TEST DRIVE ∞ May 2025

[thediadem]

Test Drive ∞ May 2025

The First Collision

©

Jump ⇅ :: Arrival — Panorama — Fringes — Invite Request

The Diadem is an invite-only panfandom game set in a retro-futuristic world where uprooted souls find themselves deep within an eerie wasteland of roads and highways frequently assailed by cosmic storms. Three united strongholds keep the population. Its capital is Panorama, a large metropolis at the planet's center.

Soon, you realize you aren't alone. Calling themselves fluxdrifts, the "locals" have similar stories to you, either for themselves or their ancestry. You speak to an old woman who claims she hailed from another star. You meet a young man who says his great-great-grandfather knew a strange language everybody spoke "back home." As you explore, you stumble across a coin you recognize or your sister's locket. How did it get here? What does this mean? That's for you to discover.

But first, you need to find a ride.

No invites needed to play on the TDM. Everyone's welcome! Use the Invite Request thread below to request an invite from another player.

∞ Summary ∞

IC-wise, arrivals are scattered throughout the month. Events described on the TDM are also ongoing throughout the month. If you'd rather jump right into the action, you're free to begin in media res with your character having already been on the planet for several days.

Post-impact, characters will wake up in a med tent by the Scrapyard. From there, they must accept a vehicle on loan and make the 2-hour drive to the nearest city, Panorama. If they refuse the car because they don't want the loan, they'll be in debt for medical bills instead...so just take the car. It'll come in handy.

Some things to keep in mind when bringing in your character:

• Pick an injury. At minimum, they got knocked out; at most, whatever they can recover from. Medicine is decently advanced so they'll heal faster if not painlessly.
• Decide items kept. Reasonable items on their person only: photos, keys, clothes, costumes. No pets or animal companions. Wildly out-of-place tech and personal cell phones will be damaged beyond repair.
• Select a weapon. Do this only if eligible. Guidelines about weapons and powers are on the FAQ.
• Choose a vehicle. Decide whether your character gets 2-3 options or if they're stuck with something they hate. Players can pick directly from our collection or source their own images. Anything under a similar aesthetic will work. If your character needs accommodations for driving, they can have them. Ask us for details.
• Get a phone. Characters have to obtain a phone (and a SIM card) themselves. If they've got one from home, it's damaged beyond repair. Phones are cheap. It'll only take a couple of weeks to afford one. You need to know the number before you text or call anyone. Read about phones and the Forum before you hop on it.

TDM threads can be canon if characters are accepted. Top-levels made to the TDM should be open to all.

TDM Questions? Here — Game Questions? FAQ

Setting — Taken — Reserves — Applications ::: ⇅ Top

Fluxdrift

Arrival & Introduction

Date: Throughout May

You've tumbled over a cliff. You were fighting for your life. You're on the cusp of death. You slipped in the shower. Whatever the catalyst, you struggle to cling to consciousness. As darkness overtakes you, a swirling vortex warps light and shadow in a way that defies all physics. A dark wail etches into your very bones. You couldn't describe it if you tried. You can barely comprehend what it is.

Then you open your eyes.

Through the figure's mask ©, you swear the face is grinning down at you. The tent you're in smells of antiseptic, and scratchy blankets line your cot. Injuries you've sustained have been bandaged. In the corner, you spot a MedBot that's fixed you up. Depending on the extent of your injuries, the doctor on duty might give you some painkillers before you go. Thankfully, your belongings are by the exit. Sorry if anything's damaged. Your landing was pretty rough.

You follow the figure outside. They are Yom Crook, here to lend a hand to fellow fluxdrifts like yourself. Their car's parked beside them. Actually, there are lots of cars around, but Yom Crook's stands out with its painted shark mouth. They explain they found you, unconscious, in a diffusion zone and brought you here. The nearest city is a 2-hour drive northeast. Forget about walking. You'll never make it. Also, you owe the doctor a lot of money for patching you up. But you're in luck: they've got some wheels for you and if you accept the vehicle on loan, Yom Crook will cover your medical bills. That's a good deal, right? It's not the shiniest car or motorcycle, but it'll do. If fortune favors, you'll get to choose between two or three options. Plus, if you need accommodations to drive—like adjustments to your seat height or modified controls—you'll receive all that for free.

