four : write me a beacon so i know the way [text]

[everylittlegirl]

is anyone else not having all fun and games?

[60% encrypted to Lex Luthor, Clark Kent (the elder), Bruce Banner]
[Hayley turns the video on, looking less than thrilled with life. Mostly, she seems exhausted and done with this place. Still, with her usual dry curiosity, she holds up a piece of green rock (looking roughly like this) to display to the businessman, the journalist, and the scientist.]

Do you know what this is? It's totally different from everything else here.

Comments

text;

[demon_brat]

You mean anyone is having all fun and games?

text;

[everylittlegirl]

Do you even know what fun is?

Re: text;

[demon_brat]

No, I do not.

text;

[everylittlegirl]

you shouldn't try to follow what you can't understand.

text;

[demon_brat]

That would severely limit a lot of people, do you not think so?

Besides, it makes for slower learning.

text;

[everylittlegirl]

no, I don't.

parroting isn't learning.

text;

[demon_brat]

Then you are not very observant.

And I suppose you want to make a statement in the air, rather than have a conversation. So, enjoy your not having fun.

[Disconnect.]

video;

[build]

[ hey Hayley, have the older version of you looking at the screen, arching her brow in interest. ]

Are we actually supposed to be having fun here?

audio;

[everylittlegirl]

[Hayley sighs a little.]

I guess no one's really trying to.

video;

[build]

[ she frowns slightly, sighing, before arching her brow in curiosity ]

So how would you suggest that we try?

video;

[everylittlegirl]

I don't know. Go get coffee with a friend or something.

video;

[build]

That's to say that you trust folks here though.

[ which clearly ariadne doesn't fully do ]

video;

[everylittlegirl]

Well, yeah.. [She looks off to the side, confused.]

You don't have to like, 100 percent trust someone to be friends with them, but you have to trust someone a little, sure. Don't you trust anyone here enough to have coffee with them?

After Lex Luthor's reply

[andaway]

[Why is Lex Luthor on this filter

Why is Lex Luthor on this filter

WHY IS LEX LUTHOR ON THIS FLITER Clark is this close to calling it quits, every time he thinks he'll have a calm month...]

It's- it's a mineral, it's from my world. It can be radioactive, so be careful- if you have any lead around to cover it it should be safer.

60% encrypted, video -- individual filter

[everylittlegirl]

So it's not a meteor rock?

And.. no, Clark, I don't just have a lead box lying around.

60% encrypted, video -- individual filter

[andaway]

Well... it is a meteor, and meteors are rocks by definition. But yes, it's actually a mineral. Can't you see how it's all crystallized? There were wedding rings made out of it in my world. It's not as dangerous when it's smaller.

And it gives a really pretty glow under the right light.

[A deathly glow, as far as he's concerned. He knows there's already Kryptonite on the turtle, Bruce latches onto it like a kid would to a candy and he's seen the lead compartment in Red Robin's belt... he knows what lead means in these cases.

But knowing she'd just found it so easily makes him panic a little inside, something he's really trying to hide from her. For whatever reason ('we're friends') he doesn't think Lex would hurt Clark Kent unless he had to, but Superman... Luthors and Kal-Els can't work together. Ever. It's a universal constant.]

It's fine if you don't have lead around, really. I'm just overly fond of taking unnecessary precautions. [And mostly he was saying it for himself.]

100% individual filter (thx Batman)

Hayley, that rock is called Kryptonite. I saw you talking to Luthor- to Lex...[The question hangs in the air. 'Did you give it to him?']

encryption 60% video;

[everylittlegirl]

[Hayley listens as he describes it, glancing off screen and then back again.]

Your world? If it exists in your world, it probably exists in mine too. Everything else seems pretty similar.

[When he changes the filter and mentions Lex, she shifts uncomfortably, then matches.]

encrypted 100%

Uh.. That's totally not good enough, Clark. Why did you just raise the encryption and why does it matter?

[A beat.] And why would people make wedding rings out of it if it's radioactive?

encryption 100% video;

[andaway]

[Hayley is smart, probably smart enough to mean trouble in the future... but right now it means Clark can't give her part of the truth and expect her to go with it.]

The fact that it's radioactive wasn't well-known, and it was only radioactive to humans in extreme cases anyway. In my world... [He hesitates for a second, but no half-truths. Hayley would notice if he was hiding something, and he was actually hiding far too much to risk her suspecting.]

