(VIDEO) — UN: BOMBSHELL

[opheliac]

(the video begins of a zoom up of a pair of eyes. an animal to be exact. they blink curiously before it gets pulled back -- revealing it's a spider monkey holding the omni. he holds it up above him and even turns it upside-down and other various angles. hopefully the lovely people aren't easily to become motion sickness upon viewing this but if they do, their own fault really.)

Got it workin'?

(there's a voice coming from off camera; familiar to some or not. but the monkey looks off to the direction of the voice before turning the omni over so whoever is watching can now see jinx sitting in a chair -- slouching with her arm hanging over the top railing. there's a grin that slowly grows on her face, however, it's not... exactly a friendly kind. impish? troubling? dangerous? you'd be the judge. nevertheless, jinx hunches over now with both her arms drape over her knees -- looking directly at the omni.)

So! — Greetings people of.... whatever this place is. Kiiiinda forgot the name but not really important. I've been hearin' a lotta here and there that I've been here before. Don't really remember it, though. (a brief pause as she thinks.) Except the last time. I remember the last time but not the other times.

Buuuuuuuuut ♪! Since I've been here a whoooole BUNCH of times that means I gotta have some friends here, right?

(she bites her bottom lip to hold back a giggle as the video suddenly wavers around. but quickly it straightens up and focus with a closer look of jinx (it seems she's the one holding it now) in a bird's eye view. her spider monkey climbs on her body then curling himself along her shoulder and neck while also looking up at the feed along with her.)

So if ya know me, contact me. OH! And you got like, thirty minutes to convince me why my former self even bothered wasting my breath on you. Don't keep me waitin' too long 'cuz I get bored easily.

(a beat.)

ACTUALLY, NEVERMIND!!! — Decided to change it to twenty minutes. (her spider monkey seems to be screeching in laughter at jinx's sudden time change but resumes on nuzzling it's head against her cheek.)

OH OH! One more big thing. There's someone here by the name of Vi. If you know her, contact me too. So we can aaaaalll be friends and get along. No shame in that, right?

(she says this but there's something about that smile that really makes it... off putting. regardless though, jinx hums quietly as she cocks her head to the side.)

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

Comments

video: un: vi

[faceblocks]

What's---

[wow. just wow. and fang really??]

---what's happening here?

[opheliac]

Ooooh, y'know...! I'm gettin' to know the people here, Sis. Isn't it obvious? — Du~uh!!

[faceblocks]

Yup. That's ...what you're doing. How's that going?

[trying to be chill. a chill, normal lady carrying a huge parcel of cookies back to the rookery. nothing is weird about this. she is not nervous at all. everything is fine. what could go wrong?

though, actually ...she finds her thoughts turning to my sister is actually here and that is fine. so nothing about it is wrong, and i am nervous and that is normal. fuck pretending. if jinx is gonna vet everyone, then so be it. better now than later.

and to be fair, wouldn't she do the same? sure, maybe for different reasons, but she absolutely would.]

[opheliac]

Pretty good! Collectin' a lotta info. Might head out with Squid buddy too, later. Hey, since this place is all... seafood and stuff, got a place that's close to Jericho's? Kinda curious.

[faceblocks]

Cool, cool. Who's Squid buddy? Guessing there's a story there. [it could go a bunch of different ways.] Coupla places. The noodle place near the boardwalk's one, but Willful Machine's got a couple, too.

Probably some I don't even know about. I'm slowly fixing that.

[opheliac]

Squid Buddy is someone who I met up with when I first got here. He bought me food and everythin'. ― So we're buds.

"Willful Machine's"? Right, I'll check that place out.

[faceblocks]

It's a whole district kinda like Cellar Door where we live, but ...even more people selling stuff.

[even more things for jinx to steal - theft is pretty rampant there. she should probably say something about that, actually.] Just follow your nose and you'll find the stalls, I don't even know if they have names---

---oh! Watch out for sticky fingers. Nine times out of ten you can't throw a punch without hitting a pickpocket.

I'm serious. When I'm on the roofs up there, I can still smell it, and not in the bad way. If I close my eyes it's almost like home, but just that smell. The rest is ...cleaner.

1/2

[opheliac]

Huh...

(she listens attentively to her words; making a mental note at the key parts. jinx can only hope if she forgets something, her voices are tuning in too to jog her memory later. )

Okay, thanks for the tip and the advice. I'll keep that in mind.

