omegafools | Test Drive Meme

Test Drive Meme - July 2014

Thinking of joining The Omegafriends, but want to get a feel for things first? Need some threads for your application sample? You’ve come to the right place! Reply with your character down below, with at least one of the provided prompts to get things going. Then, go around to other people and tag them! Have threads! Have fun!

If you’re not sure what this game is about, look here or here! If you want to lay down a reserve, go here! For anything else, look here!

We will be putting up a new Test Drive on the 15th of every month.

Prompts

1. Venture City in Peril! Dr. Devious’s army of Deviobots are ransacking the city! No, wait, Baron Von Tyrannosaur is back with another dinosaur army! No, wait, it's... really, ther's a lot of different ways a city can be imperiled. However, no matter the threat, it’s up to you, the Omegafriends, to save the day - but you’ll need to work together to repel the forces of evil.

2. A Hero is Born! What started as an ordinary day was thrown into chaos as your newfound superpowers began to suddenly awaken! What perilous problems and zany antics will this bring about? Stay tuned to find out!

3. The Adventure Mundane! It's not all over-the-top heroics here - sometimes, ordinary day-to-day life can be just as much trouble! On the trail of a story for the Daily Venture? Frantic last-minute studying for tomorrow's math test? Harassing people to sign petitions on street corners? Hitting the arcade to destroy simulated villains instead of real ones? The sky's the limit!

4. Welcome to the Omegabase! The super-secret underground Omegabase has it all - training centers, VR simulators, free snack machines, but most important is a whole lot of Supers! Take a minute to kick back and get to know your fellow heroes.

5. The Mighty Showdown! In the life of a Super, good and evil are always clashing in battle. Today, you’ve come face to face with one of the many supervillains threatening the future of Venture City! Who will rise and who will fall? Next issue: The shocking answer!

6. Wild Card! Got an idea for a thread or prompt that isn’t one of those? Make up your own! We won’t stop you.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Just because the Octupple Meat Pizza was crazy meaty, didn't mean that it wasn't a gourmet item. or well, maybe it could be made into one if some of the ingredients were a higher quality. Regardless, what was important was that Rozalin hungered for meat, she didn't feel like going to a steakhouse where she would get looks for ordering her food nearly raw, and the pizza was available and had even been recommended by a certain vampire. It seemed like a good idea nearly half an hour ago.

Still, Rozalin felt some trepidation when she heard the buzzer. She'd never actually eaten pizza before, though she had seen it in some of the films and television shows she had watched on the giant plasma-screen in her living room. But she had a feeling that she was going to mess it up somehow. Peering through the peephole, she confirmed that yes, that was a pizza delivery boy-and an oddly familiar one. Unlocking the door, she gave him the look she reserved for servants and members of the lower classes who has serious business with her. Which was nearly everyone who she had business with. "Well, how much?"

As the door clicked open, he gave the box one last look over without opening it. Weight was fine, didn't feel like anything had shifted, and the whole thing was still warm. Perfect. At least he couldn't be blamed for screwing up a delivery on his end. Before he made eye contact with her, he merely registered she was speaking...

"That'll be $16.79," he said, silently adding plus tip to the total in his head, but not speaking it allowed. It had been a heck of a trek to get up here, and... Then he looked up. Wait a minute, he knew her. "Oh... hey. Didn't expect to see you."

...This was kind of awkward. She actually ordered this thing. Not that it was a bad pizza, but... she was the last person he expected to order delivery pizza.

"Yes, here-" Rozalin froze, her hand still in her purse, the money just barely brushing her fingertips. "Oh. You." She puffed up, squaring her shoulders and staring straight at him. Their last meeting...well it hadn't been pleasant, and she had yelled at him, but looking back it was hard to remember what specifically he had done. Either she had blotted it from her memory in shock, or she had been so upset that she had taken it out on him. Or maybe both. "I suppose that if I give you some extra, you will keep your lips sealed, hmmm?"

