04 ★ Video

[parallels]

[Clara's badly bruised face appears on the network. There's a nasty cut on her forehead and her left arm is wrapped and bandaged in a cast. She does her best to sound upbeat, but like everyone else, the events in the bottle are weighing heavily on her, both mentally and physically.]

So. Not going to talk about the bottle. Getting into something deep and philosophical here. Very serious. Very important.

[She tries to crack a grin but it comes off like a bit of a wince.]

We all know that time is stopped back home once we arrive on the Turtle, right? So even though we're gone, no one is missing us and we're not missing anything.

Except it does feel a bit like I'm missing everything, sometimes. Time is paused back home, but it's still passing for us here, the sun rises, months go by, the seasons change. Days pass and those days, back home, would have been a birthday or an anniversary or a holiday. Important traditions that I'm cut off from. Can't imagine I'm the only one feeling that way.

But I think I've found something that might make it better.

[She reaches down and pulls out what look like funny little hot air balloons made out of paper. There are more in the background of various colors]

A kedan shop owner showed these to me. They're called sky lanterns and they're like little hot air balloons. You light the candle and they fly in the air. He sold me a few and taught me how to make them myself so I can make them in all sorts of colors. He said you can write messages on them before you send them off in the sky. Messages to people you're missing. Or write down your worries and let them float away.

Thought it might be nice to get some of those things off our chests, reach out to people back at home or those who've left here. If you'd like to learn how to make them, I can teach you. It's surprisingly simple once you get the hang of it. Or if you don't fancy yourself crafty with paper, I can tell you the name of the shop. Then we could set a date to let them go at the edge of the turtle.

[She shrugs.]

I've been enjoying the distraction and I wouldn't mind some company to wallow in the homesickness with.

((ooc; I am so sorry for the delay everyone. I've been really sick and dealing with RL issues.))

Comments

video ;

[puppetfetish]

That's some fuckin' hella cute Miyazaki-Disney shit right there.

[parallels]

I...

Thank you?

[Clara is really pop culture dense. Sorry Bro.]

[puppetfetish]

_{[ He does this. A lot. ]}

Fo'real.
Put that shit in a children's book and motherfucking sell it.
Incorporate some hella unicorns.
I'd fuckin' cry.

[parallels]

[Well, he's got her to grin at least. A rather bewildered grin, but definitely a grin.]

I dunno. As tempting as selling children's books and making men cry sounds, I technically didn't come up with it. I think it's a kedan tradition.

[puppetfetish]

Add unicorns.
Make it your own.

[parallels]

I don't think kids are really as into unicorns as you might think. They have to be properly integrated or else it's just a miserable cliche and a failed attempt at appealing to children.

[puppetfetish]

So can I learn this bitchass thing or what.

[parallels]

Of course.

You can come by my flat in earth sector.

[puppetfetish]

Directions?

_{[ He's good at stalking and grabbing information from people, but Clara is a new person he's been keeping up with, so— ]}

[parallels]

It's 1C in Earth.

Where are you coming from? Been here long enough that I've got a decent idea of where everything is.

1.2

[puppetfetish]

Can find it.
I'll be there in three minutes.

ACTION YO

[puppetfetish]

_{[ LOW AND BEHOLD, he arrives right at three minutes to her suite and raps his knuckles on her door. ]}

[parallels]

[Clara opens the door with her good arm and raises her eyebrows.]

Well. That was exact.

[she steps back to allow him to enter. It's a cozy little flat with lots of perfectly arranged décor, though currently most surfaces are covered in sky lanterns and sky lantern materials.]

[puppetfetish]

I'm pretty serious about time.

_{[ and obviously.. about paper lantern things, evidently. It helps that he can speed step where ever he needs to go and is very punctual.
He kind of just strides inside with his stupid polo shirt and baseball cap, standing at about 6'4". ]}

Where's the arts and crafts part of this place?

_{[ bro aren't you going to officially introduce yourself or just barge in, jesus. ]}

[parallels]

There are worse things to be serious about.