( private )

[opheliac]

(and then suddenly —)

... Hey, Vi? Can I talk to you about somethin'? It's about Shimmer. (she adds quickly just in case vi exclaims or something.) — I know, I know. Noooot the best topic but Silco isn't here or the Doctor or even the Boy Savior.

You're... kinda all I have here. And I need someone to bounce my theories on. Is...Is that okay?

(too bad she has no clue viktor is here.)

( private )

[faceblocks]

When I said anything, I meant anything. I fucking hate Shimmer. But. Is it okay that you talk to me about this? It's gotta be or nothing works. It's okay.

[no takebacks. that doesn't mean she wants to talk about it - but this is that shit that vander tried to teach her - the stuff she never wanted to listen to. hard choices and all that. she hates the idea of it - she hates what she came back to in the lanes.]

So, shoot.

( private )

[opheliac]

So... ― Oh, wait. Hold on.

(jinx gets up and disappears from the camera for a moment. vi would be able to hear a door shutting soon after. it's more indication to show whatever she wants to talk about is definitely on the hush-hush and she doesn't want anyone listening in. not unless they're from their realm.

she comes back and takes her seat again.)

Okay, um. So. Guess it's super obvious that I'm mixed with it since uh... (she gesture points to her eyes.) A-Anyway, there's a lotta different versions of the stuff and when I got all "mixed", I didn't really wait around to ask the Doctor what type I got or... what else I can do. So, kiiinda just learnin' as I'm goin' along? Eh heh heh.

(she chuckles sheepishly while rubbing the back of her neck then clearing her throat.)

Ahem... So, uh. The reason I've been askin' about places to eat 'cuz since I've been here and back to me, I've been hungry. Like REALLY hungry. I've been eatin' stuff around here and it's just not enough. It's really drivin' me crazy.

From what I know, Shimmer can use as fuel too so... I dunno, maybe I just gotta eat a lot now? Maybe my metabolism is like PHHEWWWWW, y'know?

[faceblocks]

[she doesn't know how shimmer works beyond what her own experience with it was, so...she may as well get that out there.]

I always wondered about that, yeah. I suspected, but I never asked you. Didn't have the chance. Or the presence of mind to try.

[there's a long pause, mostly because she's remembering, and trying to align her own experience with what jinx is describing.]

That makes a lot of sense. I ...someone gave me Shimmer once when I was ...maybe ...probably (?) dying, and everything sped up. I must have passed out, but suddenly nope. I was awake. So awake. My heart. My body just---

--the wound closed right up. Just like that, so no, I don't think it'd be much of a stretch for your body to need more to keep going.

But there's someone here that might be able to back that up, or look at it, confirm it. He's from the undercity, too, but he's pretty fragile right now because he had a surgery, an experiment that seems to have worked but he's not in any shape to be doing anything right now. He's my friend, too. And that's probably why he didn't respond to your ...inquiry. His name is Viktor.

He's Pally-glasses' other half.

[opheliac]

(oh, she had shimmer too? who knew? so if she had it, why is she so against it? maybe that will be a conversation for another time or maybe still now but... further along. because what draws her attention besides any of that is her stating there's someone else here from the undercity.)

Wait, what? What the hell, Vi?! Why haven't you told me that one of ours are here, too?!! — Sheesh, you really stink at informing things.

[faceblocks]

Right? I mean where was the right time for that? Obviously when you were oh, I dunno, not breathing or maybe it should have been the first thing I did before trying to find Silco? Wait, no, how about when you were freezing the ocean? Sleeping? I know, when I was trying to tell you what was what just in this place?

Maybe I do stink at it. It's been ...a long time. I could fill up a fucking book with things I want to tell you, but then I'd be talking ...forever. And you'd be telling me to shut up.

I'm sorry. If there was a better time, I should have... I thought now was as good a time as any. I was gonna tell you after he got better, but I told you now because it came up now.

If you have any more questions, fire away.

[opheliac]

Okayokay, I get it already!!

(there's a huff as she crosses her arms over her chest.)

— Hey, 'least there's another Zaunitie here. But... I've never heard of Viktor? He must had been real deep in Zaun 'cuz I've tried to keep tabs on all of our people and who they are. In case, y'know, they get roughin' up by Enforcer or whatever.

