Once, as my heart remembers, all the stars were falling embers . . .

[oceantier]

Who: Lapis and Lesedi
What: Lapis pushes her luck too far.
When: Before the festival
Where: Pride
Warnings: Lesedi. Likely violence and mind bending.


It started with Steven.

As it usually did.

With Lapis and Steven spending time together, it was only inevitable that a prank would result, particularly one involving fart jokes. Together they'd conceived and hatched the plan: Sneak Lapis into restricted areas of Pride with her shapeshifting and spring fart sounds on unsuspecting Pride musicians. Giggle madly. Get away clean. Enjoy the simple time together, Lapis quietly marveling at the fact that she could make him laugh, keep him company, actually manage to keep him somewhat happy given the circumstances.

Unfortunately, it meant that Lapis had an idea in the process.

Even worse, it gave her the confidence to act on it.

Late one evening, after practice and after her goodbyes to Steven, she did it -- shifted to the shape of a tiny blue bird where she knew there were no cameras and entered the vent shaft whose cover she'd removed. Darting through the vents, she sought to go deeper, down and further down, to the areas of top restriction that she knew the existence of, but nothing about. She was seeking the memories -- the means by which Pride squeezed them from their owners' minds and stored them away . . . and even more so, how they could be removed, taken back, restored.

Somewhere along the line, she took a wrong turn. And she found something else.

Comments

[oceantier]

She's seen that look before, on someone else's face.

Lapis snatches her hand away, yanking back. Nearly she tumbles over another stack of books, but even as she scrabbles to avoid that, she hits the edge of another table, sending papers flying in all directions as she lands with abrupt punctuation on her bottom.

Even then she's determined to move -- or perhaps, at this point, that's just blind instinct, knowing what kind of fate this woman can impart. On hands and knees she scrambles, limbs twisting in a mad flurry to try to pull back under control, trying to get away.

CLANG!

A force hits one of the walls with the strength of a battering ram, ringing through the small space. Another strike follows it, with enough force for a bubbled dent.

The walls are metal; the water will never get to her. But she can't help but try, the impacts resounding like a dull bell.

[interstellarnpcs]

As Lapis starts to run away, it's like music is summoned up to follow her steps. At first it is a tense and shivering note of surprise and tension, but one that is quickly averted as Lesedi vanishes and reappears in front of her, cutting off her scrambling path. This time she gets Lapis's wrist and scoops her up - and now that the music has started, she'll find avoiding just following the movements almost impossible.

For the moment she can continue smashing her water against walls, but Lesedi already knows it won't accomplish anything.

"Why'd you run away?" she sings, softly at first, almost conversationally. "Don't you like my style?" She spin Lapis in a circle, and then presses her back to the wall with just a bit too much force. "Why don't you stay and play? I guarantee it's worth your while..."

[oceantier]

Suddenly, just as quickly as it began, it's over. There's a yelp, bitten off, as the woman so neatly appears in front of her, scooping her up off the floor, tugging her into the dance.

Why'd you run away?

Her mind shrieks, wrests like an animal in a trap. Those eyes on her -- she knows those eyes. She grapples for control of her own body, but it's as though it's no longer hers; it's only interested in the music, stepping into the flow of the dance, echoing the partner smiling into her face.

And then Lesedi pins her to the wall.

Mentally she shrieks, wrests again, and Lesedi can probably feel it under her hand -- the deep shivers that run through the Gem, the quick bursts of tightness in the muscles that indicate every other second Lapis is trying to break free. The water outside redoubles its efforts, lashing and hurling itself against the walls -- the scream its manipulator isn't able to voice.

Lapis herself stares back into Lesedi's face -- a mouse unable to look away from the hawk about to tear it apart.