Don't leave me on this white cliff and slide down to the sea

[oceantier]

Who: Lapis and YOU -- multiple open prompts.
Where: Different for each prompt.
When: The day of Lapis' reappearance after having vanished for two months and during the couple of days afterward.
What: Reappearing, missing Mono, checking on CR, and dancing.
Warnings: None that I know of?


A. Open, but one character only, please - There's something rolling around in one of the open trunks in the luggage car as the train moves, bumping against the wooden walls. Roll, roll, roll, bump. Roll, roll, roll, bump. By the sound of it, it's reasonably large and hard.

Investigation will yield a large, blue gem in the shape of a rounded teardrop, about the size of two closed fists. Maybe the train is producing treasure?

B. Open to anyone - Find Lapis at one of the tables in the standard carriage. She's not sitting in the seat as it was originally meant to be sat in; instead she's sideways, back resting against metal and window, bare feet perched on the seat directly next to her. In her lap, tucked up against her, she cradles a cute and fluffy toy. Her eyes are closed in apparent concentration, hands cupped around something that can't be seen, folded against her chest. Her lips move silently.

C. Closed to positive CR - If your character has positive CR with Lapis, you'll probably find her checking up on them. It likely isn't an overt check; it's likely just a bit of blue at the corner of their vision as they go about whatever task they're completing. This may be all it is, or, depending on what they're doing, she may make her presence known.

D. Open to all - Lapis never used to consider her dancing to have any particular importance. For her it was always functional -- something that one did for fusion, not pleasure. Even in Vista City, serving as a backup dancer for the multitude of bands in Pride, it had been utilitarian -- a skill that allowed her to keep close to Steven, and nothing more.

She was good at it, yes. With thousands of years of practice, her technique was elegant, delicate; she'd risen in the ranks of the Pride dancers readily, much to the irritation of others who had been there longer. But she'd never taken any pride in or pleasure from it; it was still a means to an end.

Somewhere, though, that mindset had started to shift.

Perhaps it was practicing it daily, perhaps it was the praise and a small cluster of fans of her own, perhaps in forcing herself into the feeling of each dance, she'd convinced herself that she liked it -- whatever the reason, she found herself missing it, and in the late night, thinking no one else would be awake, she went to the performance area of the music carriage, running through a routine she'd learned shortly before she'd been yanked away by the train.

She told herself it was for practice -- just in case she managed to get back to Vista City soon.

As she slid through the steps of the dance and evolved it into freestyle, she realized it was a lie. She twisted, arched, and leapt, bare, blue feet whisper-soft on the floor as she flowed into the music like an incoming tide.

Comments

B

[irrationally]

.. well, this is not a sight you see every day on the train. And that's saying a lot, considering many of the odd things one can come across here.

But while Alice has left the previous mission feeling fairly frustrated, she apparently still has enough energy in her to pay attention to things that stand out to her. Things like Lapis sitting there so oddly with that toy in her lap.

Did the other like toys? Alice had no idea.

And while she usually would have spoken up right away, right now she seems to wait for a moment - perhaps because Lapis has her eyes closed, and Alice doesn't necessarily want to disturb her. But she is curious enough to try and see what the other is doing here, so she waits and stares all the same.

[oceantier]

Lapis seems to come to a conclusion, the movement of her lips ceasing. For a moment an emotion flicks across her face, difficult to name -- regret, wanting to say more, wistfulness -- but she releases her remaining breath softly, lowering her hands. Alice may have a better view then: In her palms is one of the stones from Tshering and the Endless River, glowing with a newly imbued message.

And then her eyes flicker open, and she realizes she's not alone. Jerking, bare feet brace on the seat as though ready to push off, to flee, but this seems to be a knee-jerk instinct, purely reflexive. As she realizes who it is, she pauses mid-movement, blinking up at Alice's face.

"Hello?" she offers uncertainly, because why Alice has been watching her, she doesn't know, and there's some degree of intensity in the other's gaze. She twists a little, lowering her feet slowly back to the floor, still cradling stone and stuffed toy.

[irrationally]

At least Lapis' sudden movement doesn't seem to draw any reaction out of Alice. She just stands there, completely still, even as the other's body jerks like that.

(Though, yes, Alice sure does have a natural intense gaze - probably moreso than she realises, which is why she blinks in confusion at first, as if she doesn't get why the other is this startled, then uncertain.)

"Ah.." She finally says, seeming to realise why she might have made this situation a little awkward. It's not something Alice is really used to dealing with, but she's trying, really. Even if it's in her own weird way. ".. Sorry. I was merely wondering what you were doing with that stuffed toy."

And that rock, apparently. Alice does recognize it.