[faceblocks]

I'll let him tell you himself, but he's good people. You've got some shit in common.

[and some things ...not in common, too. but they are adults (??) and they can sort this out. she is going to have faith - especially because viktor's survived a run in with (a) jinx before.

she ignores the huffing - that's jinx in a nutshell.]

[opheliac]

Tell me what? ... Wait, is he one of the Boy Savior's people? Don't tell me I have to deal with that.

(jinx rolls her head back and exhales out a loud agonizing groan.)

— I'm pretty sure the Bug got away after what I did. He always does. It's like his "thing". Buzzin' around my head and whenever I swat at him, he vanishes.

[faceblocks]

['boy savior' doesn't ping her, but 'bug' and 'buzzin' do.]

You mean Ekko? What did you ...do exactly?

[pretty sure he got away is something that has just given vi a bit of closure - relief. she'd suspected he might be dead. vi, on the other hand feels like ekko would be very welcome here. she might just yell at the ocean about it. or maybe ...ask nicely. ]

That's a swing and a miss, sis. But it was a good swing. He's not one of Ekko's.

[opheliac]

I tried to kill us both. Kinda didn't had choice. He had be pinned down and was beatin' the hell outta me.

(and when she says this, jinx looks... a bit hurt by that. she pulls up a leg to her chair; chin resting on her knee. but she might had deserved that beatdown -- after all, she did murder a few of his comrades. yet still, the fire he had fueling inside him and those brown eyes of his filled with so much hate. it stung her in a way where she couldn't even begin to comprehend.

her eyes isn't on vi but more at the outer layer of her omni -- her mind tracing back at the night with him on the bridge. and before she realizes, she sniffs and feels one shimmer tear sneaking its way through. jinx blinks rapidly to force it back then clears her throat; straightening up again.)

Ahem... — But uhm!! Good! Uh, good to know he's not one of 'em.

[faceblocks]

[that was - what she heard from the bridge? it had to be. it's distressing and relieving in a rollercoaster ride of feelings.

she doesn't think ekko would have killed jinx - not without great great provocation - he could have done it when he'd taken vi, right? every way she tries to slice it, and she doesn't know everything - but from what she does know, something feels off about that. would he have beaten her unconscious? yeah, probably - because that would likely be the only way to get her to stop, to back down. s

he hates that idea. she hates the way jinx curls into herself - because it makes her feel guilty, pissed off at herself and her contribution to this. she hates the racing eyes, that shimmer tear and had jinx not wiped it away she would have tried to do so herself.]

Nope. Not a Firelight. I like to call him "Fussy". He kind of likes it.

[...]

I'm gonna file a question away for later, cause I have something I want to ask you, but I can tell you don't want to talk about it now.

[opheliac]

Go ahead and ask me. We're here anyway, right? Let's just get it all out and over with.

[faceblocks]

Okay. [an easy shrug, a show of okay then, we're doing this but i did ask first.] Why would you do that...

...to yourself?

[ugh that hurts to ask. but the thought of it - and the array of answers she imagines could come - is one of the worst things she's thought about in a while.]

[opheliac]

Huh? Do what?

(already forgetting what she is referring to. and it's the fact she takes it all so lightly is probably very disturbing to many.)

[faceblocks]

Try to take yourself out with him.

[yes, that's disturbing to vi even though it's not exactly surprising.]

[opheliac]

(oh, that.)

'Cuz one, I knew he'd fly away if I did that. Two, I had the crystal in my hand already and the mission was to retrieve back what was taken. It was an unofficial mission, though. Silco had no idea the Firelights took it in the first place. I didn't... want to tell him or let him down so. Kiiiinda went and handle it on my own.

Anyway with the Bug gone and the stone in hand, I was sure someone from our side would had came across me eventually. And bingo, I was right.

— Aaaaand to combine two and three... the main goal was to gain Zaun's independence over Piltover by all costs. If it means my death in the process, then it means that. Fight and die for the cause, y'know. I was and still am prepared for that. I am a weapon and a solider so.

(she shrugs back to her again, thinking this is no big deal. but it just goes to show how warped her mind became during vi's absence. it also reveals how jinx sees herself. in some way, she views herself as a tool than a breathing human being. and to make it worse, she is completely content by it. now was it silco's intention to make her believe she is a tool? a weapon? maybe or maybe not. that is something she will have to ask him if he ever decides to come up a shore.)