The mood had gone somewhat sour and she stood stiffly, mentally debating what to do. Take it, give him a twenty and send him away? An extra ten to seal his lips? Or... Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. President Grant left her purse and she waved the note under his nose. "This seems a bit bigger than I was anticipating. And, I must admit, I'm not used to eating this sort of thing. Some advice would be...appreciated."

Oh, something about that puffed up stance ground his gears. Just... the arrogance of it, the showmanship... and on top of whatever disagreement they had before. One that slipped his mind, really... probably something was taken the wrong way and it escalated. He had done his best to put it out of his mind.

Still, he let her spoke, and was kind of shocked that she'd offer him such a high amount of money, just to keep quiet about this. As tempting as a thirty dollar tip was, he still felt... wrong, in accepting it. Besides, he had his own secrets to protect, so he kinda knew how it felt.

"You know, if you're really not comfortable with me divulging that you ordered pizza, I won't tell anyone. You don't actually need to bribe me to do it. That's not my style."

As honest as could be. It might be perplexing for someone to turn down something so generous, but he's still a man of principle, and if it was a bribe rather than a tip, it just didn't feel right.

"Advice? You've never eaten a pizza before?" His question wasn't condescending, surprisingly, though it easily could have been. He's more surprised at this than anything. ...Still, again, he just wouldn't feel right to tell her to figure it out herself. "All right, I can help you out. What do you want to know about it?"

The money was literally meaningless. To anyone else, her purse was empty, to her, the black credit card and bottomless reserves of cash were perfectly normal. "It's not a bribe. It's just a symbol of my appreciation of your silence." Same thing Rozalin. Even she seemed to realize that, and she hastily added "And payment for this little extra favor as well."

"Of course I've eaten Pizza before! Just not one so replete with...stuff." Rozalin deflated slightly, and took the pizza, leaving the door open behind her as she walked into her...well, to call it an apartment might be insulting. It looked like most of the building's top floor was given over to this place and-was that a pool out on the balcony? Was the art on the walls real-the Picasso and the Warhol? Had anyone with sense been consulted at any point during the process, or had Rozalin simply created the slightly gaudy decor by going for anything that was worth a lot of money? Was the utter lack of anything like a family picture intentional, or had Rozalin simply forgotten to make this place homey at all?

Whatever Adell's thoughts, Rozalin was peeking under the lid at her purchase and blanching somewhat. Ugh, maybe she should have gone easy on it rather than purchasing such a rich pizza. Still, the kitchen cabinets held perfectly serviceable plates-and even though she had sent away the maid for the day, she was capable of handling this, wasn't she? Even if she had been lying earlier.

He quirked an eyebrow in response to her first answer, that it wasn't a bribe. The lie wasn't convincing at all, and her tacked on sentiment at the end confirmed it. Still, if she was going to insist on it, he might take it later, but not before he helped her.

When she moved deeper inside the apartment and left the door open for him, he stepped inside and made ready to follow her... before stopping, making sure to wipe his feet on the mat first. He didn't think his feet were that dirty, but just one look at the place screamed opulence and the last thing he needed was to be accused of tracking dirt into the place. Her apartment was unlike anything he'd ever seen, heck, anything he ever dared to dream of. But it somehow felt... cold. Alien. Maybe being in presence of such wealth was just uncomfortable for him... and the paintings on the walls alone might be worth more than his father made in a year.

Some people were just born wealthy, and perhaps lucky, it seemed. But the feeling of coldness around here still... never left.

Once in the kitchen, he merely waited for Rozalin to do what needed to be done. She couldn't be that helpless, right? Her reaction to the pizza upon looking at it troubled him a bit, though. It should've been fine...

"Something wrong?"

Rozalin jumped and blushed a little bit when he caught her. "Ah, well, I don't know. I've never seen one of these before, are they normally so...thick?" The pile of toppings was nearly thicker than the crust, and that had to be extra-strong to support the weight on top of it. "It looks like something that you should use a knife and fork on, not eat with your hands."