[He may tower over her by over a foot but she doesn't seem too concerned. She stands aside and lets him in. For the most part he seems harmless and if he's not... She can handle herself.

She gestures to her kitchen table, which is now a mess of various sheets of colored paper and skeletons of the sky lantern. There are pots of glue and ink as well as brushes on one end of the table.]

Go bonkers with it.

[puppetfetish]

I won't talk 'bout what else I'm serious about.

<sub>[ Bro takes an awkward seat, looking at the items in front of him before running the back of his hand against his nose. He doesn't say anything; merely lowers his pointed glasses, bright orange eyes looking over the selection of things before sort of.. aimlessly picking up a few items.

His posture is perfect and poised, and he looks completely comfident.
But eventually he looks at Clara. ]</sub>

What the fuck am I doing.

_{[ welp. ]}

[parallels]

[Clara sits down across from him. In front of her is a piece of the colored paper and a pot of ink. The word "mum" is painted on it. She watches him, one eyebrow cocked, and seeming vaguely amused at his serious consideration of the task.

Then when he asks about what to do, she laughs and shakes her head.]

You can paint something on the paper. I've already flame proofed it. After that you can make a frame and put the paper over it.

[puppetfetish]

Fuckin' rad.

[ Bro picks up a brush and dips it in the ink, then proceeds to write the following all over the paper:

actual lil cal
lil shit
turntables
doritos

It practically fills up the entire sheet of paper, and he seems to be really tedious with his hand writing. It's not quite a message, just the things he's been a little concerned about and missing.
The side of his mouth pulls into a smug grin and he leans back, accomplished. ]

Done and fuckin' done, yo.
Been while since I've done something like kindergarten crafts.

[parallels]

[Unable to help herself, Clara leans over to glance over at what he's written. Her eyebrows raise in amusement and curiosity. "lil shit" is clearly a person. She just wonders who.]

Sometimes, it's nice to do a little craft. Take your mind off things and just work with your hands. Here. Make sure to seal it properly.

[She hands him a frame to wrap his paper around to make the little lantern complete.]

Are you... missing anyone? From back home?

[puppetfetish]

A few anyones, actually.

_{[ He's not going to go into much detail on who it all is unless otherwise asked, but with a cute idea like this, he couldn't possibly put something that didn't mean a lot to him on this piece of paper. ]}

Home was destroyed anyway.
Where I'm from.
The Texas I'm from.
It kinda got fucked up.

_{[ he's just shrugs and begins to wrap the paper around the wire frame. ]}

[parallels]

I'm sorry.

[She replies quietly. That sounds terrible and no amount of platitudes will make it better so she decides to focus on something else.]

I don't really know anyone here from my world too.

[puppetfetish]

Yeah?
There was that prince-fish guy. He was from my universe. Fuckin' drama queen. Haven't seen'm much.
Nobody else, though.

I mean, back home I didn't really get out much anyway. All I had was my kiddo-bro and the business I ran with the cha-ching that came with it to boot.

_{[ He half shrugs. ]}

In the long run, not much.
I arrived here from death.
That really should not have happened.

[parallels]

Eridan?

He's definitely around. Good kid, just needs a bit of help. And maybe a sharp thwack.

[She blinks. That's an even more difficult thing to reply to.]

No, I suppose not. But this is the place between life, death, and dreaming. So at least it makes sense. Or as much as it could.

[puppetfetish]

Sharp thwack.
Yo, that little shit needs a serious sickass rooftop smackdown to get his princess attitude into place.
We were all involved in a game.
A game that ended the world.

Never met him until now though.

[parallels]

Somehow, I think a smackdown would just make him more indignant. It needs to be a strategic, well placed smack. I've been able to get through to him once or twice. We used to be flatmates and... well, there are worse flatmates.

[Then she blinks up at him, her eyes wide. She's computer savvy, but the idea of games and all of that escape her.]

A game ended the world? Did you know it would? I mean, no that's advertised on the box.