poly_crack | THE TEST DRIVE MEME

[A girl giggling and smiling, it makes him fall back right into the old routine. Roman smiles himself.]

It's nothing. He must be going easy on me.

[Keeping a firm hand on the dog. Did she say his name was...R? Roman outs out his own hand.]

Roman. Roman Godfrey.

[If that holds any meaning at all. Somehow, right now, he hopes that it doesn't.]

[She just grins at the mild coincidence. She seems to run into a lot of guys with 'r' as a first initial.]

It's nice to meet you.

[She means it.]

You new to the City?

[Weird. He tightens the pressure around her hand just a little.]

Same. I sort of have a knack for animals.

[That sounds really wrong to his ears so he's quick to add:]

Most of em.

[Gentleman and deciding to not be a creeper, Roman lets go.]

Yeah. It's--it's pretty fucking crazy.

[Here, he'll keep holding Julia's dog for her.]

You been here long?

A few weeks. Long enough to be cursed into thinking I had a husband here, turned into a twelve year old and filled with a sudden need to tell the entire City my life story.

[Yup. Total veteran here.

OH RIGHT HER DOG! She'll just...reach for the dog who just looks pleased at all of the attention.]

Were you here a few days ago when all of the animals in the City were suddenly able to talk? Because that's when I found R.

She-it.

[What else is there to say about that. Married with the whole picket fence life terrifies him but on a deep, base level is like a cold spike to the gut. He shakes it off pretty well.]

Yeah. Missed that. The animals too.

[It's all good with R.]

So did he turn out to be Mr. Personality or something?

Right?

[That's pretty much her reaction too. She's not sure she's going to even live that long back home, so actually experiencing it even if it was a curse Not so much fun.]

So you're really new. [R looks up at Julie, wagging his whole back end. He's happy to be back with his human. Julie looks down at him and smirks.]

Kind of. He told me that the pit in the next cage over had a habit of picking on him and calling him a runt and a douche and then proceeded to cuss out his neighbor.

[It was fucking hilarious if the faint laugh from Julie is any indication.]

[Messed up home, messed up town. It's all just terrible in the gilded Godfrey cage so he can't really wrap his mind around the concept. He's already had poor luck figuring out the City as a concept.

This could be a dream.]

I bought some shorts. So not that new.

[Nope. Super new. Tags might still be on.]

Woah. I guess it'd be best not to cross that guy. So is the R for revenge? Rough? ...Ruff?

R...is named after a friend of mine back home. That R doesn't remember his name, just the first initial.

["Because he's a zombie" is left off entirely. Why try to explain that? Most people either flail and OMG SO COOL or don't believe her so she doesn't go into the details anymore.]

So it's...just for R.

[Julie watches Roman for a moment, thinking something over for a bit before speaking again.]

Roman, do you want a tour of the City? I have a car and wouldn't have a single problem with it.

Well there won't be two Rs here. [Whoops. You trying to jinx it or something?] Dogs I mean.

[Weird name. Maybe he's like a Midwest person. That sounds feasible.

His long fingers still scratch on R. It makes him think of Fetch-it, which makes him think of Peter, which makes him think...that he's thinking too fucking much.]

You have a car?

[He's incredulous because how long has she been here anyway?]

[Roman r u ok?]

Yeah. I arrived in it. Almost drove right into the fucking fountain.

[She's not nearly as annoyed as she sounds. She's not even bothered. She came with her lovely Mercedes that she...found at an airport.

The owner was probably either dead or shambling around the airport. Mercy was free game.]

You interested?

[He's starting to think he never started out okay at all. All things considered he's doing fabulously for a fuck up.]

Damn.

[It makes him want to tell her about how he drove into a fallen tree. Almost. Sure does cut through the gloom.]

Sure. Is your co-pilot going to mind?

[She understands that. Her world is Zombie-apocalypse themed. It's really, really hard to be okay in that situation.]

He's not going to mind at all. He usually sleeps in the back seat on a blanket. I can guarantee that the minute the car starts he'll be snoring away. Just gimme a sec?

[Julie has to get her stuff and...pull a shirt on which only takes a few seconds and then. Hi, Roman. She's back. Did you miss her?]

[Knowing that he would feel even more spoiled and ungrateful. There aren't any zombies. Just... fucked up werewolf murders.]

Go for it.

[He'll hang back and pretend not to watch as he gathers his very modest collection of objects. Jeans, shirt, blazer, coat... it was really winter when he left, designer watch, shoes...]

[The conversations these two should have over mass quantities of beer. Loads of beer and loads of talk of monsters and craziness.]

C'mon. The Mercedes is just near the soda shop.

[Julie starts her walk, setting R down and R follows along. Faithful little dog that he is.]

Where are you from, anyway?

Pennsylvania.

[Hemlock Grove. Making him the Roman Godfrey of the Godfrey empire founded in Hemlock Grove fucking ages ago.]

You?

[His arms are occupied by his belongings. It's pretty fun to watch R dash here and there. Roman has never had a dog before.]

Seattle. [Julie steps over the hyper R with ease. She's used to this. He's the most active puppy ever so she's learned quickly how to dodge his antics.]

Well. What's left of it.

[She looks at Roman, a half smile on her face.] My world is on it's way out, so there's not much left to talk about.

That blows.

[To understate her suffering completely... but he has no idea. Really.]

I've never been.

[No big surprise there but to carry on the conversation.]

Something happen-?

[Did some serpent swallow it's tail? Like that says anything at all.]

Sorry.

[Look, it's her car. It's a brilliant red Mercedes Benz. Probably a decade or so old. And in really good condition. The hood is down so Julie just drops her stuff in the back before opening the door to let R hop in.]

Zombies. When I was younger, they started showing up overseas and then spread across the world.

[Which is totally going against what she considered doing earlier.]

I don't think Pennsylvania exists in my world anymore. Door's open. Hop right in.

Get out.

[He laughs before he can check himself. Even so he tries to play it off like he's rubbing his nose and mouth.]

So it actually happens.

[She didn't stutter, Roman. He listens and follows her lead.]

Nice color.

[She's not offended that he laughed. There's even a faint quirk of her lips when he does so.]

It actually happens. But, unlike popular theories, no one knows why.

[Car stars and Julie starts driving. She'll just be pointing out local attractions and such. That's the library. That's the museum. Julie works at that small restaurant and lives in that apartment. And don't go Underground because blah bah monsters blah it's bad.]

Back in Seattle, I live in an abandoned stadium with thousands of others. It's fortified, heavily guarded...and boring as shit.

That sounds more like it. I mean shit like that.

[Shit like this, the City that is.]

Boring or zombie food, that's the choice?

[Roman has to go to high school and is stuck with his mother. It is horrible. Really.]

Yeah, pretty much. But when I say boring, I mean people are just going through the motions of living. Nothing changes inside Citi Stadium. We were looking for a cure for a while, but then that stopped.

[Oh, well.]

Okay. What do you want to do now? I'm not looking to go home yet.

THE TEST DRIVE MEME

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject