TESTDRIVE #1

[cobamods]

There's a number of ways it could happen, but regardless you find yourself standing on the outskirts of a city. A beautiful city, as familiar to you as any from your world, with all manner of buildings within sight. A sign on the side of the road greets you, saying WELCOME TO COBA You're already part of the family! It's practically inviting you to step into the city limits. Why don't you? As soon as you do, you'll find a pamphlet in your hand, almost eager to tell you all about what this mysterious Coba has to offer. And eager seems to be the impression you get about almost everything - the sun seems to brighten, the flowers seem to perk up - it's almost as if everything about Coba is welcoming you as an honored guest. And you are. Though hopefully, only temporarily. Coba would love nothing more for you to become an honored member of her precious community. Welcome to Coba, visitor, and we hope you enjoy your stay! PREMISE | RULES | FAQ & QUESTIONS | RESERVES | APPLICATIONS Please read the FAQ before commenting! ♥ Welcome to the City of Coba Testdrive! Your character has found themselves in Coba, and are welcome to do any of the following: ● As you enter the city, you hear some bustle about a homecoming party! Following the signs will find yourself at a plaza with food, drink and live music, of all sorts and types. Why don't you stay awhile and indulge? ● Or, if you're not the party type, maybe you'd like to check out the city's cultural center! There's art, books, and other things to keep your mind occupied. And, maybe you'll meet other like-minded people there. ● Not in the mood for any of the above? There's always the beach! It's a lovely day, the waves are beautiful and the stores along the boardwalk all have signs up that read "TAKE WHAT YOU NEED". Maybe you need a surf board. ● Or maybe you have something else you want to do? Go for it! You're more than welcome to come up with your own prompts. In addition to the above, we would love to encourage anyone taking part in the testdrive to world build with us! Whether it be a street name or an entire neighborhood, whatever you come up with will become part of the game's canon. All we ask is that you pop over here to link us so we can see what you've done! Finally, ENJOY YOURSELVES. Seriously, this is meant to be a laid back, enjoyable game. We welcome any questions, critiques, and ideas, so always feel welcome to approach us about any and everything. We hope you decide to stay here in Coba!

Comments

how dare!!

[bloodymess]

[he isn't expecting the clinging, so much so that he ends up dropping his glass (thankfully, not actually glass) to wrap his arms around Elena in return and hug her back. There's a pit in his stomach at the tears, because those were never good. And then she's telling him she missed him and—]

Whoa, whoa, hey. [his tone gentles, and he tightens his arms a little] I missed you too - what's going on?

[heightens]

[ now that makes elena pause. she steps back just far enough to look damon in the eyes, her own roving over his face for any kind of recognition of why she would be so upset. does he not know he died? how would that even be possible? and if he doesn't know... can she be the one to tell him? or should she just pretend that everything's okay, that she's emotional for some other reason?

after a few moments, she steps away, wiping at her eyes and shaking her head. ]

Nothing, I'm sorry. I'm just -- I'm fine. Stupid heightened emotions, you know how it is. [ she forces a smile and reaches down to take his hand in hers. ]

I'm really glad to see you.

[bloodymess]

Elena. [he knows a lie when he hears one, and even if the heightened emotions excuse is true, he knows something's up. The tone is still gentle, but it's a knowing one; he can see through bullshit, and Elena didn't cry over something as little as missing him.

She has one of his hands, but the other reaches up to push some hair out of her face then stays there, against her cheek] Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad to see you - again - but that excuse doesn't work on me.

[heightens]

[ elena's first instinct is to avoid damon's eyes, so she purposefully forces herself to look at him instead, still smiling. he's always been so good at reading her, better than almost anyone, but she doesn't want to talk about this. if he doesn't know he's dead, then she's not about to tell him -- and wouldn't he realize that's why she's so emotional, if he knew?

she's a shitty liar. not as bad as caroline, certainly, and she can fool an original vampire so long as he doesn't listen to her heartbeat, but still -- shitty liar. so with damon, she can't lie, she has to deflect.

leaning into the hand on her cheek, she gives a happy sigh, trying to think of a way out of this topic of conversation. ]

Glad to see me again, multiple mes -- what's up with that? I'm the only me here. [ a thought occurs to elena, and her eyes go wide. ] Is Katherine here, was she pretending to be me?

[bloodymess]

[that isn't fair, and bringing up Katherine is enough of deflection for him to groan and make a sour face]

No, they weren't her. They were both you, and I don't even know how to explain it without sounding crazy.

[and that's a lot, coming from him. But it was crazy, and thinking about it only served to make his head pound. How was it possible? Just what the hell was this city doing? And so on, and so forth.

But he gives into one temptation, and he leans over so he can rest his forehead against hers. This is an Elena that knows him, who missed him so much it brought her to tears - he gets caught up on that thought, but he'd let it slide. For now]

One of them didn't even know who I was. Can you believe it? An Elena Gilbert without a me in her life - what a depressing thought.

[heightens]

[ the confirmation that it wasn't katherine makes it so elena can breathe again, and she nods to herself. if whoever brought them here could bring damon from... wherever it is dead people go, then it was equally possible they could bring katherine here as well. elena's just glad that doesn't appear to be the case. ]

Really? You've been in a room with me and two of my doppelgangers and you think I'm going to call you crazy for seeing two other mes?