Take the vehicle. (And the loan.) Yom Crook assures you that you'll have six months before collectors come around. Any time you're ready to pay a part of it down, return here to the Scrapyard. You'll get a receipt and everything. Paying off the loan in six months isn't impossible, but it will take a lot of work. Just don't get too lax. There's a good chance you'll be juggling multiple loans as you try to get by.

You either know how to drive, or you'll have a bare-bones manual to get you started. Road rules are more a suggestion than enforced, so just hit the pedal and go. The car has some basic features. The built-in compass will help you navigate.

OPTIONAL PROMPTS: a flat tire; a body on the road (is it a trap?); a fender bender

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Panorama

Explore & Settle In

Conditions: Warm spring temperatures, light showers

After 2 hours on the road, you find civilization. The largest of the strongholds, Panorama is where the economy thrives. Massive power plants glowing red make it visible from a distance. The city is divided into three districts. For now, you can access the Pavilion and the Blocks. Don't worry about the Sanctum; they're not letting you in.

You only need to know two things about Panorama: 1) it's big, the size of a modern metropolis, and you'll need your car to get around; 2) anything goes as long as you don't pick a fight with the wrong person. Street smarts will get you far. Despite its geographical size, the population isn't huge. With roughly a million people in a city designed for over twice that number, Panorama is far from deserted, but nor is it overcrowded. It's a good thing. Resources are limited as it is.

The Pavilion: Free Samples

©

Like any large city, Panorama features a couple of supermarkets. The stock's not as consistent as a proper supermarket. On occasion, shelves can remain cleaned out for a week or two. Regardless, the long tradition of free samples remains. If you're not already shopping, you'll notice the crowded parking lot and clusters of lines inside.

Try samples, push through the crowds as you shop, or give yourself a five-finger discount. If you're cautious, you can pocket a few small items without consequences. The Pavillion doesn't have the infrastructure for surveillance; unless someone sees you, you won't be caught. Steal from the store or pilfer someone's wallet. Maybe you even make a new friend if you bump into another fluxdrift. Or, start a fight with somebody who cut you off in the cheese line. Don't make too much of a ruckus, or you'll be thrown out.

As you look around, you'll see posters advertising temporary positions for the cash register or graveyard shifts in the warehouse. Seems they might've lost several employees recently (how'd that happen?), which is good for you! It's just a 6-week position, but it'll get you on your feet. The city has temporary positions like this all over. Permanent ones are harder to come by when you're new.

Samples include: steamed cabbage dumplings, synthetic cherry juice, cheddar cheese, and chocolate-covered alien eggs (it's crunchy and weirdly tasty). They're served in the usual throwaway paper cups with little toothpicks.

The Blocks: Power Outage

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Power's finicky in Panorama, especially in the Blocks. Saint Margery's Hospital, located in the same area, has priority for power so the first to go are the motels. Maybe you've been in your room for a couple of weeks, maybe you just got here—and by the way, every motel desk is happy to put the fee on your tab if you don't have the money upfront—but all the motels on the east side are in a blackout, leaving only the west side motels up and running.

What do you do? You have three choices:

• Risk leaving your room and head to the other side where there's power. Knock on some doors and negotiate with another to share the room. They might shut the door in your face, ask for a favor in return, or be nice enough to help you with no strings attached. There's no guarantee your unattended room will be untouched, though, and you'll be on the hook for any damages an intruder causes.
• Sit in the dark and deal. It's not the worst idea, but the TV's down, the vending machines are powered down, and with the entire place plunged into darkness, you risk getting robbed. If you struggle with defending yourself, you might want to find some trustworthy company. You can also sneak out of there and let them take your leftover pizza. It's not like you've got a ton of valuables, right? Plus, clobbering someone in the face with a frying pan sounds great until you realize you've gotta do something with the body. And what if this person's got a friend waiting?
• Get in your car and drive (or grab a friend for a road trip). If you scroll the Forum, you might notice reports on diffusion zones southward. Besides, these motels are hardly your forever home. The city can only provide so much. Why not go for a ride and see what you can find out there?

