ioduanlogs | (open) i've had just about enough

Entry tags:

(open) i've had just about enough

Characters: Padparadscha and you!
Date: Various parts of April
Location: Aifaran streets, Dreaming Bridge (Breakwater Wing)
Situation: April affinity shenanigans, specifically Commerce 1, Sci-Tech 4 and Meta 5.
Warnings/Rating: None yet.

[A: April 12th-13th, Aifaran streets]

[Apparently it's a good week for overpriced beauty sales carts, because Padparadscha has been seeing a lot of the weird little things spring up. And the owners have taken a very weird liking to dragging them across to their carts to try and test out a stunning range of their products.

It usually stumps the salespeople a bit when they touch "skin" and feel something vaguely powdery over rock. Padparadscha, for their part, is taking it with good grace, laughing lightly as they take their arm back.]

Hey, maybe you should try it on someone with real "skin". Like them. [Congratulations random passer-by with skin, you're getting pointed out.]

--

[B: April 10th-19th, Dreaming Bridge Breakwater Wing]

[Apparently at least one of the researchers has noticed the amount of time Padparadscha's been spending around the city's scientific communities recently, because there's an odd little garden set up in the Breakwater Wing common room. A "hydroponic gardening unit" had been as good as gibberish to them until the scientist explained it, but after getting a better idea of what it was, Padparadscha accepted readily. It'd be interesting to keep some plants, with their short lives and fragile beauty, and it's mostly flowers that are taking up the unit.

There are a couple of fruit and vegetable plants too, though, because even if Padparadscha can't make use of those, some of the others might be able to. Still, they're only in the process of growing, and sometimes Padparadscha can be found leaning over the setup with yimo in hand and a faintly petulant look.]

Rutile really was better at this sort of thing, huh...?

--

[C: April 15th-19th, Dreaming Bridge]

[Padparadscha definitely doesn't remember entering any kind of raffle - or knowing what that is - but it seems like a waste to turn down the prize on offer. Though they don't really have much need of enchanted household items, there are certain ones that can be of use to them otherwise.

The one they've chosen is a thick, heavy cleaning cloth, the kind of thing that would be used to go over smooth, polished surfaces. It's also quite happy to keep floating around and doing that all by itself, which has prompted a bit of an idea from Padparadscha.

They can't remove their powder still, but that isn't going to stop them from sitting around in various parts of the Dreaming Bridge and letting the heavy cloth work through polishing the different locks of their gem-like hair. It lingers on a single area long enough to leave it shimmering before moving on, though Padparadscha looks a little bit bored despite the fact that they're still wearing an amused smile.]

Don't make me sit here all day, okay?

--

[D: Wildcard]

[[Feel free to hit me up at

reviseleviathan to plot other stuff!]]

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[Eve's mostly minding her own business passing by when someone kind of strange points her out. They're familiar, ish, in the way of someone she's probably seen around the Dreaming Bridge, but never met.]

[It's a weird enough way to indicate her that she stops.]

I'm not sure if I should be insulted or not. Skin's a perfectly normal thing to have, you know.

[What is she getting into.]

[Padparadscha waves a hand, like it's not that important.] Right, so that means there are plenty of people here with skin that they could be testing this weird stuff on instead, huh? I wouldn't want them to waste their time.

[There's definitely some tone of amusement to Padparadscha's voice - despite their lack of skin making them a bad target, they have still seen the general aversion passers-by seem to have to these cosmetics hawkers. While the idea of cosmetics isn't unfamiliar to them, these ones seem excessive, and also overpriced despite their limited understanding of economy and barter.

The salesperson is practically jumping at the chance to sell to someone who isn't a weird rock, though, and definitely looks like he's about to start extolling the virtues of every single product in his hands to Eve if he's not stopped.]

[Oh, no, not the makeup salesperson.]

[Eve shakes her head, waves invitingly at the tall... reddish person.]

That's very considerate of you. Why don't we have this discussion about skin or lack thereof somewhere else.

[At the risk of disappointing local merchants, she's been to enough malls to know she doesn't want to get sucked into this one.]

[Padparadscha can take the not very subtle hint, though they seem more amused by it than anything. With a slight shrug, they stretch their arms up over their head, then tap the salesperson on the shoulder. He seems a little surprised for a moment, looking at the hand then up and Padparadscha as if unsure they're the same thing.]

Sorry, then, I suppose I have plans now, right? [The shopkeeper still seems a little too confused to argue, so Padparadscha takes the opportunity to wander off past Eve, combing their shards of hair back over their shoulder with one hand with nails that shine like gems.]

