm stupid?

[The question has no venom to it, at least, as he shakes his head a little.]

In that case, I'll make tea for you some time, and make it better than he did. Plus, there will be variety in the options.

[Ichigo grins, tucking into his food.]

Also, there is more if you're still hungry after that bowl.

[It's weird, but Grimmjow can't help but smile at that promise, taking another bite of his food with a chuckle.]

I'm a hollow. I'm always hungry.

[Or rather, he hasn't gotten full yet and might not recognize the feeling when he does. He's about halfway through his bowl, and still going strong, though.]

Good, I'll make sure there's plenty to eat for you, then.

[Not that Ichigo was going to spend all day in the kitchen just making food, but he would be more than happy to cook nice meals for the man.]

[Plenty to eat is an entirely foreign concept to him, but he nods in agreement as he keeps eating.]

An' then we'll make the garden so we ain't gonna run out, right?

[He's pretty sure he's figured out the basics of how that works.]

We gonna grow meat, too?

[Okay. Most of the basics.]

Yup. Might take a month or two to get a proper crop ready for harvest, but yeah, I wanna do it soon.

[Ichigo chuckles lightly at the question.]

Well, meat comes from animals, and we can't grow those out of the ground. But we can see about maybe raising some animals? Get 'em good and fat, that way they'll have plenty of meat and a nice layer of fat that adds good flavor. Chickens can help keep bugs away from the plants, plus they lay eggs.

[Grimmjow lets out a rumble of a purr as he takes another bite.]

That sounds nice. We should get something that'll protect the garden, too. Like an Adjuchas maybe. M'sure Aizen could make 'em behave.

[Aizen sure as hell had Grimmjow behaving, after all, and he was stronger than anything they'd need for guarding the garden.]

Hell he might like havin' another toy around. Never thought I'd fuckin' miss Szayel, but that bastard held Aizen's attention.

Edited 2023-04-17 05:57 (UTC)

We'll see about a chicken coop, then. It'll give the chickens a safe place to sleep, and hopefully they'll only lay eggs there. I wonder if we need to have a rooster to get the hens laying or not...

[Ichigo wasn't sure if there was internet here, but he was reasonably sure he'd seen a library. And he would hopefully find some animal husbandry information there.]

[Grimmjow furrowed his brow a little at that. He wasn't sure what a coop was, but it didn't sound particularly safe to him... laying eggs he understood well enough, which would probably make a rooster a male chicken.

He shrugs in answer.]

I'll see if I can find some. I don't mind walkin' around a lot. This place has got lots of stuff to look at.

We can take a look at some books at the library together and you can see what to look for if you want. I need to do some research on what some of the plants will need in terms of support and spacing.

[And having company while researching would be nice, even if Grimmjow got bored and left him alone there.]

Books? You can't just go find a picture or somethin'?

[As far as he knew books were all just written, like the ones he'd seen Aizen or Gin reading. He'd never seen any with pictures in them, or even on the covers.]

I'll come if you want.

Books will be the best place to find pictures. Because there are plenty of books with pictures in them. To show you what different animals look like, the books targeted toward young children will be an easy way to go. Mostly because it'll be the shortest books and the pictures will be bigger than in the other books.

[Grimmjow hummed softly.]

Do you stop likin' the pictures just 'cause you get older? [Why would anyone not want books with big pictures? That sounded nice.]

TDM #1

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