Not that she ate with her hands much. Come to think of it, there didn't seem to be any napkins around here...maybe in one of the drawers, under the marble counter-top. And yes, she's watching him to make sure that he doesn't break anything, the big galoot. Some of these items are literally irreplaceable, and insuring them in Venture is...difficult.

"Well, how would you do it?"

Adell smiled a little, but kept his hands off anything valuable, other than leaning on the counter top a little. Even he couldn't casually break marble.

"Well, I'd probably still try to eat it with my hands anyway, even if it might make a bit of a mess," he stated, but he reconsidered a moment later. "Though, you're probably the type that doesn't like getting their hands dirty, huh? A knife and fork would work for you then, even if that's pretty taboo amongst pizza enthusiasts."

It was, at any rate. But then again, the super-meat-lovers insane pizza would not be a typical choice even amongst enthusiasts.

"And yeah, the Octuple-Meat Special does have to be made a little thicker than the normal hand-tossed stuff. All those toppings can really weigh it down. It's not like supreme pizza, where even if it has a lot of toppings, most of them are vegetables don't weigh it as heavily."

"It isn't so much my hands as my dress that worries me." Rozalin's outfit was rather more elaborate than what most people wore for 'laying around' in, which seemed to have been her primary activity-though judging by the book on the couch, she had also been reading about bees of all things. But the fine fabric did seem something worthy of not wanting to stain-even if there was a rather large amount of bare skin jutting out.

But on the other hand, taboo was not a word to throw around lightly. So Rozalin turned to rummage around for a pie server, face lightly lined by concentration before she lifted a slice out and delicately placed it on the plate. "Yes, I can see that now. They really did pile it on, didn't they?"

Well, it seemed like there was only one thing to do-lean forward, lift it up, and take a bite. Even if that meant that Adell might get a better look at her than he had imagined he would.

The hero nods thoughtfully when she mentions her dress. Considering it looked fancier than anything he owned by a factor of ten at least...

"I can understand that, now that you mention it. I hadn't thought about it. But yeah, Big Antonio doesn't mess around with making sure his pizza's made to please, so he never does anything lightly." Though thinking on it maybe the fork and knife might not have been such a bad idea in retrospect... what with the very real risk of something falling off and onto...

...Wow. Not... what he had in mind at first, and thankfully nothing fell off yet. The view was certainly very nice, but Adell quickly blushed and averted his gaze. That was totally unprofessional and accidental of him, and he felt bad for staring even briefly. Brushing off the embarrassment, he spoke again.

"So, uh... what do you think?"

Rozalin pulled back, chewing slowly, eyes half closed and then in a flash produced a napkin to wipe her lips before responding. "Well, you can tell 'Big Tony' that he makes an acceptable pizza by my standards. But I think I will use the utensils in the future." Looking at him she caught his blush and blinked once.

And then what she had just done caught up to her and she blushed faintly herself. She resisted the urge to cover her decoletage, but only just, and instead waited for a moment before coughing lightly into her hand. She was about to ask him to leave-but another thought occurred to her. And before she could stop it, she was speaking "So! This is a bit bigger than I was anticipating. Since you won't take the money I offered...would a share of the pizza be acceptable?"

Why had she asked him to stay?!?

Having his blush noticed was embarrassing enough; he figured she'd very quickly get angry with him and throw him out. Preparing to save her the trouble, he made ready to move... only to be taken off guard.

The offer was surprising. But he gave a warmer, genuine sort of smile in response. Perhaps such a smile was rare to her, a simple, earnest affair that thought more of the gesture rather than the value of it. It may seem perplexing, but Adell was not a complicated man.

"I think that sounds much more fair. Thank you."

Maybe his first impression of her had been quite wrong after all.

Well, she'd learned to control her temper since coming to Earth. A bit. Enough to not slap him at first. Though not enough to explain the offer-where had that come from? It certainly had nothing to do with his height, his broad shoulders or the way his shirt clung to his pecs.