OPTIONAL PROMPTS: clean up on aisle 3 (what is that goo?); a knock at your door but no one's there; you hear screaming or a commotion down the hall

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©

The Fringes

Quad 3: Lockdown

Conditions: Stormy, with flooding roads

Felix Bjurstrom
> Date: 125-05-17
> Time: 02:15:57

> Emergency road lights have been reported in Quadrant 3! Please, can someone go see what's there? When last we chasers investigated emergency lights, a whole truck filled with sour candy had tipped over. Our stores were stocked for weeks! Oh, be careful - reception looks bad in that zone.

Whether you end up here on your own or you were following a tip on the Forum, the outcome is the same: you come to a stop in front of a 2-story office building that's flooded several inches deep. Emergency lights from a roadblock flicker through the stormy night. Stepping out of your car, you're soaked within seconds. When you check your phone, you don't have any bars. No calls in or out.

Through the open windows, a computer awakens and displays a cheerful smile. The lights inside switch on.

Pick your scenario role below. Your thread partner doesn't need to take the opposite role! They can join you in the same scenario (i.e. trapped together). Players are also free to create a generic NPC for the other side to facilitate the thread.

After characters escape, they'll find one bottle of antibiotics in their pocket or car, whether they remember taking it or not.

A: Sealed In
As you peer through the windows, you see crates of medicine floating around. Antibiotics in the diadem are valuable. Hospitals and doctors are always buying. You can keep it for yourself or make a quick buck. Or maybe you're compelled to help somebody back in the city who's in need. Whatever the reason, you decide to take the risk and step inside.

Water splashes around your ankles. The lock buzzes behind you. If you try to break the windows, you discover they're unnaturally resistant to shattering. With the whole place locked tight, the water begins to churn. Then the computer lights up again.

Warning, it flashes in large, bold text. Quarantine in progress. Release code required for exit.

• To find the code, you'll have to search. Duck under the water, go through sopping envelopes and sticky notes or pick the locks on the filing cabinets and desk drawers. You can also try hacking the computers. Use your computer knowledge or fall back on the age-old trick of seeing who wrote down their password.
• The files, notepads, and emails start innocuous, but as you look through them, disturbing phrases jump out at you—a dark thought you've had or a cruel taunt from someone in your past. The longer you're fixed on the terrible words, the higher the water begins to rise. Only another can break you out of your trance.
• With the rising water comes fear. And the more you're afraid, the more the water also rises. You begin to see faces in the water, bobbing like balloon heads. Do you recognize them? If you move to take a closer look, they will sink back beneath the surface as if never there.
• If you manage to swallow your panic, you can eventually find a triple-laminated binder with the release code and instructions. Bad news: you need someone on the outside to punch in the 6 strange symbols in order. The instructions explain that the code panel is located at the back of the building.

Let's hope a friendly face comes along.

B: Set Free
As you peer through the windows, you see not just the crates of medicine but someone trapped inside. They look like they might be in trouble, and from your vantage point, you notice that the water is bubbling strangely. It's definitely not normal rainwater. As you watch, the water rises unnaturally, stopping and starting. It's as if the water level is responding to an external stimulus.

• The glass is soundproof. You can't hear what the person inside is saying, so you'll have to communicate with each other another way. Try charades, typing on your phone, or whatever you think of. Eventually, you determine that they're stuck and that you need to enter some sort of code onto a pad located—according to your trapped partner—at the back of the building.
• Around the back, shadows swallow your surroundings. The panel must be pried open, but a slippery substance makes it hard to get a good grip. Each time the substance touches you, you grow uneasy. You swear you see eyes watching you, though when you turn around, nothing's there.
• You can't seem to keep the instructions in your mind. And those symbols...they burn into your retinas. Through them, you glimpse an incomprehensibly massive figure unfurling in the darkness, pulsing as if in a deep sleep. When you snap back to reality, you realize you've injured yourself, slicing your hand on a sharp edge or a bruise you can't remember getting.
• Once you manage to release the doors, the water inside the office drains upward into the sky as though sucked out by a giant hose. The darkness spreads. Get out of there fast before the shadows drag you or your partner into the void.