What kind of "somewhere else" were you thinking, little one?

[Looks like raffle-winners are congregating here today, as Judai leans his arms over the back of the couch to look at the cloth.]

That's pretty cool.

[A light snicker.] You look bored, though.

[Padparadscha hums a slight agreement, though there's a somewhat rueful smile as well as they run a hand through their hair.]

Ah, I'd be bored if I was doing it myself anyway, it's always hard work to maintain. Humans must have it easier with so little of that soft hair of yours, huh?

[They point to his hairdo.]

[Well, half of Judai's hair is bedhead. (Okay, not really.)]

I guess. It's still pretty boring.

Must've been a pretty easy choice for you, huh? [Judai didn't really get a choice, having been one of the last winners (lucky!), but he's heard that others got to pick.]

Well, maintenance isn't supposed to be fun work. [Padparadscha seems somewhat amused at that, lifting their hair up a bit so the cloth can get underneath and into some of the weirder crevices.]

It's easier to fix something else yourself, but fixing yourself is harder to do. So I thought I'd take the thing that made that easier. [They smile slightly, looking back to him.] So what did you get, then?

It'd be better if it were. [As with all things, really. Everything should be exciting. Everything. Everything.]

[He turns around and leans his back against the thing he'd been leaning his arms on, and starts tossing a small ball up and down in his hand. For a second it seems like he might say something else, but changes his mind. It comes out sheepish, instead.] A flyswatter. [It, uh. Went and smacked someone as soon as he got it.]

Didn't think that was what the raffle was for. Sounded interesting, anyway!

[That makes Padparadscha laugh outright, manually moving the cloth down a bit so it doesn't get caught on a point of stone hair.] If only everything in life was interesting, huh? Wouldn't that be a world to see.

[But an impossible one, they think. For the moment, they're going to focus on looking rather amused again at the look on his face about what he got.]

That sounds like a rude item...did it swat someone for you, huh?

[He laughs a little.] Yep!

[...Even if it means looking on the bright side of a flyswatter gone rogue...]

It did. Thought he’d get the Green Sentry [—that’s what they’re called, right—] involved and everything.

[It might have an overly-broad definition of what constitutes a "fly"...]

It's going to bother my roommates now, so I tied it down. What about yours, did it come with any special instructions?

Do they really come out for things that minor? [Padparadscha seems a little amused at the thought, though they might also have a slightly elevated concept of what constitutes a "sentry".]

I think I have to keep it somewhere enclosed when I'm not using it, otherwise it might just wander off and do its own business cleaning. [Padparadscha doesn't seem overly concerned about that outcome, though at least it would probably be less intrusive than slapping someone in the face.] I suppose simple magic can only do so much, huh?

I dunno! [The guy didn't actually get the Sentry involved in the end, which was probably good for everyone involved. Except for the part where he could have gotten the flyswatter confiscated, which would take it out of his hands and probably back to the Tower where they'd be better-equipped to deal with it, but he didn't think of that at the time. Oh well!]

[He pockets the ball and turns back around.]

So it's not just for cleaning hair. [It's not how hair is cleaned in his world, but he honestly wouldn't have been surprised if that was the thing's intended purpose.] Does it clean itself, too?

I don't think it was ever made for polishing hair. [Padparadscha sounds a bit amused at the observation, letting their hair down again so the cloth can continue up the sides.] Probably not, but it doesn't take much to clean a polish cloth, huh? Just a little clean water and maybe one of the "soaps" they use here.

[Soap in the strict sense wasn't really used in their world, but it seems to be useful for this sort of thing. And the cloth is probably going to get dirty eventually.]

Why not? [Whatever works, and all.]

Guess you'd have to do it yourself then... Too bad.

[Come to think of it, if Judai's flyswatter ever gets around to swatting real flies, then Judai would have to clean it... Not looking forward to that at all...]

Because who here other than me needs their hair polished like this? They don't seem very familiar with my kind of people here.

[Speaking from the fact that they keep getting pulled over by skincare salespeople who then seem surprised that they have skin. It's kind of funny, but it does say more about the uncommon sort of person they are even in a place like this.]

I suppose they can't let us push all the work off, huh?

[A laugh.] Guess so!

Seems like it was made to be convenient...so it should be convenient. [He supposes an institution like the Tower wouldn't want to give away its more powerful stuff without more of a big deal made about them, though. It'd be more of a special event, or something.]

