Oh come now. I think we're past the point of getting embarrassed about any of that. Worst case, we can fix it up, I'm sure.
[ She'll doodle on the cards and turn them into...... funky molecules or something. She can turn anything into science, it's her special attack.
also smacks you in the head for that joke ]
Movies are like recorded plays. You can watch them over and over in your own time, like how we watch videos with our bracelets. Given how things work around here, you would probably just be given a stack of pornographic movies, but you might be able to salvage a gem or two.
i'm still not used to it, myself but yeah, maybe we can scribble over anything perverted
[Listen, she wasn't raised to be so blasé about showing off pornographic playing cards designed by dirty-minded robots....but bless Ema for showing a modicum of patience for her defrosted caveman ass.]
ohhh, gotcha! i'll try to ask for those too normal ones, i mean maybe they'll show pity and only give me schmoopy romantic stuff
you'll be the first person i invite over!! promise
[Ah, Ema definitely has a good point there. Among the fondest memories she has of home are those centered in the kitchen, filled with warmth and the scent of things cooking or baking.]
Really!!!! Unlike regular stovetop cooking, baking is highly reliant on the chemical reactions that occur among its ingredients. You get your measurements off for one ingredient and your product can come out completely different!
well, that explains why my sister's bread always came out funny she was always too impatient to measure anything carefully instead she'd grab fistfuls of everything and toss it in
[That it doesn't hurt—much—to mention Freja is a surprise. More of a twinge and less of a sword stab, a blade plunging deep and then withdrawing again.]
That would do it. Me, I can't remember how many times I've let a cake bake too long or accidentally added too much food coloring because the cap fell off.
[ .........................
Her baked goods always come out to be either really good or a monumental disaster. So maybe she averages out to an okay baker? ]
So you have a sister... I pictured you as the type to have lots of brothers.
and i had two! a younger one and an older one i'm the second youngest
[Though it hurts less than before to mention her family at all, she still can't help but make it sound like they're dead. Closing that door in her heart, warding off something worse than pain and grief: brittle, paralyzing hope.]
[ They absolutely sound like they're dead?? And while some people might feel shy asking after potentially dead family members, Ema with her own definitely dead family members does not. ]
[Off-screen, Lys pauses, dimly surprised by her own uncertainty. That she actually feels torn about what to say, about saying anything at all, instead of automatically bottling it all up out of fear of sharing the burden.
....well. She's admitted something like this to Summer already, in bits and pieces. The vague shape of it, sanitized and minimized. A second time couldn't hurt much worse, right? And besides, she owes Ema for a lot more than the balance of an honest answer.]
i don't know. i left home when i was 15 it was pretty bad, so it's just easier to talk about them like that
[Like they were dead. Or she was dead. Something final; something over.]
[ ... Awkward. But interesting. It fits in with Lys's extreme self-sufficiency.
Again, some people might change the subject here, but there's something about Lys's anecdote about her sister that Ema understands. Little thoughts about loved ones that flutter into your head for no reason, but which you share anyway because they feel good and important and bubble right out. ]
It sounds like you got along with your sister. Did you get along with your brothers too?
[She half-smiles despite herself, despite the melancholy curled over her heart like a fist. The grief that's like a stone in her gut, heavy and unchanging.]
yeah, of course! the only ones who fought sometimes were the eldest two being twins, you'd think they would get along the most...
[ Hmmmm smells like pointed redirection. But hey, whatever. Lys can talk about what Lys wants. ]
One older sister by 13 years. I've been worried about her, honestly. We're each other's only family, and she practically raised me. She's always been a little protective of me. If she ever thought I was missing, I don't think she would handle it well.
[ Considering the lengths Lana went to to protect Ema from a potential manslaughter charge years ago.......... yeah. ]
[In a different, happier universe, she'd be like that one grandpa with fifty thousand pictures of his grandkids spilling out of his wallet, except with her whole family. But they're not in that universe, they're in this one, where Lys already knows—believes—that nobody else cares.
She's certainly been told as much.]
she sounds like a wonderful sister and so do you
because you'd try to protect her too, wouldn't you? if you had to
The penal system is jail, basically. Someone tried to frame me for murder once, so my sister helped manipulate the crime scene in order to turn suspicion away from me. Highly illegal, of course. It ended up being a huge mess down the line.
She tries to imagine it, lying to protect someone from another's lie, and feels her stomach twist up inside. It's not the lying itself that bothers her overmuch, the illegality of tampering with evidence—though it probably should—so much as the thought that Ema's sister felt she had to do it. That someone had driven them both into a corner.]
woah yeah, i can see why it would but, geez she really does love you that must have been so hard on you both
but why would anyone want to do that to you? i can't see you having any enemies
It was difficult at the time, but we've made our peace since then. There's a lot to be said for coming clean with your secrets, even if it's frightening to think of what might come as a result. You hold on to a secret long and tight enough and you'll just end up crumpling around it.
As for why? Blackmail, pure and simple. My sister was a detective herself back then. One of the best around. She was primed to move into prosecution, and everyone knew she would rise to the top sooner or later. By making her think I'd killed someone and helping her cover up the crime, the framer had a powerful hold on her. He knew she would do anything to keep my potential involvement under wraps.
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no subject
i have a pack of cards from the augur, but they're
um
inappropriate
so i don't know if you'd wanna use those
[So.....naked face cards, clubs that look like dicks, and other perverted details that Lys is trying to forget about.]
movies, though....
i'm guessing it doesn't have anything to do with cows
[Moo-vies, get it? (laughs in medieval peasantry)]
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[ She'll doodle on the cards and turn them into...... funky molecules or something. She can turn anything into science, it's her special attack.
also smacks you in the head for that joke ]
Movies are like recorded plays. You can watch them over and over in your own time, like how we watch videos with our bracelets.