No, it had nothing to do with that.

"Strange, that money isn't your style but food is. Though it is good to know what bribes you will accept." The dig didn't stop her from handing over a plate, before returning to her own to eat it, this time picking off each of the ingredients one at a time with her fork to taste them independently. She had no great expectations about them, save perhaps the duck confit, but perhaps one or two might prove worthy of repeat patronage.

Adell shook his head at the bribe comment again, shrugging lightly as he received the plate with a nod in thanks.

"It's not so much that it's a bribe. Or rather, even if you're rich, it's not about money, so much as it's about principle, you know? I'm not going to intentionally embarrass or blackmail someone, much less for simply ordering a pizza. Bribing me with cash didn't feel right, and if you were insisting on paying me for my advice, I think a slice or two of pizza's a much more fair asking price for something so simple. See where I'm getting at?"

Just an honest man, living an honest life.

He picked up the slice of pizza, and folded it over as he bit into it; it's how the New Yorkers did it, and how Big Antonio always said to do it. All he could do was try not to make a mess with it, which is why he kept the plate held below his chin a few inches, to make sure of that.

"Hm, not bad. I never tried this one before," he stated, trying to pick out the various flavors as he ate it. He really preferred the supreme, though. This pizza was a tad too rich and heavy to be something he'd really want to order himself.

Honestly...such a rare virtue, in the Netherworld. Really, she wasn't surprised about that. What she was surprised about, was how basically good humans were. remain around sinners long enough, and even the simple honesty of street vendors takes you in-and Adell was well above that level. Still, his 'reasonable' payments were still somewhat ridiculous to Rozalin. "Rather the reverse of the comedian and the waitress, isn't it?"

Rozalin didn't elaborate on that one, instead cutting a piece off her slightly lightened piece even as she watched Adell eat with some curiosity. She could tell that this one wasn't quite meant to be eaten like that-it was a bit too thick and it tore a bit rather than flexing cleanly. She frowned a bit-if he got that on the carpet or the upholstry she would!

Why had she invited him in again? Turning back to her pizza, she shoved another bite into her mouth, chewing and swallowing before she responded. "It is acceptable, as I've said. The higher class ingredients manage to balance the lower ones, keeping the bacon from being too smokey or the salty-fishiness of the anchovies from putting one off."

"I guess? I don't really get the metaphor," he admitted, but he assumed it probably wasn't important.

Thankfully, Rozalin didn't have to worry, Adell had been eating pizza long enough to know when to be careful, and that's why he had the plate at the ready. He was very much prepared for this.

"There's other good ways to balance the flavor too. Anchovies... much less so, most of the time. They scream their presence quite loudly, and it's tough to mask or compliment them, I think. I actually find some vegetables balance out bacon or sausage quite well. Like green peppers, or black olives.

That's the best part about pizza, really. You can throw darn near anything on it, and you might end up with a winning combination. Pretty sure Antonio came up with this one on a dare, actually."

"Well, perhaps someone else will explain the importance of haggling to you." Rozalin certainly wasn't.

"Well, a carnivore like myself doesn't exactly have the stomach for olives or peppers except as garnish. A few capers on my beef tartare or Carpaccio are fine. But not much more." Rozalin gestured to her fridge. "You won't find many vegetables in there. Though admittedly, you won't find much in there most days anyways." Eating out almost constantly had left her large refrigerator rather barren except when she hired a chef and stocked it for a special occasion. But today, well, there was nothing special in there.

"Hmmm. Perhaps I will issue a challenge for him in the future. This is all right-but with a few tweaks it could really be something good."

He chuckled at that whole story. It seemed completely silly, listening to that. Then again, growing up poor, you have to strongly embrace being an omnivore if you don't want to go hungry.

"A carnivore, huh? Well, you're missing out on a lot of good stuff if you don't like vegetables. Mom cooks some great stuff with them pretty often. She ended up pretty creative with what she had, all things considered. My kid sister's learning from her example too."