[oceantier]

"It's okay." Bare, blue feet come to rest on the floor, feather-light, poised on the toes, as though the dancer's habit never quite leaves their owner. Lapis doesn't seem to be fearful beyond her initial surprise; Alice has been nothing but kind, interested in Lapis' well-being.

At the question, her eyes shift down to the toy. "It . . . was Mono's." The use of "was" is hesitant and soft. "On the planet with all of the levels and the bad air, Tidus collected some of these and gave one to me. I . . . gave it to him."

More softly, "He's gone."

She suspects Alice already knows this, but she's still absorbing it, trying to make it real in her mind.

She hesitates a moment.

"It's . . . nice to have something he loved."

[irrationally]

Honestly, it's easy to see where this is going from the moment Lapis starts speaking up, starts talking about someone in the past tense. Alice knows what's going on here without even having to know those definite words, though Lapis says them a moment later - he's gone.

And there's a lot more unsaid implications surrounding that, right? She can hear that hanging in the air as well, even though those are going unsaid.

She takes a step closer, then another, and then moves to sit down in one of the seats opposite Lapis. It's not like Alice has anywhere better to be right now.

"You are trying to deal with losing him," she slowly says, making her observation audible.

[oceantier]

As usual, Alice slips past all of the words to the crux of the matter.

It's almost a relief, really. She doesn't have to come up with words for the feeling; it's already been done for her. She's been seen.

"Yes," she replies softly, simply. "I thought I could make him a message, like everyone did back then. She cups her hands around the stone, lowering it for Alice's view, not aware that Alice has seen it already. "Back then . . . he said he didn't have anyone to give a message to, which meant no one would have sent him one either if they could. So I thought this would make him happy."

[irrationally]

Alice slowly lowers her head into a nod.

"I understand."

It's a simple sentiment, but it does seem like it means a lot to Lapis - and like it would mean a lot to Mono too, if he would be aware of it.

"If it truly is the first time anyone would have bothered to send him a message like that.. Then hopefully the sentiment will reach him somewhere out there, even if you are not able to actually send it right now." They're not at the river, after all. And that seemed like a crucial part in getting the messages across - though Alice will readily admit to the fact that she's not 100% sure of it, not having paid much attention back there.

After all, she, too, had no one to send a message to.

".. does it make you feel slightly better as well?"

[oceantier]

Does it make her feel better?

It's a worthwhile question, and she sorts through her feelings for the answer. Making this stone doesn't mean that reality is changed; Mono is still gone, with no promise of him coming back. There's nothing that can change the flatness of that reality.

But.

Somehow she feels as though she's fulfilled a promise. She'd never made one, but it feels as though it does right by the small boy pressing his face against her lap, telling her that he has no one to send a stone to. In that moment she can feel the weight and solidity of him, the softness of his hair between her fingers. Maybe she had made a promise then, without even realizing it.

I'm here. I'm with you. I'll send you a stone.

She'd packed the stone less with messages and more with feelings: Warmth. Protection. Closeness. Even if he doesn't remember her, maybe he'll still draw comfort from the emotions. Maybe, despite the starkness of his world where small boys aren't properly cared for, it will make him happy.

That thought, her hands cupped around the stone, makes her warm in turn.

"I miss him," she says quietly at last. "Like Steven, I want him here. But if I can give him something to be happy about, it feels . . . complete."

Her eyes flick up to Alice's face to gauge whether or not that can be understood.

[irrationally]

Although it's perhaps a tad curt compared to Lapis' own long description, there is a reaction on Alice's end. A nod when the other looks over at her. Even if the other uses such a simple word as 'complete' for it, Alice can kind of imagine the fullness of that emotion enough to just nod to show she understands.

"That is a good thing," she says.

After all, Alice knows. She has so much experience with it. Not even necessarily with people leaving this place, because she can at least imagine they are going back to their own worlds and living their best life there.. but she does remember the way she never properly got to process the death of her family left a gigantic scar on her heart.

No one should have to bear something like that.

"Even if you can't ever give it to him, it has meaning as long as it makes you feel better. I suppose we all have our own ways to cope with life on the train and its ups and downs." Including having to watch people you've grown attached to leave. "There is not a way out there that is more or less valid than any other."

D.

[subcircuits]

It's the music that catches his attention, that draws him up the stairs on feet that are exceptionally silent for such a big, heavy man. He'd only meant to peek, really, just to see who it was; he would swear as much if asked.

But what he sees arrests him. Riveted by the primal swaying elegance of her motions, he lingers just at the top of the stairs and he watches her.

As the last resonant notes of the song fade, she'll hear a deep, low voice emanate from the distant end of the aisle: "You're incredible." If he's visible at all in the darkness beyond the spotlights illuminating the stage, it's by the faint square of light emitted by his Interface. He starts down the aisle as he says it, though, revealing that the big voice belongs to a big human man, tall and broad (you know, for a human man).

