ten_fwd_ooc | TEST DRIVE #10 - Cetacean Pool and Ten Forward

Option 001. Cetacean Pool/Aquatics Lab: Of all the places in the world, you open your eyes and you find yourself in a medium-sized aquatics laboratory, filled with various living specimens along with various science officers bustling about trying to maintain order. There's much to explore here (and hopefully, in the crew's opinion, not break), but the main attraction is the large pool at the far end of the lab; enormous but tanklike in appearance, it contains several dolphins happily swimming about, seemingly without a care in the world.

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Option 002. Aboard the Enterprise, Ten Forward: You have no idea what just happened. One minute you were home, and now you're on a spaceship, in the middle of a crowded room. It looks like a bar. There are people eating and drinking, some in uniform, others not. Some are clearly aliens.

You've managed to land in Ten Forward a long bar with barstools and a bartender, tables sprinkled throughout, and the far wall is nothing but windows out to space. It looks like a nice lounge, low conversation making the room hum.

Better ask some questions and find out where you are, or just tap the closest person on the shoulder and try to make friends. The bar is open.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The mystery of what kind of reality this is doesn't seem to matter nearly as much to Tadashi when his kid brother is standing in front him, looking like he's about to cry. Super weird magically appearing aquarium be damned, protective Dashi mode has been activated.

"Hey. Hey, woah." He takes long, quick strides to Hiro's side and crouches over him, then places his hands reassuringly on the boy's shoulders. "Everything's alright. I don't know where we are, but- at least we're both here. It's okay."

Everything else takes a backseat for the moment, Tadashi's attention focused on calm, breathe, fix, heal. He smiles encouragingly at Hiro, and keeps his grip tight, mistakenly of the opinion that reaffirming his presence here will actually help rather than maybe, well. Cause panic.

Don't touch me. Hiro flinches, but hands still connect with his shoulders all the same, a solid, steady weight that he can't-- he can't.

He can't comprehend that, right now.

Slowly, he slumps forwards, Tadashi's chest cushioning his forehead as he closes his eyes. He can smell smoke and ash and his brother, mingling into some horrible, irrational fantasy that smells and speaks and touches just like the real thing.

Hiro's been fine. He's been fine, he's finally getting over this. Today was a good day, so why now? Why?

"Yeah." He croaks out. "Yeah. It's fine."

It's fine.

Something is very much not right. It still feels like Hiro isn't really speaking to him, even as he mumbles a reply that honestly sounds less convincing than the time a fur covered, scratched up Hiro once told him, "No, I haven't seen Mochi."

He really does want to let Hiro stay where he is. But Tadashi feels like maybe right now, it's a little more important he can see the kid's face. He squeezes him just once, arm secure around Hiro's back in a show of support. Then he ducks down to lean on one knee and look up at his expression. Okay. Not great. And definitely not 'fine'.

"What's happened? Talk to me."

TEST DRIVE #10 - Cetacean Pool and Ten Forward

BEST BUDDIES, BEST PALS, YEA!

YOU ALWAYS SEEM TO WORK THINGS OUT

CANT YOU SEE YOURE TWO OF A KIND???