maskormenace | 01 ♥ Video

[It's hard to type with little stone fingers, so he's trying to use the voice function for the first time.

Too bad he accidentally activates the video option instead. And also makes this public. Oops.

The communicator shakes, and though the image isn't entirely clear, anyone watching can see couple of dark sockets with glowing pupils and what appears to be a skull with ornate carvings and distinctive hair. Sunlight spills through what seem to be leaves in the background, and it's obvious the person on the screen is crouched down somewhere, trying to hide. He's not looking directly into the camera.]

Hey. Joaquin. It's me, Manolo. So, uhhh...[How do you even put this.]

Funny story! You know how I said my powers were music-based? That's actually half of what I can do. I can also do something else. I think it keeps me from dying, which as far as powers go? Not a bad one, if I do say so myself! [Because he's already dead in this form, but like hell he's going to say that, hah hah hahhh.....

Maybe if he sounds upbeat enough he can bullshit his way through this.]

The only downside is that people shouldn't see me. Don't ask why, it's just...a power thing, you know? So maybe you could come down here with, like, a...sheet? Just toss it in my general direction, and we'll be good to go. Everyone will think I am dressed as a ghost. Perfect disguise, yes?

[He is grinning really hard and hoping all this optimism and false confidence will be enough. But then he notices something and now he's looking at the communicator like it just ran him through with a sword.]

Oh no...

[Oh yes. And now everyone can see exactly what this power actually is. Good job, Manny!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Her answer stuns Manolo into silence for a moment.

Wow. Wow. That sure is four years of living as an imPort. If Manolo were in Kanaya's shoes, he'd be about 24 by now. And there are people who've been caught up in this even longer?

Still, he manages to shake himself out of his thoughts long enough to focus on something he's pretty sure he hadn't heard about before now. Manolo's face is pinched in a mixture of concern and confusion when he responds.]

Wait, Lachesis? I don't...remember reading about that in the pamphlet.

[ It's a hell of a thing, four and a half years. The sort of thing you can never really prepare yourself for, only look back on once it's done. But getting that far is only a thing to dread. ]

You won't see her mentioned in the pamphlet, the government has no official stance on her, aside from that our current situation began when she synchronized with the Porter here, when we escaped from the world before.

She is the Porter, the god in the machine. There were a couple of kids last week saying that they met something else who claimed to be the Porter's resident, but I'm not really confident in their information, myself.

[Wow, government, that's kind of an important thing to leave out.]

So if she is the Porter, then it should be possible to talk with her, right?

[ In their defense, they have no actual experience dealing with her. It's all imPort-generated hearsay. ]

Theoretically. But it's unlikely that she'll answer.

...She's the shy type, huh.

Not shy, per se. It's simply that none of us have anything to say that she would conceivably give enough of a shit to listen.

What about a good wager? Most of the gods I've met can't say no to a bet.

That isn't a trait I've observed in any god I've known. Besides, a wager would require having something she wants.

I doubt there's anything we could offer her that she couldn't just as easily take without permission.

Maybe it depends on the type of god and whatever realm they're part of? The gods I know are bound by at least some rules.

Boundaries aren't something that keep her, so much as give her something to overcome. Only one thing has ever succeeded in routing her, and that was only a more powerful god.

Obviously, that won't apply to any she brings.

So not shy, just...really stubborn. Got it. Who was this other god, though?

Her older sister. Atropos, the End of All Things.

Oh. Well, that doesn't sound ominous at all.

As well it should. We came here because there wasn't a there any longer.

[A look of horror crosses Manolo's face. If he'd had any skin at that moment, all the color would have drained right out of him.]

You mean the last world you lived in was...?

[Destroyed?]

[ Poor Manolo, she doesn't have the heart to tell him that it wasn't even the first time that had happened to her. ]

That's why we had to escape, to find a new world to settle. At least, as many of us as made it.

...How many people survived?

It was less than fifty, all imPorts. Most of those have gone home since.

And even if they hadn't, seven billion people native to that Earth still died with it.

[Seven billion stories no one will ever hear again.]

They've all been forgotten...

[That terrifies him more than death itself, and his voice is suddenly much quieter.]

I didn't say they've been forgotten. Not all of them, at least.

[ Oops, touched a nerve there. ]

R-right, of course. I'm sorry. I didn't mean--

[He flounders for a moment.]

If...you're ever up for it, I'd like to hear about them. The ones from before.

[ She deflates, easing off when she realizes how on edge she'd gotten. ]

Some time, perhaps. When I'm better prepared for it.

[ She wrote every name she could think of it a notebook once, shortly after arriving in Heropa. It isn't the details, but it's enough of a focus for her to try to focus on the details.

The imPorts she memorialized, because others might recognize them, but for the natives couldn't take that for granted. ]

[The fact he's a skeleton made from stone doesn't seem to stop him from giving a gentle smile.]

Yes, I understand. Another time is fine too.

[ She expects a grin from a skeleton, but this is better, friendlier. Thank goodness for whatever sort of lips he has, that smiles can still keep their nuance. ]

Another time, then. Until then, I suppose I should let you go. But any questions you may have as an imPort, don't hesitate to call.

Obviously, I have rather a lot of experience in that field.

I'll bet! Thank you very much. I appreciate your help.

[A beat.]

What do you prefer to be called, by the way?

video;

glowsferatu - 2015-11-29 12:13 (UTC) - Expand

matadorable - 2015-12-03 12:00 (UTC) - Expand

glowsferatu - 2015-12-04 03:23 (UTC) - Expand

matadorable - 2015-12-04 12:30 (UTC) - Expand

glowsferatu - 2015-12-04 13:26 (UTC) - Expand