Hope they're not testing it on us like they did the volunteers. [Y'know, the volunteers that led to the memories running amok, those volunteers. Aifaran doesn't need every one of its residents getting aggressively cleaned or getting smacked in the face with errant flyswatters.]

Ah, well, that depends what you call convenient, doesn't it? Things like these little enclosed lights here are convenient enough for me. [Padparadscha points up to the lights in the ceiling. Their own world is more for lanterns and fire for lighting, though they don't typically need it all that badly anyway.

Still, they seem faintly amused at the suggestion that're acting as test subjects.] I hope that didn't only just occur to you, little one.

[Padparadscha had considered it from the start, but also thought it worth the trade-off.]

Oh? [He looks up at the lights. He...was at a place with no light bulbs, once, but Aifaran doesn't resemble that place at all, so it hadn't occurred to him to even consider that they might be unnatural to someone.]

[...Speaking of unnatural. If they really were test subjects, then someone would have to be, ah...stalking...them...]

[After a silent pause, during which he continues staring at the lights, he looks back with a smile and a shrug.] Hope not.

[If they're being monitored supernaturally, it isn't anything he can sense.] ...Heh. You haven't been feeling watched, have you?

Not any more than usual. [Padparadscha takes the shift in mood with good grace, still seeming faintly amused. There was that scientist who wanted updates on their indoor plant-growing system, but Padparadscha is reasonably confident they're not stalking around here.]

And it's a sentry's job to know who's watching, huh? So I think you can rest easy, unless you think they'll get into your yimo next.

[Padparadscha winks, as if to acknowledge that it may well be a possibility...though not one they've ever seen used, or would have any idea of the mechanics of themselves.]

[He groans.] Don't you start, too.

[He's a little sick of talking about the harmful effects of yimos, after having to effectively chase one of those people away.]

Mine's broken so it's fine for me, I guess. [And it's not like he does anything illegal or embarrassing with it.]

Is that a common suggestion around here? [Padparadscha mostly seems amused about his exasperation, especially since they're not particularly familiar with the subject of technology anyway.]

Oh? And here I thought they were surprisingly resilient. Able to stand up to me, at least.

[Though Padparadscha does have to be rather delicate with the thing considering how hard corundum gems are.]

[The Fool does not have much occasion to frequent the Dreaming Bridge since relocating to an apartment within the city, but he does put in the occasional appearance when he is able. He has managed to make enough friends and acquaintances during his time here that he has reason to poke his nose into either the Quayside or Breakwater Wing dormitories--and it's the latter he meanders through now, absently toying with a loose thread on the end of his scarf as he does so.

He spots Padparadscha ruminating over what appears to be a very unusual-looking indoor garden and, his curiosity piqued, makes his way over.]

An indoor garden? [he remarks in lieu of a greeting, offering Padparadscha a light smile as he comes to join them beside the enclosure.] Won't it need sunlight?

Edited 2018-04-14 13:21 (UTC)

[Padparadscha straightens up at the question, holding their still blank notepad over their shoulder as they turn towards him with a slight smile. It's faintly amused, as if dealing with something quaint, and they tap the top of the unit, where there's a bright light shining down on the plants.]

You know, I said that too, but they say this light does the same thing for them. If only it was that easy for me, huh? I could stay inside all day. [They give a deep, rolling laugh at the idea, as if finding some personal joke in it.]

Your voice is familiar, little one. Have we had an indirect meeting before?

[Padparadscha's voice is immediately recognizable to the Fool, whose expression lightens some with pleased recognition to discover who it is he's speaking to. He takes in the bright light pouring its warm energy across the planted seedlings, then looks to his new friend again.]

Yes, [he replies, smile growing a touch wry,] I believe you and I spoke via our yimos about gems. You were quite curious about the memory stones from my world.

[He gestures to himself.] I am called the Fool. What shall I call you?

[Padparadscha's lingering amusement remains, though that's pretty much a normal state of being for them. It's hard to take anything much too seriously once you've lived as long as they have.]

I don't hear people talking about similar things from their worlds that often, so I've been taking the chance where I find it. It's certainly something to know there might be more things like me out there.

[They flick at their shirt, which has been hanging mostly closed despite being unbuttoned - when their torso is revealed, it also reveals several tunnels through it filled by pink-orange gemstones, the same colour as Padparadscha's hair and nails.]

I am Padparadscha. It's good to meet you in person.

[The Fool doesn't mean to stare with such wide-eyed shock at the state of Padparadscha's torso as they reveal it to him--but how can he not, given how strange the sight is to a person made of flesh and blood? He at least knows better than to reach out and try to touch one of the glittering gems embedded in their body.]