Of course, you don't have to help anyone. You can leave the individual there, make a deal, or outright extort them. But remember, you're not the only person on these roads. You might want to play your cards carefully, even if altruism isn't your first instinct.

Main Navigation ::: ⇅ Top

Comments

bite your ankles

[exarched]

[ G'raha doesn't bother to hide the irritation that cross his face when Emet-Selch rather rudely takes the binder for himself, his tail doing a few fast flicks. That was his book of knowledge, thank you very much.

Still...as annoying as G'raha finds the other man, his exasperation in this instance is more than warranted. ]

An architect with a poor sense of humor.

[ Or someone who wanted to make this a trap. He's not sure he likes that option.

G'raha tries to grab the binder back. ]

What matters is that we're at the liberty of luck; should someone else venture into this room and find us, I see few other options.

don't make me get the spraybottle

[unsunder]

[ The book of so-called knowledge is useless to them, if they cannot get to the control panel to use it, or if someone else doesn't come along. ]

I do not make a habit of relying on luck. Come here.

[ He is once again not waiting for G'raha to acquiesce, snatching him by the arm to tug him close. Why he even bothers is beyond him. Perhaps because he knows he'll somehow never hear the end of it if he lets the Warrior of Light's favorite catboy drown.

Familiar darkness envelops them both in a black-purple swirl, but as before, the magic refuses to do as it's told. They end up a whole two feet in front of where they started.

Ohhhh he hates this place so much. ]

you spritz g'raha?? jail!

[exarched]

[ It is for the best that G'raha doesn't have a clue what Emet-Selch's plan is at the onset. And really, for Emet-Selch even better that he has no inclination in shooting people to make a point. But being in close proximity to the other man does little to foster the spirit of teamwork between them, no matter how necessary it is. ]

Wha--!

[ He is already half-pushing back against the ancient when a familiar swirl of aether surrounds them and then it clicks--

He can teleport.

He could teleport the whole damned time.

He will be able to be furious later, once he's no longer past his knees in suspicious water. G'raha wrinkles his nose, ears flattening against his head as the whoosh--albeit with a different flare--consumes them and-- ]

...

[ Okay, he can't resist. ]

Do you...usually have this problem?

[unsunder]

[ Everyone sure has something smart to say when this happens, don't they? It takes every onze of self-control that Emet-Selch has not to just shove G'raha over into the water. ]

Only since I arrived here.

[ He shoots him a glare that just dares him to say something else, at his own peril. ]

'Tis why I did not offer it as a solution in the first place, but if we are out of options then it is all we have.

[ Which is to say, BUCKLE UP BUTTERCUP HE'S TRYING AGAIN. This next attempt sees them move slightly to the right. The third time, as they say, is the charm, because now the crawling darkness is followed by the familiar whoosh of movement, and Emet-Selch finds himself outside the room itself.

... Without his passenger.

He whips around to peer into the window. Hello??? ]

[exarched]

[ If his life weren't on the line, G'raha Tia would absolutely take that bet. The candor of the Exarch isn't required anymore and he can be just as petty as he feels. Which is quite a bit.

But, it is, so G'raha wisely keeps his lips sealed shut as the subsequent attempt fails. He can feel the fur on his tail and ears standing up on end as the aether struggles to find its balance.

On the third, G'raha finds himself stumbling forward, suddenly without the ancient at his side, holding him steady. He blinks several times, looking about to seeing Emet-Selch oh so conveniently on the other side of the glass.

The glass that has proven to be impervious to magic. That now contains one G'raha Tia, former Crystal Exarch and general nuisance to one Emet-Selch, packaged up and ready to drown. It would hardly be Emet-Selch's fault, wouldn't it? Should he leave it as is. He tried. It just wasn't met to be. And their dear mutual friend isn't around to ensure he plays well with others.

G'raha straightens, fists at his sides.

He well understands his fate is in Emet-Selch's hands. ]

[unsunder]

[ This is quite the predicament, isn't it?

He watches the man formerly known as the Crystal Exarch regain some of his former stoicism, standing straight. He knows. Whether he lives or dies in this moment depends on Emet-Selch, once enemy of his people, of his star and its shards, and of his dearest, most beloved friend.