[ elena smiles and tilts her head up just as damon leans down to rest his forehead against hers, nuzzling her nose against his for a moment before darting in to give him a quick kiss. when she pulls back, she only goes far enough that their lips are no longer touching, keeping their foreheads pressed together. ]

Truly, hers must be the darkest timeline. [ laughing a little, elena closes her eyes. she got damon to stop asking questions, he's here, and they're safe. this city really is about giving her everything she wants.

she leans back so she can look in damon's eyes without going cross-eyed, a soft smile on her lips, and reaches up to run her fingers gently through his hair. ]

I love you.

[bloodymess]

[he's about to argue that doppelgangers and doubles are two entirely different things, but it's the kiss and her laugh that gets him to smile, the corner of his mouth quirking up into his usual half-smirk. And it softens, at those three little words that sends a burst of warmth through him.

Damon tilts his head into her touch, eyes shutting briefly] Love you too.

[and he leans into claim her lips in another kiss, one that's less brief]

[heightens]

[ damon's told her he loves her countless times, but it never fails to send a thrill through elena -- it did even when it shouldn't have, when she was with stefan and still trying to figure out how to forgive him for killing jeremy. there's something about the way damon loves that has always been intoxicating to elena -- the way his whole world revolves around the woman he's in love with, how he will do anything, anything for her. it's a lot of power to have over someone, but truthfully, damon has the same power over elena.

she kisses him back, dropping the hand holding his to instead wrap her arms around his neck. the kiss is getting a little steamy now, elena getting so carried away by not having seen the love of her life in four whole months and just being so happy that he's here that she's almost forgotten they're in public. truly, the world could be burning down around them, and elena would hardly notice. ]

[bloodymess]

[Damon could give care less about the party they're practically standing in the middle of, or how they're probably drawing the attention of anyone nearby. At that very moment, there wasn't a single thing more important than kissing Elena, right here, right now.

His now freed hand makes its way around her, settling at the small of her back and urging her that much closer. It doesn't occur to him that this Elena isn't the same one outside of the city, but even if it did he wouldn't care - Elena was Elena, and that's all that mattered to him. The love of his life, this girl who was changing him in a way he didn't think was possible.

But with her in his arms, this close, there's only two thoughts on his mind; how much he loves her, and if he could get them over to some kind of surface, out of the party, where he could kiss the hell out of her properly]

[heightens]

[ elena's just started sliding her hand beneath damon's shirt, getting her skin on his, when someone loudly clears their throat right next to them. she starts, biting damon's lip in surprise, then steps back, blushing brightly. though she doesn't move too far away from damon, elena does put a little distance between them, and turns to the offended stranger. ]

Sorry! Sorry, we'll just -- we'll be going. Now. [ turning back to damon, she presses her hand to her face and gives a mortified sort of laugh. ] I can't believe I was about to do that. [ after a moment, she takes a deep breath and steps back again, so that she's out of damon's arms, but immediately reaches for his hand. ]

Okay, come on. We're finding that hotel room we were promised.

[bloodymess]

[rude, he was enjoying that. Damon straightens up and glares at the person who interrupts them, and it takes every bit of willpower not to compel them to take a long walk off a short pier.

. . . of course, it doesn't stop him from leaning over, catching the person's attention, and compelling them anyway] Mind your damn business and go drink yourself stupid.

[the unfortunate person nods and turns to walk away, and Damon blows out a sigh, before looking back down at Elena as she takes his hand. He's about to suggest the same thing, at least - and the half-grin is back]

I can believe you were about to do that, and shame on you for stopping. [his free hand reaches for the pamphlet he was given, stuffed into his back pocket, and he flips it open one-handed to get the address] I think it's this way. [he says, and tilts his head in the way the hotel might be]

[heightens]

[ as elena is busy looking around the ground for her dropped pamphlet, damon is compelling the stranger behind her. she only catches the last couple seconds of it, but it's impossible to miss what he's doing, and elena punches damon (sort of) gently in the shoulder for it. ]

We're the ones who were two seconds from having sex in public, come on. We deserved that.

[ when damon pulls his own pamphlet out elena abandons he search for hers, instead walking determinedly in the direction damon indicated. she hasn't let go of damon once since she found him, and she's not planning to for a couple weeks yet. she's been without him for too long to be willing to let him out of her arms for any reason.

thinking of that, though, that does beg the question -- what does he remember, if he doesn't remember dying? ]

So, what's the last thing you remember from Mystic Falls? Clearly we know each other, so ours isn't the darkest timeline, but what do you remember?

[ her voice is light, and she manages to sound innocently curious, not like she's fishing. ]

[bloodymess]

Uh, we were having a touching reunion - apparently - so he totally deserved it. [trust Damon to find a way to twist the blame on someone else.

But he lets Elena lead the way, walking alongside her and more than happy to let her hang on. It wasn't as though they did this sort of thing often - walk hand in hand somewhere, just because they could. There was always the threat of something bearing down on them.

The last thing I remember? [as innocent as it sounds, he knows what she's doing. But the only thing to do is play along, and he shrugs a shoulder, shooting her an amused look] I may or may not have stolen a body or thirty.