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.

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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."

"I don't think that has anything to do with it. Ducks are probably harder to take care of. And unlike chickens, they can fly pretty well, so they're harder to keep from taking off."

...This was stuff he never thought of before, so it was just his best guess, really. Though he was of lower class, thankfully Adell did have a brain on him when he chose to use it.

"Can't argue with that, though I think nostalgia has a big part in it."

Edited 2014-07-21 00:16 (UTC)

"Don't they keep them in barns?" That's what you do with most animals, isn't it? Unless they fly up into the hay...you have to have hay in a barn, don't you?"

He'd never thought of this before...but Rozalin's preconceptions were dreadfully old fashioned.

"Nostalgia is like a medical illness you know. They came up with the word to describe soldiers who wanted to go home." And while that was technically true, it was also centuries out of date.

Adell quirked an eyebrow to her comments. Just how much did she actually get out? Not much, probably.

"Not really. Most animals are let out to graze or move around. Ducks being let out would have them flying off. And even then, if someone opens the barn, they might just fly out anyway."

He then takes a bite out of his pizza.

"I don't know where you heard that one," he stated, after swallowing. "Nowadays we just call that homesickness. And I don't really think wanting to enjoy things from previous eras or your childhood is exactly a medical thing."

"I think I heard something different about keeping things in barns and cages." Rozalin sulked a bit, and if she'd had her wings, she would have let them sag.

"But it's true. Swiss mercenaries, thousands of miles from home, when they'd never left the mountains before-it's all very interesting." She gestured with the fork. "You can't think that way about it, you have to put your head in the mind of the people back then. How did they think about and understand the world?"

"It's probably not that different from anyone today who never leaves their own state," he answered. "Lot of strange and different things out there. Some people just don't adapt well to change, especially if they're stuck fighting a war all the while. But I'm still not sure that's a medical thing."

Of course, he doesn't understand that people back then thought very much differently on the art of medicine, either.

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Test Drive Meme - July 2014

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...I thought I had tagged.

'sall good!

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