(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

[opheliac]

Somethin' about we can turn into them and blahblahblah spooky it's painful and we get all regretful afterwards? Am I missin' anything?

[also filing this away]

[faceblocks]

[she is going to have to find another vileblood soon, because having to seriously think about (and she's thought about this before) 1. her sister succumbing to beasthood 2. the damage to other people that are and aren't sleepers that beast might cause - is causing her blood pressure to just. fuck. she's got a few things up her sleeves (both of em) besides nuggets of wisdom - she's gotta have options if and when the time comes. but she hasn't noticed her own blood effects so far - just people losing senses and in some cases ...memories?]

[siriusly]

A lot. A lot. But whether or not that'll play into your second chance plans is...well, I don't know. I don't know you.

[opheliac]

What if my second chance in life deals with rippin' everything in sight apart? To finally become strong and unstoppable? 'Cuz as a beast, I'll be that, right?

[siriusly]

For all of an hour, maybe? Because you sure as hell wouldn't be left alone to do that. Hunters exist for a reason, to say nothing of all the people here who are doing their best to keep things together.

Look--[hhh.] It's easy to say this or that in all this broad talk, but I don't know you, and you definitely don't know this place. So maybe take some time to bridge the gap before you make any broad assumptions you'll wind up paying for in a bad way? Just ask Vi-- She's already chewing on some humble pie for messing with things she didn't really understand.

private voice

[faceblocks]

Thanks for bringing that up.

[...]

Not a "fuck you" disguised as a thank you, just so we're clear. That's my sister, and it might go down better if she hears I messed up from someone else, that someone really thinks I shit the bed on something ...instead of me telling her another story that sounds like a lesson.

[who knows: maybe it won't work. but she doesn't mind being used as a cautionary tale in this case. she might have bristled a little otherwise.]

[siriusly]

Sister, huh? [they couldn't be any more different, from his outside perspective. but that's more info than he had before, so...]

Younger one, I take it? No wonder she wouldn't take you seriously. [this coming from a very bullheaded little brother.]

[faceblocks]

Yup. It's a crapshoot, really. But I know she thinks my head's really far up my own ass, and I'm not saying that's not sometimes true, but...

How many you got?

[siriusly]

Auh, eheh... I had an older brother. Mamoru. I know I was a pain in his ass, too... Even when he knew the better of things.

[faceblocks]

She was never a pain in my ass, really. [the tiniest hint of humor here] Now she is, sure, [it's quickly gone] but that's on me. Maybe not all me, but not on her.

I was a pain in a lot of people's asses, too. Thought I had all the answers.

[she hears had. doesn't want to press. proceeds lightly rather than just asking what happened. if the "had" means what she thinks it does.]

Did you ever get along?

[siriusly]

Oh, yeah! I mean, once I could convince him to sneak out to the train yard with me... [he breathes out a fond little laugh.] We'd play baseball, he'd let me tag along when our mom sent him on delivery runs...he'd even take the blame when I was the one who started fights with the other kids in the back lots.

I gave him a lot of headaches, but...hopefully it wasn't too bad for him. He still... Made sure I was okay. Even when things turned out for the worse.

[faceblocks]

[the memory, the laugh - they sound sweet, and it tugs at her a little guiltily - makes her remember how lucky she is to have this at all - no matter how messy or headache inducing it is. it's a much more bearable ache than the grief over losing her sister, or just ...not fighting hard enough - or maybe not fighting at all and trying to accept jinx for who she was instead of chasing the ghost of a child who didn't exist anymore.]

You? Starting fights? I can't see that at all.

He sounds like a good brother.

[....don't ask, don't ask. it's hard not to - but she can at least say this:]

I'm sorry he isn't here.

[siriusly]

[he chuckles. really? can't see it? look how straightlaced he is compared to his life before, Mamoru!

that tapers into a thoughtful silence, letting her condolences sink in.]

...Mn. I'll always miss him, but...I'm lucky I had such a good big brother. [and that's what's tough about being here and not out there on the railway; how can he do Mamoru proud from here? what about his father? or his partner? all these people he's lost casting the shadows of such intense legacy...]

But, ah-- [he clears his throat, trying to dispel the atmosphere and pivot back to Vi - to the present, not the past.] I guess if you ever need...younger-sibling insights, well... [he might have some still?]

[faceblocks]

I'm glad you did, too.

[is that prompted by the vileblood effects? maybe a little, in that it makes her more willing to say it. she'd been thinking it regardless. she lets him pivot - she understands the need for the pivot more than she'd like to.]

You have no idea what you're getting into.

[she isn't saying no.]

[siriusly]

Nope! [said brightly enough.

sobered:] But I'm used to that.

[faceblocks]

It's your funeral.

[and sincere - also sobered- but ending with a joke because she can:]

Thanks again, Mana Lana.

[siriusly]

[oh absoLUTELY NOT:] Manabu.

[faceblocks]

Oh, I know. I was just yanking your chain.

¸„.-•~¹°”ˆ˜¨ 🎀 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒶𝒷𝓊 🎀 ¨˜ˆ”°¹~•-.„¸

[opheliac]

The difference between Vi and myself is I carry the brains in the family. 'Course, I can handle myself in hand-to-hand combat, too. I may be short and thin buuuut I'm also quick.

— But don't worry so much, Know-It-All. I promise before I go beastie to get all my lil' duckies in a row. I get this is a place where you can't just, y'know, "wing it".

(a little disappointing a sigh as she lifts up one of her braid; toying with her split ends.)

And it really blows and defuses some of my fun.

(bomb puns.)

[siriusly]

[a hesitant sound.]

...Manabu. [beat.] Manabu, not "Know-It-All." You can call if you find yourself in a pinch.

[opheliac]

You know what? You're right. "Know-It-All" is a bit of a mouth full. How about Mana Lana?

[siriusly]

[you can all but hear the grimace in his voice:] Nn, no...Manabu, please.

And you?

[opheliac]

You're no fun. And I'm Jinx. Nice to meetcha, MANABU.

(since he is forcing her to use his actual name, how boring.)

[siriusly]

Likewise, Jinx. [SEEEEE? respect my name and i'll respect yours!!]

As I said, if trouble comes up...you got the name now.

[opheliac]

Alright, Manna! I'll keep it in the ol' noggin'.