He took another bite out of his pizza, but swallowed it before he started speaking again. At least he had some minor semblance of manners.

"Got any ideas off the top of your head? I can pass them off to him when I get back to the store."

"Is your entire family cullinarily inclined? Or just yourself and the women?" Rozalin was admittedly just making coversation now, but she had to admit she was at least a little curious. Family was...well for her it had always been a tightrope walk of pleasing mother, or making sure that nobody was hurt, making sure that Zenon didn't kill herself or anyone else...but now she had failed at that somehow, and it made her heart ache.

"I suppose I might have a few. The duck on here, it's quite good on it's own, but it might be even better if it was given it's own show to star in. I imagine it's a more expensive ingredient for you to work with though. Difficult to source perhaps? Hmmm, maybe with goat cheese and caramelized onions if you must have some vegetation."

"I'm not much of a cook," he admitted, "I just have picked up a few things about taste and stuff from what Mom and Hanako talk about. That, and from my own tastes. Other than that, I just help make the pizzas at work."

With another bite, he listened to her reply, nodding while she talked.

"Difficult to get, and it's not really in high demand either. Duck's not exactly a popular topping on pizza to begin with. And I've never had goat cheese before, so I wouldn't really know what that tastes like or what it pairs with. But those onions we could probably do."

"You still know a bit more than me about all this. Not that I mind really." Rozalin had eaten fine food all her life-but knowing about cooking it was another story.

"Well it ought to be. I'm not entirely sure what is wrong with you people when you would rather put pepperoni on this than well prepared duck breast." They do that because it's cheaper Rozalin. But it would never occur to you that cost should enter into something-do it expensively, or not at all seems to be her motto.

"Your boss really could do more upmarket sales if he wanted you know. There is obviously some talent in this that is wasted on plain cheese and tomato sauce."

"Duck's expensive, is why. My family couldn't afford to have duck pizza pretty much... ever, really. And besides, some people just prefer the taste of pepperoni. I know I do."

Low class tastes, yes, but honestly it's more that he can appreciate just about anything without it having to be pricey.

"Thing is, most of our clients aren't upscale, either. The way he looks at is supply and demand; there's a lot more people who want the common toppings than the rare ones, so that's where he makes the bulk of his money. Clients like you are much fewer in number, and even if the items were more expensive, he wouldn't turn as much profit.

Still, that's pretty high praise, I think he'll be glad to hear that."

"I don't see why. Chicken or pork is dirt cheap, but duck is expensive? That seems like inane moon-logic." Didn't people have goose for Christmas here like her books (Dickens mostly) had said?

"Hmmm. I suppose you can make more pinching pennies off the lower classes, but it seems like there ought to be enough money to go around for higher tier items in this town. I mean, just look at all those completely useless phone booths on the street. Does anyone actually use them, aside from hipsters?"

Welp. Best not to admit what those are really for.

"Duck's not raised on farms on a mass scale, while chickens and pigs are. I think there's you're reason: getting it's harder."

Unfortunately for Rozalin, her reading on culture of the lower classes is a couple of centuries out of date.

"...I've seen a couple of people use them."

He didn't say as to why, of course. Definitely not for superhero use. Nope. They were definitely making phone calls and nothing else.

"I am very nearly certain that I have heard of large scale duck farming, haven't I?" Rozalin frowned and furrowed her brow in concentration. "Perhaps it is simple self-perpetuating prejudice against tasty waterfowl."

Yeah, she was out of date. But she was smart, and she did understand things like fashion and style in a general way.

"Must have been those hipsters. It couldn't be people who don't actually own phones. I don't think I've ever seen a phone booth so expensive." Rozalin, when was the last time you saw a phone booth?

"Besides, I hear that the government is practically giving away phones. So every year, they get more and more outdated."

Test Drive Meme - July 2014

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...I thought I had tagged.

'sall good!

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