Were he the man he was on the First, wearing the guise of Solus Zos Galvus, the decision would be an easy one. He would walk away without a second thought and rid himself of this thorn in his side once and for all. He could still do that, in fact.

But he's not that man anymore, at least not in full. Though he's not entirely sure who or what he is anymore, under it all, buried beneath eons and lifetimes of suffering and scheming and carrying the full weight of an entire world on his shoulders, there yet lives a sliver of the man who would always come whenever Azem called.

Before he can give himself too much time to think about it, and with no indication of what he means to do (sorry, G'raha), he turns sharp on his heel and bolts. ]

[exarched]

[ The stare-down feels like eons even though G'raha realistically knows it's only a matter of seconds. Two men, separated by millennia upon millennia and forced together by fate and circumstance once again.

Though he knows of the Warrior of Light's foray into Elpis, he has little desire to reconcile the man Azem might have known in the Days of Eld with the one who had nearly cost them everything. He can recognize, for a moment, the role that he played in returning G'raha and the other Scions to their physical forms before they faced the Endsinger (or tried to), but he knows well that was their friend's request. There is no honor nor past life shared between them of which to stand any small semblance of comradery.

This man owes him nothing. And, G'raha imagines, must be pleased with the opportunity to rid himself of any other problems.

So when Emet-Selch disappears, G'raha closes his eyes. This is to be his end, is it? ]

...

[ No, he won't let his final act be something so unbecoming. G'raha will accept his death once it serves a purpose. If anything, to spite Emet-Selch is enough reason to keep searching.

He turns on his heels, the water up to his waist now, and wades back over to the cabinets. There ought to be something--a back up! One mechanism to open this door would surely be faulty design. (Surely.)

Yet as he makes his way, G'raha finally notices something murky in the water. He pauses, squinting...as a yawning maw of some torn humanoid face reaches up in hunger before disappearing back into the liquid. ]

By the Twelve!

[ G'raha jumps back, though the movement is dulled by the viscous substance he find himself in.

Did...did Emet-Selch leave him in here with some sort of final...prank? A final "fuck you" of other-worldy terrors? He remembers Emet-Selch's ascended form.

What a jerk. ]

[unsunder]

[ Despite what G'raha Tia might think, Emet-Selch is wholly ignorant to the goings on in that room apart from the rapidly rising water level. Instead his thoughts turn to how stupid this whole endeavor is, and he asks himself why he's even bothering in the first place — a question he quickly casts aside.

He may not like that man, but neither will he consign him to death. Call it a first step toward... something. A peaceful co-existence, if nothing else.

He finds the panel soon enough, reaching out to pry it open and get to the buttons therein. His fingers slip right over the surface. Ugh, why is it slimy? Nothing in this place can be easy or pleasant, can it?

Nothing for it but to try again, hooking both hands around the edge of the panel to pull— only to have a deep sense of unease stop him short. It wriggles under his skin, settles in his bones. The hair at the nape of his neck stands on end as he feels like he's being watched. A strange sensation indeed, since Emet-Selch is rather used to being the one doing the watching. He grits his teeth against that sense of wrongness that makes even his ancient skin crawl. He does not have time for this. ]

You will stay out. Of my. Head!

[ With a mighty pull, the panel flies open, its edge carving a deep gash into one of his palms. He either doesn't notice or doesn't care, too busy jamming the buttons in the correct sequence.

That should be the end of it, right? The door open and the water draining away (upward, which he has yet to get back around to see), but there is more, because there's always more. An Ascian is no stranger to darkness, but much like everything else in this encounter, there is something about the encroaching, inky blackness that is deeply unnerving in a way he cannot put to words. ]

Oh, great.

[ Off he goes again, darting for the office where he'd left the Warrior of Light's companion, skirting to a stop in the doorway just long enough to see the water swirling upward instead of pouring outward. Hells. ]

We are going. Now.

[exarched]

[ A single jumpscare is one thing, but that horrific visage isn't the only shadow that haunts the room. No, where one had been, others follow and every time he tries to focus on a single entity, it escapes and sinks back into the water. G'raha grits his teeth, climbing up onto the desk in the hopes that even a bit of distance will offer some reprieve.

