focusedvoid: (shade of you)
[personal profile] focusedvoid posting in [community profile] boxfullofzeroes








They're not dead.

Less dead than they'd felt, at least. Their shell doesn't normally take so long to reform.

Then again. Their shell doesn't usually break of their own violation as they ascended in a boiling rage, ate at least one realm, a god, and all the Godseekers.

(That last point is debatable, actually. There's some odd sense, deep under their...shell? Void? Wherever they once stored things like Isma's Tear, much deeper now...that the sea-mind is still there, sluggish and held in a stasis. They're already adjusting enough, and they don't seem to be dying or trying to kill them, so that problem is neatly sorted as 'for later'.)

They push their body to stand. Their horn clangs uncomfortably loudly against the grate they've apparently woken up beneath. They're somewhere in the Royal Waterways. A quick check of the map--or, not so quick, as it takes time to locate where it had been--shows they've risen about halfway through, closer to the City of Tears than the White Palace. They'll go to the Stag Station in the City Storerooms next.

So they think. Complications arise on the way.

The Infection is gone, leaving dead Flukes, Pilflips, and Hwurmps in piles enough it takes time to force their way past. Their body seems too small. No, their body is fine--there's something wrong with perception itself. That will take time to adjust to.

Then, they discover the Monarch Wings now stretch and warp when used, twisting around the nearest pipes after landing before the Knight forcibly calls them back. Shade Wings, they decide to call these.

Once they're high enough to hear the rain above, they realize a noise they'd ascribed to water running in the distance is, in fact, something swirling behind their mask. Many somethings. All the fragments of Siblings with enough self left, staring out from their eyes. It's disconcerting.

By the time they actually get out of the Waterways, they're using their Shade Wings to grip ledges and drag themselves up, with those holding onto things better than their own arms are with the Mantis Claw. 

The Knight faceplants awkwardly onto the floor of the building Lemm's shop is in. If the City is the same as below, there's little left to try killing them in the area.

They'll just take a moment here, thanks.

Date: 2022-12-15 01:36 pm (UTC)
capitalcurator: (take off the defender's crest)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
The paper-smack was deserved and he knows it. Still, when he reads the next line, he'd love to grab the paper off them, roll it up, and bop them on the head with it. He does not - because he has a certain level of respect for the Knight's written word - but he does think about it.

"You'll find a rare few of those here! If it's not abstract, it's heavily exaggerated!" He cannot help a glance back at one of the more gymnastic-looking paintings. "...I assume," he adds faintly, and then abruptly snaps out of a staring contest with it. "Regardless! Stop provoking me or I'll drag you out of here and see you cooled off by the greenhouse sprinklers!"

Date: 2022-12-15 01:53 pm (UTC)
capitalcurator: (this isn't a museum)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
"Gah." Rotten. Rotten little monster. He's never going anywhere with them again! (Not remotely true.) "Excessive isn't even the beginning of it. I didn't think I'd be learning this about Ze'mer."

Lemm is quick to move with them, and attempts to pretend to keep his eyes down on their way out... but it's not his fault the ones with the detailed dicks are the most telling of sculpting style and use the unusual paint pigments. Sometimes history is just like that. Passionate people making passionate art with excessive, outsourced materials (and usually for Geo, which he can respect).

He thinks he recognises one of the still-life models from a painting in the Royal Quarter. Lemm pauses in front of that one just long enough to catch a signature in the corner, and snickers to himself as he falls back into step.
Edited Date: 2022-12-15 01:53 pm (UTC)

Date: 2022-12-15 05:06 pm (UTC)
capitalcurator: (Default)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
"If we do, it'll add a strange flair to any meeting we have with them." Lemm is a bit more amused by that than he has a right to be. He pulls the door closed behind them, though he's not sure whose dignity he's pretending to protect here. "Maybe you've heard this one: if you find someone intimidating, picture them in a compromising situation."

He pushes open another door. This room is in total darkness, and the dust is swept up a little with the opening of the door, but he reaches for his lamp and crosses to the window to pull open another set of curtains. Even a little ambience from outside is enough to tell them what they're looking at.

"Aye, she was a lucky bug," he sighs.

It's a wet room, with a large built-in step-down basin in the middle surrounded by burnt-out candles. The water damage has not been kind to anything in this room and most everything is streaked with black mould, but once it would have been considered a pretty extravagant display of wealth. There's mosaic in here. And to have it upstairs? Unthinkable.

Date: 2022-12-15 10:59 pm (UTC)
capitalcurator: (take off the defender's crest)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
Lemm stoops and squeaks a thumb over the edge of the tub, rubbing off the residual stuff between finger and thumb. Regretfully he stands and observes their writing.

Wait, but didn't they say not in enclosed spaces.

"...Are you sure?"

He is already backtracking to the doorway, just in case they're more enthusiastic than predicted.

'_' alert email lost in the space time continuum

Date: 2022-12-16 09:37 am (UTC)
capitalcurator: (take off the defender's crest)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
He takes their cautionary gesture seriously and backs all the way out into the hall behind them. He hasn't survived this long just to become collateral damage to carelessness.

Good thing too, it seems - he feels it in the floor, flinching back and instinctively throwing arms up in front of his face just in case as the view into the room explodes into black for a moment. He swears he saw thrashing limbs for a moment...

Lemm warily creeps close enough behind them to peer over their horns at the result, his hands settling on their shoulders as if to steady them or reassure them he's still intact. Or maybe just because - wow?

"You're never doing that in my shop." This hardly means a thing - he sounds impressed.

Date: 2022-12-16 11:23 am (UTC)
capitalcurator: (Default)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
"...That depends. I wouldn't want to be caught on the other end of that."