In my world Lex had a ring made out of Kryptonite. Eventually he had to have the hand cut off. He was- well, LexCorp worked a lot with Kryptonite, and we had reasons to believe not everything they did was clean job. I know this Lex is... I know he's not the Luthor I knew but I thought it would be better not to risk it.

encryption 100% video;

[everylittlegirl]

Why would a radioactive rock mean amputation? [She thinks of radiation like x-rays and the whole idea of it having any kind of severe impact in small amounts makes no sense to her. Besides, he said it was only dangerous in extreme cases. She doesn't understand the big deal.]

And do you really think the Lex here, without any kind of.. corporation or whatever. Do you really think that he's going to be all shady and dirty with one tiny piece of meteorite?

video:

[ihope]

How would you know, did you try to bite into it? [It's not a disguised warning. It's not even a full joke. It's a counter to her own bored disposition (that's all that Lex can read from her).]

[Because he knows if he expresses interest from the get-go, she'll raise the stakes. She always does.]

[But that rock Hayley Stark is holding is his. His name's not etched on the side but he knows it. He wants it. It belongs in his hands, not hers. For once he's scrutinizing something other than her conning face. He fights the urge to lean in closer.]

Where did you find this?

[Right. So about the not-expressing-interest thing. It's not happening.]

video; encrypted 60% (individual filter)

[everylittlegirl]

[You get some raised eyebrows, Lex.] Uh.. no. I don't usually go around trying to eat the rocks I find.

[Seriously wtf is wrong with you.]

[But then his question has her wondering if he recognizes it. 'This' instead of 'it,' as if he has some claim to the thing. She doesn't recognize his urgency for the item, simply wondering if it might be from his world. Or her own. Hayley recognizes that her knowledge of geology doesn't extend very far.]

I found it in the ruins. Do you know what it is?

video; encrypted 60% (individual filter)

[ihope]

[Congratu-fucking-lations, Hayley, you're one step closer to being less of a freak.]

[Lex's breath of laughter accentuates that well, he thinks. If it weren't for a quick to disappear smile, it would have been a scoff. He wasn't the genius to figure out Sinbrilee's gems were edible, after all. He only knew they fetched a profit. But he toggles on a matching encryption and forgets about everything but the rock. His brows knit together and he barely narrows his eyes in appraisal. His left hand goes to fetch a pen that had been laid nearby. He doesn't know what for. When Lex speaks next, the jest is gone. He makes sure his eyes meet hers.]

[In them there's a secluded cloud of anger. Why her, he wonders. The intensity might very well be mistaken for simple solemnity. Business is no game. (So then how did this girl get involved- again?)]

A fragment of meteor rock from back home. [So much more than just that.] LexCorp was running experiments on its properties. [A lie. But LuthorCorp wouldn't exist in Tu Vishan. His father wouldn't exist in Tu Vishan. Lex finds himself pausing. --shortness of breath, actually. It lasts a few seconds, only.]

Of course, it would impossible to know for sure until I can see it in person.

[His gaze flickers to the rock. He wants it.]

[Flickers back to Hayley. He's much more-- relaxed. And he toggles the encryption.]

[ Encryption 90% ]

So where do you want to meet, Hayley?

video; encrypted 90% (individual filter)

[everylittlegirl]

[His laughter-like noise unsettles her in a way she shows no sign of, the look he gives her wriggling under her skin. She piggybacks on his encryption, wishing again that she had a better encryption of her own.

Hayley has resolved to maintain her nonchalance as best she can when speaking with him, but his admission of familiarity excites her and it shows just a little, with the way her back straightens and she reaches to set the meteor rock outside of the frame.]

A meteor rock.. [She glances off to the rock and then back to the screen, meeting his eyes.] Sounds kind of valuable. How much are you willing to give me for it?

video; encrypted 90% (individual filter)

[ihope]

[His eyes follow her hand where it displaces the rock. His patience has already been chipped away at once when she refused to promptly answer his question. It's chipped at again by that movement and he feels the distinct prick of annoyance. But he's still this wall, cool and calm.] Well. [Both of his palms turn upward. Honest business.]

It would be wrong of me to give you anything less than what it's worth. [And Hayley had a big mouth, sure. But why the fuck did she think she was in control here?] Granted, that's if it's worth anything at all.

video; encrypted 90% (individual filter)

[everylittlegirl]

[Hayley gives a light shrug.]

Look, I'm not dumb, Lex. Either you can agree to owe me a favor for it or I'll wait until Bruce and Clark can figure out what it is and sell it to some kedan or something.

[She's oblivious to its more specific properties, believing it to mainly be some valuable crystal or the like.]