04 | video

[oceanthief]

[Lapis may have blinked completely out of this world for only a day, but she's been fairly scarce since returning as well. one might attribute this to a troubling experience in her own world, or the acquisition of a new, difficult to control power - unfortunately, the real answer in this case isn't nearly so dire.

the feed clicks on at an odd angle, like it's been propped up against a pillow or something similar and forgotten. the video shows Lapis at (mostly) an angle, sitting on what is presumably her bed with her knees drawn up to her chest. there's a blanket draped over her shoulders and head and a stuffed sea lion clutched in her arms that she seems to be alternating between cuddling and leaning on. from the bags under her eyes she...may not have moved from this position for quite some time.

it takes a moment or two for her to realize that the comm is recording - her water powers are so precise that it's easy to forget she's using them in the face of something more interesting. in this case the 'more interesting' thing appears to be some sort of Spanish telenovela going on offscreen, from the sound of it.]

Someone sent me a subscription for some kind of streaming network. I don't know why.

[that 'someone' was a PR employee at whatever this world's incarnation of Netflix is, and the 'why' was in the hopes that she'd shill it a little bit with her imPort prowess. boy did they pick the wrong space rock for that one.

in the background, anyone who understands Spanish might notice that the characters are arguing over the minutiae of the drug trade...and also who was sleeping with someone's hot murdered sister. Lapis' eyes never waver from the non-communicator screen, even as television gunfire breaks out.]

Is it really that dangerous for humans to run a business? All they're doing are transport runs, but no matter where they are everyone keeps dying. It's been like this for a week.

[...well, if anyone was uncertain about whether or not Lapis has been on a Netflix tailspin, all doubt can now be erased. someone please help this girl - and also whoever's screaming about swearing vengeance on the novela right now. the plot twist seems to have Lapis faintly concerned.]

...no wonder earth can't get anything done.

[this is mumbled more to herself than the network, as she lapses into thoughtful silence immediately after. it stretches out awkward until she realizes there was still something she'd wanted to address; one of her arms unfolds so she can look at something she's written on her hand.]

Oh, right. Did anything happen on [she squints slightly] Agust 29th that I need to care about?

[that's supposed to be August, but when your grasp on earth timekeeping is so poor you have to copy the month off the calendar to keep from forgetting this is about as good as you can expect.]

Comments

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[classification]

[ He does speak and understand Spanish, so he gets what's going on. ]

It's dangerous when that kind of cargo is involved.

[oceanthief]

[there's a small pause before Lapis' reply comes in, solely because it takes her a while to notice that there's a text as opposed to something more arresting; it's almost a pity because there's no way for anyone to appreciate how smoothly the water she's manipulating to type out her responses is doing its job.]

I can't see why. It's not even radioactive or unstable on a molecular level.

[do you really want to be the person to explain the human drug trade to a space rock holding a stuffed sea animal, Locus? do you really want that exhaustive burden?]

[classification]

[ He probably doesn't want to take on this task, but he's dealt with more exhaustive people before. Surprisingly, it's something he can handle. ]

It's unstable on neural and/or cerebral levels. Do they not have drugs where you're from? Something doesn't have to be radioactive to be harmful if used.

[oceanthief]

Gems don't need to eat or breathe. If something's hurting us then we didn't do it on purpose.

[she's counting 'being punished by the higher echelons' as not on purpose, since that's hardly a goal for any but the suicidal.]

[classification]

[ Somehow he has a feeling he might regret asking, but, ]

What do you mean gems?

[oceanthief]

I mean gems, like me.

video

[leftarm]

Depends on the business, but usually no. A TV show might pick something high risk and illegal to make things exciting, though.

[oceanthief]

They don't really seem to be concerned with anything being legal or not - at least, not as upset as they get when some of the other characters start mashing their faces against each other.

[she says as the gunfire and screaming resume offscreen.]

[leftarm]

Well, if they're criminals, they wouldn't care, and...people really like writing romance drama.

[oceanthief]

Is that what it's supposed to be?

[from Lapis' tone, Pidge might as well have pulled something black and hairy from the u-bend of a sink and dangled it in her face.]

video;

[primadovea]

It depends on the job, I suppose! There wasn't anything dangerous about the cafe Ryo ran...oh, and the show I'm watching right now has people running a bookstore, nothing bad's happening there.

[oceanthief]

[Lapis makes a thoughtful noise, although it's (as always) difficult to tell how thoughtful she actually is from her expression.]

They threw somebody off a cliff in the last episode. It's kind of hard to tell what's supposed to be a harmless job here, I guess.

[primadovea]

Well then. That never happens in the bookstore show.

[oceanthief]

Have you finished it yet? It could still happen.

[primadovea]

I don't know. I don't think it's that kind of show...it's more about hijinks and who the main girl's going to date over anything else.

video;

[valuemeal]

That stuff is exaggerated.

[ Okay, so it's not exactly like he likes talking to Lapis. Not when she makes him want to piss his pants any moment, anyway. But this is A) from a distance and B) to make sure she doesn't get the wrong idea and killing is that much of a normal thing. Because he doesn't want more of her psychopath inner self that Hyunsoo has just imagined by himself to be awoken. ]

[oceanthief]

[joke's on you, she hasn't left the house since she was ported out! THERE IS NO ESCAPE]

What stuff?

[she's been watching Notflix for nearly a week. Hyunsoo. you're going to have to be a lot more specific than that.]

[valuemeal]

[ HE'S GOING TO HANG OUT AT SOMEONE ELSE'S PLACE LAPIS AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT. ]

The stuff you see on TV. [ Maybe he should stop to think about the fact he needs to be a little more nuanced with Lapis who doesn't know much about the human world and all, but.. well, considering he's utterly terrified when he's in close range with her, it doesn't really happen. ] People don't die that often [ EMPHASIS.. in case she gets ideas ] but they exaggerate it so people keep watching.

[oceanthief]

[OH NO WHAT WILL SHE DO WITH ALL THIS SOLITUDE SHE LOVES YOU SURE SHOWED HER

Lapis makes a thoughtful noise, seemingly mulling this new information over in her mind. on the television, a sultry saxophone is playing for some reason.]

Are you sure? It looks about right to me.

[it's been emphasized to her multiple times how squishy humans were, after all. it made sense they'd drop this frequently.]

[valuemeal]

That's about what I'd expect you'd say.

[ His voice veers up a little near the end there, as if he's about ready to go into another terrified screaming fit. But he manages to keep most of it in. For now, anyway.

(What he said though? Totally still standing. He's still convinced Lapis is a psychopath, and of course then she'd think it's just about right.) ]

Do you see people just dying like that by the dozen out in the streets here?

video;

[flowerette]

Such a specific day to ask about. I take it you ported out?

[ That's the easiest way to lose a day. And if it's not that, then Lapis has probably been getting into some creative things. ]

[oceanthief]

Probably. I don't remember that day, at least, so that'd make the most sense.

[of course Lapis is absolutely abysmal at telling time the human way so there's always the possibility she just labeled it as something else.]

[flowerette]

So you didn't go home during that time, I take it? I've experienced it myself. Where you lose a gap of time. Mine was for new abilities, and I always wondered why you have to 'port out' for it.

[oceanthief]

I'd have known if I went back to my world.

[her time as Malachite had been brief, but there was absolutely no way that Lapis could ever forget returning to it even for a moment.]

Is it really so weird for humans to think about? Changes take time; you can't do something that big while everything else is running.

[flowerette]

But where is it we go? What is it that happens during that time we miss? That is more what I wonder. It's just my scientific curiosity more than anything. And maybe some humans mirror my thoughts, but I, myself, am not human. Not entirely.