khuioduan | video (backdated to the 24th)

[Padparadscha is lying around on the common room couch in Breakwater Wing, looking like they've been considering something. There's still that ever-present air of amusement to their look, though, like it's not something very serious to them.]

So, with so many of us from different worlds, there must be many different methods we use to decorate ourselves and our homes, right?

I wonder if you could tell me what kinds of things you treat gems with in your worlds - the things you use on them to protect them, or hone them. Or even just what you do with them. I keep getting worrying comments off these "salespeople" of yours.

[From the deep laugh they give after that last remark, it's not actually very worrying, just funny.]

Do any of you paint stones? Does it damage them? [They're not going to paint their own surface anytime soon, but they do want to talk to the scientists here sometime about substitutes for their powder, and something more waterproof like this "paint" they have here would be nice.]

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[in a thoughtful tone,] I have seen precious gems embedded into fine pieces of gold and silver, but I shall readily admit that I know little about the art. But I have seen a kind of stone in my world that seems rather the reverse of what you speak of here; it takes our memories into itself.

Oh? We don't work with those much back home, they're too heavy for most. [At least, in deposits of the kind of size they tend to get. Phos manages at the cost of continually cracking and self-repairing, but that's it.

They seem more interested in his last remark, though.] And what does it do with those memories?

[A lengthy pause before the Fool responds; he seems to be gathering his thoughts, to the best of his ability.]

From what I am able to tell, it becomes alive.

[Padparadscha leans forward a little at that, obviously interested in what he has to say.]

What does it do that makes you call it "alive"? I haven't heard of a lot of worlds that have living rocks.

[Other than their own, which is why they've been seeking the information.]

[Another pensive pause,]

They--come to life, [he explains, though he seems to accept that this won't be answer enough. A contemplative sound follows.] A king from my world poured all that he was into a stone dragon he shaped with his own hands. It took in his memories and feelings, his experiences, the things that made him whole. When at last he and another disappeared into it, the stone dragon awoke, and flew to save his homeland.

...with enough memories, the stone comes alive. Without them, I know little enough about it to guess whether it lives or not.

[It's an interesting myth - not completely unlike the one that's supposed to explain the gems' own existence in Padparadscha's world, and they listen attentively enough to it as he explains. Once he's done, they let out a thoughtful hum and lie back on their bed again.]

So someone put so much life into it that it came to life itself. What a strange thing to happen. [They laugh softly. It's new, if nothing else.] It's an interesting story, so I appreciate it. Are tales like that common where you come from?

I imagine there are many, [the Fool replies, the sound of a wry smile creeping into his voice,] but this one in particular I witnessed myself. It happened precisely as I described it.

Oh, so you're a lucky one. [Padparadscha sounds a little interested in that part as well.] How long ago was that before you came here? It's hard to tell how long some of the people here exist.

A difficult task where I come from as well, [the Fool replies.] I suppose we last for as long as we are remembered.

[Likely not quite what Padparadscha had meant, but the Fool's relationship with mortality has become flexible to such a degree that dwelling on it makes him uncomfortable. He muses over the more straight forward question that has been asked of him.] As for how long ago, I would guess perhaps fifteen years or so. I was still in my youth when the stone dragons flew to save the Six Duchies.

Ah, that's one way to consider it, isn't it? Especially for things that aren't eternal.

[Or, perhaps, things that are eternal but disappear in other ways. Padparadscha knows the missing gems in their world are unlikely to be forgotten anytime soon.]

Only that long? No wonder you remember it so clearly.

I'm actually not much of a jewelry kind of person-- [Caring for her soul gem in Keeliai aside, she's glad those aren't a thing to worry about losing any longer.] --but a lot of people keep gems and anything made with them in special boxes or bags with soft material to keep them from getting scratched up or whatever. I... have no idea how they're cut and polished where I come from, though.

[She looks curious, studying Padparadscha's face for a moment or three.] Pretty sure paint shouldn't damage stones unless the paint is made of super caustic stuff, but that'd kind of defeat the purpose of the paint if it just ate through whatever you put it on.

[Teasing:] Thinking of starting a painted pet rock business?

[So that's a point in favour of some kind of paint possibly being the solution the Lunarians had to the problem, though Padparadscha isn't jumping on that one yet without some further proof. They do laugh a little at the "pet rock" comment, though.]

You soft people like to keep all kinds of animals as pets, but you'll take rocks when the rocks here don't live? That's one of the stranger things I've heard since coming here. But hopefully I won't need to find out how the people here hone their rocks in detail outside of for my own curiosity.

[Honing is only needed back home if someone needs parts shaved off to replace a more vital area of their body, which is never a good thing.]

Well, it's mostly a thing for kids art projects, but it can be fun. People sometimes get really creative with rock painting, or other times it's used for sanctioned graffiti at high schools or whatever. Those rocks are usually huge, though.

[Pepper tilts her head and studies Padparadscha's image for a moment, considering what he's said.]

So, you're not a soft person. Obviously. Are you actually like a living gem? Are all the people in your world like you? What would you need paint for?

I'm afraid I'm not familiar with "graffiti", little one. [They can grasp "high school" since the building they live in back home is based on a school, so presumably it's some different level of that, but graffiti is a new one.

That's a lot of questions that come after it, though, and Padparadscha laughs lightly.] I'm a gem, yes, and my people are the only ones who live on our world. [There are some underwater and on a different planet, too, but that doesn't need to be information that's spread.] I'm looking for something to replace the powder we use on ourselves to cover our surface. It's getting a little annoying having to be so careful of water.

Er. Well, it's basically painting on public buildings or whatever without permission. [Beat.] My name's Pepper, by the way.

[She is somewhat distracted from the 'little one' by the rest of their answer.]

Yikes, yeah, we're kind of a water-heavy city, aren't we? That must be weird when it starts to rain. Is it bad if you're uncovered? Maybe you just need some way to make the powder stick better, or get some that's like hydrophobic or whatever.

[If she thinks giving her name is going to make Padparadscha any less likely to call her little one, she has another thing coming, but the gem laughs slightly nonetheless.] Padparadscha. And that sounds like a strange pastime...but then, some people are passionate about their crafts, huh?

[As for the rain, Padparadscha hums a little.] I'm not sure what you mean by hydrophobic, but making it stick better could work. Or even a resin substitute that doesn't wear off so quickly. But I'm no doctor, so I'll have to talk to the ones who know what they're doing.

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