As much as he wants to blame Emet-Selch for this, these feel different, entirely unlike the aether he had been surrounded in just moments before. ]

This is...

[ He has to keep looking, he cannot afford to be distracted, no matter how he begins to feel the hair on the back of his neck and tail rise. That instinctual feeling that something is wrong, as if the aether in the air itself is misaligned. G'raha quickly turns his attention back to his search, but it isn't long before the shadows in the corners of the room seem to spread out. The water continues to rise and G'raha has the distinct feeling that drowning might be a better end.

Then, all of a sudden, there's a defeaning whoosh. It's as if a portal opens above him and all the water in the room rises like reverse rain. G'raha's watches in abject confusion, only to be surprised by something much more improbable:

Emet-Selch is back. And the door is open.

G'raha stares in disbelief, eyes wide and openly bewildered, the usual undercurrent of disdain and distrust absent for at least a few seconds.

Emet-Selch came back for him. Why...?

His mouth hangs agape and instinct almost has him refusing to respond to any orders from Emet-Selch, but the equally sudden spread of gloom encompassing the room is greater. That innate sense of dread like a prey animal detecting a predator has him sprinting, nearly slipping on the still slick floor and bounding out of the room towards his former adversary. ]

[unsunder]

[ G’raha would be well within his rights to tell him to shove off, but thankfully common sense, bolstered by a healthy application of existential dread, wins the day.

Once G’raha bursts through the doorway, Emet-Selch is hot on his heels, a pair of former enemies united in the simple desire to get the hells out of here as quickly as possible. Their feet carry them away from the office building and that crawling blackness, back to wherever they’ve parked their vehicles. The rain is still pouring, because of course it is. Emet-Selch can scarce remember what it was like to feel dry.

The darkness doesn’t seem to follow them beyond the bounds of the office building, thankfully, and once he’s skidded to a halt, Emet-Selch leans back against his rusted old Jeep, sliding down to sit on the rainwater soaked street and catch his breath.

It’s then that his injury decides to remind him of its presence, stinging fiercely the second his palm makes contact with the pavement. He hisses through his teeth, jerking his hand up to inspect. Oh, he sure is bleeding. ]

I am never answering one of those wretched messages again.

[exarched]

[ He'll need time to fully process this later. Having a mutual threat is working in his favor as he can put his full concentration on getting out of the building entirely. The rain is almost a welcome reprieve because it at least feels right, frehs--or, well, as fresh as it can be in a city like this.

G'raha slows to catch his own breath, resting his hands on his knees as he bends over.

Nothing about what happened in that room was expected. The strange water, the backwards locking system, the fear that was all but palpable. But why? What purpose could all of that serve? And they were specifically requested to lend their assistance as well. A trap, surely. To what end? Were not they and those supplies more valuable alive?

It's Emet-Selch's voice that breaks his chain of thought and G'raha straightens, reminding himself how an already confusing situation was made infinitely worse by this man's mere presence.

And yet, now, G'raha Tia owes him his life.

Ugh.

G'raha's brows pull together, the rain plastering his hair to his face. His ears instinctively stay down close to the top of his head. Were this anyone else, G'raha would readily offer his assistance with any injury, either it being simple first aid or what magics he has at is disposal...

Surely Emet-Selch is more than capable of healing himself. ]

...

[ Gods, he owes this man. Would dying have been preferable?

G'raha looks away, back to the building they narrowly escaped. ]

What purpose this all has served is beyond me.

[unsunder]

[ Emet-Selch is a great many things. A healer is not one of them.

He doesn’t expect any help from his current company, and neither will he damage his pride further by asking for it. While G’raha is busy staring off the way they just came, Emet-Selch tears a strip of fabric from his already tattered robes, wrapping it around the wound. It’s not much, a strip of rain soaked fabric over a freely bleeding gash, but it’s better than nothing. He takes the end of the fabric between his teeth to help him tie it off. That done, he drops his injured hand back into his lap. ]

‘Tis but a taste of what we are in for, I’d wager.

[ With some effort, he manages to get back to his feet, still leaning heavily on the car door. Physically, he’s mostly fine. The things that tried to creep their way into his consciousness, however, have made him wary and weary both.