Oh, [he nevertheless exclaims, wonderingly, and looks up to Padparadscha's face again.] Do they cause you pain?

[Padparadscha laughs a little at the reaction, waving a hand and tracing one of their own fingers over the filled holes.] My people don't really feel pain in the same way humans seem to. I was created incomplete, so from where I'm standing, it's no different to how anyone else would feel normally.

[It's all they know, even if they can only be conscious when those holes are filled up anyway. And now that they seem to have been fixed on a more permanent basis, it seems they may not even be a real source of frustration to them anymore.]

['Created incomplete.' The Fool has spent most of his life walking a path that he trusts will lead him in the right direction, relying on hints given to him in vague, stylized dreams and spinning riddles to his compatriots because those riddles were as close as he could get to offering them clear explanation. He's made it his life's work to inhabit a space 'in between'; between the world that is, and the world that is meant to be. Making sense of the insensible is sort of his shtick--but this? Well.]

I don't think I understand, [he admits after a lengthy pause, smiling uncertainly.] You mean to say you were born--wounded?

[It doesn't seem to trouble Padparadscha on the surface, his polite confusion only eliciting a faint laugh. It's easier to distance themselves from it when they're no longer a burden on those closest to them, one way or another.]

My people are born of rock. Sometimes that means imperfections, but most can be fixed - honed and perfected, just like any other stone. But not mine. To wake up, I need to be completed with fragments of stones like me. I have to wonder whose idea it was in the first place to finish this little puzzle of mine.

[Probably Kongou-sensei, but they never exactly asked.]

[There is much going on here that the Fool does not understand, though that does not frustrate him or leave him wanting to be elsewhere. Considering Padparadscha is like having an incomplete puzzle in front of him, but sussing out where the missing pieces are would require him to be more intrusive than he has any business being with such a new acquaintance.

So instead, the Fool smiles lightly and tips his head to the side.] I wonder if I shall ever grow accustomed to how extraordinarily different we Dreamfolk are from each other--and I had thought myself a perpetual outsider, in my own world. [He looks back to Padparadscha, expression almost apologetic.] I fear there is still so much I do not understand.

[That seeming concern makes Padparadscha laugh, the sound round and upbeat.] Ah, well, I know how that feels. My world is nothing like this one. No cities, or commerce, or science...nothing these people seem to take to so easily here. Figuring things out is a bit of an adventure in itself, huh?

[There's more to that than they're willing to admit right now, like their only real exposure to science in their own world being the same Moon People who constantly attacked, and the lack of cities being for lack of their people, but it's enough to build some kind of rapport on, they feel.]

[Light, whimsical laughter follows, and the Fool gives Padparadscha a knowing sort of look.] Oh yes, [he agrees wryly,] it has been quite the adventure for me as well. Although I will say I have not yet adjusted to the novelty of merely pressing a button and watching water for tea boil itself, or flipping a switch on a wall to turn on a light.

And these devices, [he adds, fetching out his yimo to turn it this way and that; frankly, he still looks a bit afraid of it.] I always wonder whether or not I've left it turned on, and that everyone in Aifaran can hear me talking to myself. [Or singing to himself while unpacking his new apartment, more likely.]

The lights are a little strange for me as well, but at least I don't have to worry about being confused over food and drink. [Considering they don't need it, it's saved Padparadscha a lot of figuring more things out besides when they've been observing the strange foods people here make out of plants.

Padparadscha slides out the yimo as well, looking more confident with it but handling it somewhat like it's made of glass. Which, to someone made of stone, it essentially is.] It's a funny little thing, isn't it? But I won't say it's not useful. Being able to communicate over such long distances is the kind of thing it's impossible to pass on when it's available.

[The shopkeeper, seeing where Padparadscha is pointing, goes over and drags Kaltz over, launching into a spiel about their products all over again and going so far as to take his hand and pour a small amount of sweetly scented lotion into it as Kaltz feebly protests.]

No, really, I don't need any...

[With a slight laugh, Padparadscha reaches over to tap Kaltz on the back. Despite their relatively light touch, it probably feels somewhat like being tapped with a brick if it connects.]

Good luck convincing this one of that, huh? These "salespeople" of yours really are a determined bunch.

[Not necessarily in a good way, but hey, at least Padparadscha doesn't have to deal with it in this case.]

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(open) i've had just about enough

A - oh man it sure is great to have skin

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