Given how things work around here, you would probably just be given a stack of pornographic movies, but you might be able to salvage a gem or two.
no subject
but yeah, maybe we can scribble over anything perverted
[Listen, she wasn't raised to be so blasé about showing off pornographic playing cards designed by dirty-minded robots....but bless Ema for showing a modicum of patience for her defrosted caveman ass.]
ohhh, gotcha!
i'll try to ask for those too
normal ones, i mean
maybe they'll show pity and only give me schmoopy romantic stuff
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[ They're dumb, but fun. And it would be nice to get a dose of 21st century normalcy. ]
If all that fails, you do have that fully-outfitted kitchen of yours. A group baking session always makes for good bonding.
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promise
[Ah, Ema definitely has a good point there. Among the fondest memories she has of home are those centered in the kitchen, filled with warmth and the scent of things cooking or baking.]
ooh, you're right
we can bake bread!
[Cookies? Cake? Don't know her.]
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Hey, did you know?
Baking is the most scientific form of cooking there is!
[ no one cares ema ]
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[Lys cares!! Lys cares a WHOLE LOT which.....is not a good barometer, actually. But please continue anyway!]
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Unlike regular stovetop cooking, baking is highly reliant on the chemical reactions that occur among its ingredients.
You get your measurements off for one ingredient and your product can come out completely different!
no subject
she was always too impatient to measure anything carefully
instead she'd grab fistfuls of everything and toss it in
[That it doesn't hurt—much—to mention Freja is a surprise. More of a twinge and less of a sword stab, a blade plunging deep and then withdrawing again.]
no subject
Me, I can't remember how many times I've let a cake bake too long or accidentally added too much food coloring because the cap fell off.
[ .........................
Her baked goods always come out to be either really good or a monumental disaster. So maybe she averages out to an okay baker? ]
So you have a sister... I pictured you as the type to have lots of brothers.
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[Lys, that's just you.]
and i had two!
a younger one and an older one
i'm the second youngest
[Though it hurts less than before to mention her family at all, she still can't help but make it sound like they're dead. Closing that door in her heart, warding off something worse than pain and grief: brittle, paralyzing hope.]
no subject
Had? Did something happen to them?
this is the worst kind of s-link upgrade
....well. She's admitted something like this to Summer already, in bits and pieces. The vague shape of it, sanitized and minimized. A second time couldn't hurt much worse, right? And besides, she owes Ema for a lot more than the balance of an honest answer.]
i don't know.
i left home when i was 15
it was pretty bad, so
it's just easier to talk about them like that
[Like they were dead. Or she was dead. Something final; something over.]
no subject
[ ... Awkward. But interesting. It fits in with Lys's extreme self-sufficiency.
Again, some people might change the subject here, but there's something about Lys's anecdote about her sister that Ema understands. Little thoughts about loved ones that flutter into your head for no reason, but which you share anyway because they feel good and important and bubble right out. ]
It sounds like you got along with your sister. Did you get along with your brothers too?
1/2
yeah, of course!
the only ones who fought sometimes were the eldest two
being twins, you'd think they would get along the most...
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what about you?
any siblings?
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One older sister by 13 years.
I've been worried about her, honestly. We're each other's only family, and she practically raised me. She's always been a little protective of me.
If she ever thought I was missing, I don't think she would handle it well.
[ Considering the lengths Lana went to to protect Ema from a potential manslaughter charge years ago.......... yeah. ]
no subject
She's certainly been told as much.]
she sounds like a wonderful sister
and so do you
because you'd try to protect her too, wouldn't you?
if you had to
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You would do the same for yours, no?
[ She can't imagine what it's like to not care for a sibling, and Lys already seems like the caring type, so... ]
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that's what family is for
[Family that's worth having, anyway.]
my sister saved me from a bear once
but i bet yours did something just as amazing!
repent and do no harm...
Jury's out on whether that beats a bear.
[ Correctional officers vs. bear... Considering the kinds of cops they have in the LAPD, Ema truly can't predict who would come out on top. ]
What did she do to the bear, exactly?
sorry daddy, i've been bad
but it's not a competition, haha
i didn't mean it like that
[Just that all big sisters are good and amazing, unless they aren't. In which case, what the fuck!]
she shot it in the face with an arrow
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[ rip, bear... ]
The penal system is jail, basically.
Someone tried to frame me for murder once, so my sister helped manipulate the crime scene in order to turn suspicion away from me.
Highly illegal, of course. It ended up being a huge mess down the line.
no subject
She tries to imagine it, lying to protect someone from another's lie, and feels her stomach twist up inside. It's not the lying itself that bothers her overmuch, the illegality of tampering with evidence—though it probably should—so much as the thought that Ema's sister felt she had to do it. That someone had driven them both into a corner.]
woah
yeah, i can see why it would
but, geez
she really does love you
that must have been so hard on you both
but why would anyone want to do that to you?
i can't see you having any enemies
no subject
There's a lot to be said for coming clean with your secrets, even if it's frightening to think of what might come as a result.
You hold on to a secret long and tight enough and you'll just end up crumpling around it.
As for why? Blackmail, pure and simple. My sister was a detective herself back then. One of the best around.
She was primed to move into prosecution, and everyone knew she would rise to the top sooner or later.
By making her think I'd killed someone and helping her cover up the crime, the framer had a powerful hold on her. He knew she would do anything to keep my potential involvement under wraps.
(no subject)
(no subject)
wrapping threads, we are