This place… there is something deeply wrong with this place. ]

Investigating strange occurrences to find even stranger things waiting for us. Whatever phenomena has this star in its grip is not to be underestimated.

[exarched]

[ As much as he would hate to agree with Emet-Selch more than once on the same day, he finds himself doing so again. His own voice is low, the edges softened a bit by the sound of the rain. ]

Indeed.

[ What an awful turn of events this has become. ]

That it interferes so inconsistently with magic is enough reason to be concern.

[ Nevermind the existential horrors that were just hanging around in an office. That was fun.

When he turns to face Emet-Selch properly, he is a little surprised to see the man has bandaged himself up in a rather rudimentary fashion. For a man so prideful of the magic and ways of the past, G'raha assumed another quick snap of his fingers would be enough. But, no. Does that mean his healing magics are unavailable at this time or...? ]

...

[ He knows what he could do. But should he?

With a flick of some rain water off the tip of his ear, he waves his hand as a light blue glow trickles over Emet-Selch. Cool. Quick. Cure I isn't anything to be excited about. G'raha does not give it name, instead averting his gaze again.

Does that make up for it? Not entirely...

He swallows his pride. ]

Thank you.

[ The next words are strained, ]

I am...in your debt.

[ It sounds worse actually hearing it. ]

[unsunder]

[ The healing comes as a complete surprise, Emet-Selch’s eyes widening just slightly as his gaze darts to G’raha. He doesn’t give voice to his surprise, nor offer thanks. If the other man is content to let the moment pass without remark, then neither will he draw attention to it.

He simply pulls his makeshift bandage aside to check on the state of the gash in his palm. It’s healed well enough, the skin pink and new. Well then.

In all honesty, he sort of just expects them to part ways here, with no more words shared between him, but then—

Thank you.

Once again, that golden gaze turns G’raha’s way. Slower this time, a quiet and assessing sort of stare. ]

I suppose you are.

[ In his debt.

Like the look on his face, his tone is carefully neutral. If he’s being honest with himself, it’s not as if he acted out of hope of repayment. He just… acted. Whether that’s better or worse, he doesn’t know. Whatever the reason, he’s not about to share that with his once-enemy.

What is clear in his mind is that he is not here to make friends, nor seek forgiveness from the people he’s wronged.

With a sigh, he turns and tugs the door to his truck open. ]

If we are quite done here, I would quit this place sooner rather than later.

[exarched]

[ That Emet-Selch doesn't lord it over him should bring relief, but the slow acknowledgment of his debt is enough to put a sour taste in G'raha's mouth. Truthfully, he will be upset no matter the outcome, so he just swallows down the bitterness. He wouldn't normally extend his sense of pride and honor to the Ascian, but in light of recent events...he will make this singular exception.

And leave it at that.

If luck is on their side, there will be no reason for Emet-Selch to call in on that request. Though G'raha Tia knows he needs to keep tabs on the ancient no matter what. With the twins here, his responsibility to that effect has only grown.

His ear twitches when he hears the door open and the thought of putting more space between feels more appealing that ever. ]

I shall remain a while longer.

[ Does he not want Emet-Selch to see which way he leaves? Maybe. But more importantly, G'raha feels the mission here isn't complete. There are still supplies that might be lost and he worries now for any other souls who fall prey to the strange traps laid therein.

How he approaches this will be his problem alone, and he certainly refuses to put himself in another situation where someone like Emet-Selch needs to bail him out.

He keeps his back to the other man--not a show of trust, but a point of disconnection, not unlike all the times Emet-Selch wandered about the Ocular and spoke to the Exarch as he listened to the Ascian's theories and myriad complaints. ]

Do as you will.

[unsunder]

[ If there is a moment of hesitation, it's only because he thinks G'raha is being absurd, wanting to stick around. Nothing good is going to come from lingering in this place. Still, if the man wants to wander off and get himself killed, that's his choice. Emet-Selch would only be cross about undoing his hard work, and even then only for a moment. ]

Suit yourself.

[ He won't stick around to watch this man wander into a death trap a second time. He gathers up his sopping robes and climbs into his truck. Without so much as a glance back, he drives away into the night.

Good luck or whatever, catboy. ]