"I'm sorry," he adds, "I didn't mean to spy. But I couldn't-- I had to--" He's overcome enough that he just repeats himself: "You're incredible."

Sorry -- I had to give this some thought, and then had guests!

[oceantier]

For a few moments, she'd felt powerful. Confident. In control. Namely feelings she wants to have, but doesn't in the world outside of the dance.

As the music ends, she twists into a last pose, savoring the last moment of this--

--Which cracks like mirror shards at the sudden voice. In a moment she's jolted back to herself, wide-eyed, one foot poised as though trying to decide if she needs to flee. It's an instinctive move, and habit, born from nerves frayed long before Devero.

But.

The tall man doesn't seem to think she's done anything wrong (though what that could be, she doesn't know). He's complimentary. Genuine. Impressed.

She's had compliments before, but she's not always sure what to do with them. Being praised, especially for something she's always viewed as a function rather than an art, is still strange to her. Thankfully, after Vista City, she has a better idea of how to answer:

"Thank you." Her voice is soft and faintly hoarse, as though she hasn't spoken in some time. She eases off her poised foot; it slides back into place beside the first. "Where I'm supposed to be right now, I dance. That was . . . mostly from there."

There's a tendril of curiosity for the Interface. It's similar to something used by her own people, but it's not something she's seen among the humans.

No worries, I had some stuff going on too!

[subcircuits]

"You're welcome," he says, his voice softening as he picks up on how-- flighty she seems, beyond understandable startlement. He stops at the last row of chairs before the stage and doesn't move to approach closer.

"The way you say that, I feel like you don't mean your home reality," he remarks. "Do you dance professionally, where you're supposed to be right now?"

<3

[oceantier]

"It's not home," she agrees. But that feels disloyal, and her eyebrows knit a little. "But . . . it became that way."

In its own way, more home than her home reality. It held everyone who was important.

She tries not to think about that. A hand slips up to brace the opposite elbow.

A nod in response to his question. "I dance for one of the labels." No, this is not explained; she's lived in the world, and it doesn't always occur to her that another person won't have the right context to understand. Still working on people skills.

[subcircuits]

Devero perches himself on the arm of the last chair in the row-- perhaps intentionally making himself seem smaller?-- and nods himself. "I'm starting to feel that way about this train," he admits. "I don't know that I would go back where I came from, were I given the choice."

He cocks his head to the side curiously. "The labels?" he repeats. "I don't understand the significance, I'm afraid."

A since no one has yet, but D is good if you have someone else in mind

[shadowcourage]

Shadow understands just opening chests isn't a thing to do. As much as he had an impulse to investigate any and all chests at times, he knows that people lock stuff up for a reason. Probably.

But if the chest is just gonna be OPEN...

Well.

That's fine.

Especially with a large jewel. "Huh, ya look valuable," he said, picking up the jewel curiously. Usually valuable also meant magical, but that takes some investigating.

I don't! Let's do it.

[oceantier]

In this case he's right -- valuable does mean magical. The gem -- an enormous lapis lazuli -- is quiet for only a moment in his hands.

Before it starts to glow.

. . . That's fine, right?

:D

[shadowcourage]

Investigation went Very Fast.

He actually flinches back. Light isn't the danger it once was, but magical glows that close to his face does Hurt and he drops the gem as he steps back, rubbing at his eyes with a hiss.

"Right. Magic gems probably glow," he muttered, scrubbing at his eyes as he tries to clear his vision.

Thanks for waiting! I had guests.

[oceantier]

Magic gems definitely glow, and the one emanating from the gem that clacks sharply as it bounces across the floor, rolling off towards the door. By that point, it's shimmering like light on waves: Something is happening.

D.

[salutosinedelectat]

He didn't mean to pry. As someone with no need for sleep, his schedules in doing such are varied and inconsistent - and the lack of reading material often leads to him wandering about when the train is quiet and most of his fellow passengers are asleep. Stepping out of his room, stretch his legs a bit.

He's just passing through the music car when he happens to spot her. He remembers her - hard not to, considering how they met.

He watches her dance, standing not too far from the door he walked through. After a while, he considers that he should leave, but, well, might as well keep watching.

When the music ends, he speaks out politely.

"Good show, dear girl. You're a natural."

[oceantier]

She jumps at the sudden voice, a small note of surprise bubbling up in her throat, eyes whisking to the source, flicking through the semi-darkness until she catches sight of him.

Him. She's not sure how to feel about him yet -- not because of who he is, but because of how they met. It's the second time he hasn't been angry, and she can't understand it. It feels like the other shoe should fall, and yet it doesn't, lingering and taunting in midair.

". . . Thank you." The words are a little hoarse, as though she hasn't spoken in some time. Now is when the shoe falls, right?