He isn't thinking much about what he's doing, which is probably why his hands stay where they are - Lemm just kind of takes the Knight with him when he steps forward, steering them in front of him as he draws closer to the mosaic.

One hand does leave contact briefly as he runs a hand over the mural, picking at the edges of bits of mosaic just to see if anything is likely to chip off. The mural is water-themed, that much is obvious - but the details are lost under a layer of muck where condensation has given way to streaks of black stuff and then dried. Still, it's sturdy enough. Lemm glances over to the area of the room that the Knight has already blasted. It's... cleaner, definitely...

He eyes the cracked tiling. Calculated risk time.

"Can you do it smaller, d'you think?"

Date: 2022-12-16 12:21 pm (UTC)
capitalcurator: (Default)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
"Anyone could try to scrape it away," he points out. "I'm not afraid of us getting our claws dirty, Knight, but it'd take far more of our time to do it the simple way."

He peers up at the mosaic and considers how much he'd mind if it broke. It's not like he'd be able to take this back to the shop, so its value to him as a reference or as a show piece is moot. And the Mansion is so out of the way - and it's going to ruin without someone living in it, anyway... Does it matter so much if it breaks now, or rots off the wall later?

He hums faintly. In truth he'd already decided, but he's more sure than he was.

"I'm not pushing you, Knight - I just want to see what you can do, if I'm honest with you." He pats their shoulders with finality. "S'not so odd to find spellwork a bit of a novelty, is it? I'm sure you're capable."

Date: 2022-12-16 07:35 pm (UTC)
capitalcurator: (Default)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
Yes, he's already behind them.

...Oh. Lemm registers suddenly that he's laid hands on them and lifts them away, folding his arms instead and stepping back to give them space. He doesn't remember doing that. No one told him off.

"I'll be safe enough back here, won't I? Let's see you have at it."

He wishes he had some advice, but Lemm has never really asked too many questions about spells. What he has clarified is that the Knight has trouble with keeping a clear head. So:

"You'll be fine," he offers, casual as anything.

Date: 2022-12-16 09:44 pm (UTC)
capitalcurator: (Default)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
Lemm braces himself just in case. He really doesn't know what will happen here, and doesn't know if he should expect platitudes to have an effect one way or the other.

What happens is damage, and he can't say he's that surprised. In the aftermath there is a swathe of clean tile (flowers, sitting on a lake of some kind?) with a little crack of missing pieces down the middle, and Lemm finds himself instantly spurred to do damage control.

Not on the mosaic, though. He will attend to that in a moment.

"That looked more orderly than the last one, eh?"

Date: 2022-12-17 08:35 am (UTC)
capitalcurator: (Default)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
He really wasn't exaggerating - it had been kind of a rush to watch them cast, regardless of the outcome.

"Pah! For now. You've only to practice and I'll have you doing all my work for me." A joke. He likes the work of cleaning up relics. Still though.

Satisfied that they're not expecting him to be upset with their result, Lemm gives himself a full view of the mosaic from where he is and then joins them closer to it again. He takes one of the tiles from their tendril to save having to bend down and peers at it.

The image as a whole seems to be of a particularly serene pond or lake, blooms similar to Delicate Flowers floating on its surface. It's mostly in shades of grey like the rest of the mansion, but in places there are subtle hints of pale blue where the water reflects, and soft green around its edges.

It is a shame about the broken bits, but... not enough to bring up.

"I wonder if this was somewhere she knew well? It's certainly no Blue Lake."
Edited Date: 2022-12-17 10:12 am (UTC)

Date: 2022-12-17 11:26 am (UTC)
capitalcurator: (Default)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
"Maybe so, but I wouldn't have a clue. Hardly within my purview to go guessing what plants belong where - all I know's they don't belong here." He finishes examining (or rather admiring) the cleaned part of the image and steps back. "Beautiful work, though!"

Ah, Hallownest. It's not often a place has the resources to let its inhabitants lounge about making art all day. Survival took a back seat for a while - at least for its citizens, even if things were going terribly wrong behind the scenes. He's really quite the lucky Relic Seeker to witness the artistic results. Smut galleries notwithstanding.

He is wrapped up in that thought when he glances over at the Knight, and it takes him a moment to register what they're actually doing. 'Considerate little stray' indeed. Maybe the accidental damage bothers them more than he thought.

"It might be fixable with some mortar, I imagine," he muses. "Not that I have any, nor the intent to come back any time soon." Not the point! The point is it's fixable. That's all.

Date: 2022-12-18 09:14 am (UTC)
capitalcurator: (a full set of king's idols!)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
Lemm is amused by the thought. Yes, if only life were as simple as brute forcing everything.

"Ah, no - we won't be punching any holes in the wall of a Great Knight's abode today!" A light laugh, and he waves the thought off. "Besides that, it sets a precedent that I might be able to get this kind of thing home. I've got to draw the line somewhere, or I'll end up with all of Hallownest in my shop."

Lemm considers the other possibility, one that's been on his mind for a little while.

"D'you think that mystery fixer takes maintenance requests?"

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-18 10:01 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-18 05:14 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-19 08:48 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-19 12:05 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-20 09:15 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-20 10:12 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-20 11:05 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-20 11:36 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-20 01:07 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-20 02:48 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-20 05:15 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-20 06:16 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-20 09:58 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-20 10:12 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-20 10:39 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-20 11:21 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-20 11:55 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-21 12:31 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-21 09:16 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-21 11:45 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-21 12:08 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-21 01:43 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-21 05:09 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-21 05:37 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-21 05:56 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-21 07:08 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-21 10:49 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-21 11:16 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-21 11:56 pm (UTC) - Expand

Profile

boxfullofzeroes: (Default)
B0X

April 2025

S M T W T F S
  12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27 282930   

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 7th, 2025 11:56 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios