06 | video

[oceanthief]

[the feed is set to video, but Lapis seems only nominally interested in achieving a steady recording of her face. she's turned it on for another purpose, and the quality of everything else up until that point is really unimportant to her. at least gems don't have naturally shaky hands, even if the camera keeps trailing off into nothing now and then before she rights it, almost absent-mindedly.]

How long are you supposed to wait to be sure that someone's been ported out? I've seen people say stuff like 'a while', but humans and gems don't really seem to have the same idea of what a long time actually is.

I haven't seem someone who lives in this house with me for - [shit, fuck. Lapis' expression stutters into hesitance as she realizes that she has no idea how long she's been not seeing him, nor does she remember any useful earth calendar terms beyond month and year.] - I haven't really seen him lately. But he's kind of stupid and scared of me, so I don't know if that's on purpose or not.

[she gives a lopsided shrug, as if to say 'what can you do?' humans were a crazy weird little species, and she's given up trying to fix their misconceptions on a lot of things. if Hyunsoo wanted to think she was out to kill him, let him. he was the one looking dumb, not her.]

...I've got something else to ask, too.

[this is the reason that she'd switched the video on. Lapis' nose scrunches in a cross between disgust and bafflement before she swings the camera around to zero in on - the fridge?

without further ado, a little blue hand sneaks back into frame to swing the refrigerator door open. have you ever seen food left to its own devices for a little over a month, imPorts? if not, here's your prime chance to some front row seats because that is exactly what this fridge is full of.

clearly it's been a while since Hyunsoo was last here.]

Is food supposed to look like that?

Comments

[oceanthief]

What?

[her abilities are painfully mundane to Lapis, and so when he lets out a sudden exclamation she can't help but lean in and try to discern what alarming change had occurred over on his side of the feed.]

[dachizone]

What you're doing with the water! It's so cool!

[oceanthief]

[she turns to watch with faint bemusement as the water extends a small tendril to open the nearest window...and starts chucking the rotten food out of it. sorry, neighbors.]

Oh. [a beat, wherein she realizes she should probably add something else to that.] I guess. It's not really anything I haven't done before.

[dachizone]

And that's even more impressive! [This blue girl was really cool.]

Hey, what's your name? I'm Gentarou.

[oceanthief]

My name is Lapis Lazuli.

[she delivers the introduction with an odd amount of solemnity, like someone still soaking in the freedom to do something which had been denied for too long.

there's also an awkward pause immediately following it, as she tries to determine whether 'you look like someone I already know' is an appropriate line of conversation. eventually she settles on the answer probably being no - humans got weird when you implied they all kind of looked the same.]

Are you new to this world? Nearly everyone can do something like this.

[dachizone]

[Thinks about that for a second]

New-ish. I've been here for two months. And yeah, everyone has a power here but, everyone's power is their own so, that makes it special, right? And when something is special and you are really good at it, then it's impressive.

[oceanthief]

At home there are thousands of gems that can do this. It's pretty standard.

[she's not really pulling herself down - her hydrokinesis is actually something Lpais is quite proud of - but she doesn't want to misrepresent. this is the furthest thing from a unique gift.]

[dachizone]

Thousands?

But, you're still damn good at it. Even if there are lots of people who can do the same thing where you're from, that doesn't mean that it and you aren't special for being able to do use that power.

[oceanthief]

Probably more, but I don't really know what Homeworld's production numbers were like when I was gone.

[ha. ha ha ha. she's not bitter.]

You...can't really say that kind of stuff, though. You've only seen me using it for maybe five minutes.

[dachizone]

Still! Those five minutes I saw something I've never seen before. And it was cool!

[And he understood nothing about Homeworld or production and is just being positive.]

[oceanthief]

[that is going to come back to haunt you later, Gentaro.]

...pfft. [was that a laugh? it was definitely an exhale that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.] I've done cooler.

[dachizone]

Eh? Really?! Can you show me?

[How could he possibly regret this?!]

[oceanthief]

[U M M]

Right now? Why?

[dachizone]

Oh. It doesn't have to be right now. Any time is ok!

[oceanthief]

I guess if we ever see each other in person I could show you some stuff.

[she's not really certain her luck is good enough for the vague offer to just never come true, but that's alright. it's not like any of the stuff she does to 'show off' for humans is particularly complicated...and to be honest, most of the time it's pretty fun.]

[dachizone]

I think so too! Seeing it person would be better and more grand-looking.

Where are you staying? I'm in Heropa.

[oceanthief]

I live in Nonah. [but...come on, Lapis, you can do it. push past your comfort zone!! give extra information!!!] I come down to Heropa pretty often, though. It's got a nice beach.

[dachizone]

Oh! That makes sense. [Beach. Ocean. Water.]

Next time you decide to visit to beach, send me a message or something. We can meet and hang out at the beach. Cool?

[oceanthief]

[reaching...out..? you can almost hear the creaking gears screaming in protest in Lapis' skull at the prospect.]

Uh...sure, if you really want to. I don't do all that much when I'm there.

[does she literally just sit and stare at the water? most of the time, yeah. so exciting.]

[dachizone]

Of course I'm sure. Because we're buddies.

[wait, when was this decided?]

[oceanthief]

[ok, uh, excuse you but -]

We just met.

[dachizone]

We did. But that all it takes for the first seeds of friendship to be planted!

And it seems like you're trying really hard to talk with me. [Because the struggle is real.]

[oceanthief]

I'm just having a conversation, I don't want to be responsible for taking care of a plant.

[ah, there it is. Lapis just can't go a single talk without taking a metaphor completely and utterly literally.]

[dachizone]

Ahh..that's not what I meant. There's no actual plant to take care of.

[oceanthief]

But that's the only thing seeds can grow into.

[at least on earth, anyway.]