collectedlogs | shinsha time

WHO: Cinnabar and YOU...?!
WHAT: Haunting prompts for Zuko and Wataru, and a general prompt for everyone else...!! Jewel thievery is happening(?).
WHEN: july... somewhere
WHERE: Lighting store / various corner jewelry stores in the mall like J*red's
WARNINGS: none!

[ Despite sticking out like a sore thumb, Cinnabar is remarkably hard to pin down in the mall; they spend most of their time hiding away, and when they're not hiding away, they're actively trying to avoid running into anyone. The repeated explanations are stressful, the stares are stressful, everything is stressful. Back at home, they were only barely beginning to connect with the other gems; now, faced with a bizarre world full of even more bizarre creatures they'd only heard about in legends, they feel like they're back at square one. They continue to tell themself that they just need some time. Time to think; time to rationally consider all their options, and make an educated and informed decision about how to move forward from here.

But it's hard to be rational and think when you're so afraid.

They try to focus on things that are familiar to them, though there are few of them. Lights. Insects. Wooden tables and cotton brushes. They poke through the stores, looking for comfort and answers in equal measure. The jewelry store has neither. It's a graveyard - a bizarre morgue of confusing and depressing fragments - and it makes them wonder more than anything if the Lunarians really are involved, because who else would do something like this? But they strengthen their resolve; they have to do something about this, as a gem. Even if Diamond left, they didn't deserve this...

Cinnabar can be found with what looks like an empty bag of flour in one hand, crunching over the broken glass inside of one of the jewelry stores and peering with a mournful gaze into the display cases. There's not much left in there, but what is left is gently picked up with a gloved hand and put into the bag. Rings, necklaces, brooches - all of it is getting burgled right out there in plain sight. They can even be seen crouching down and looking through the glass on the floor for jewels sometimes, apparently not worried about getting cuut. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ it's only natural that Cinnabar would be attracted to the home decor store - they're a photosynthetic being, and the less-than-reliable light sources in the mall have left them feeling more drained than usual. When they spotted the brightened interior, their reasons for investigating it were twofold: one, it's suspicious, and two, their inclusions need the light.

Now that they're in there, though... they seem to not be moving. They're standing stock-still in front of one of the mirrors, the brightly-lit store sending a kaleidoscope of refracted red light all around them as it passes through their crystal hair. There's a handful of weird, metallic silver blobs of liquid that are floating above their head, separating and reforming in an almost idle-looking fashion, but if Cinnabar is aware of them, they're not showing it - their eyes are firmly locked on their reflection, to the point that they don't notice they have company. ]

[It's a spirit.

Zuko guesses, anyway. He hasn't seen many--just the time at the North Pole that he'd rather not think about, really--and Uncle never spoke in detail of his experiences. This one doesn't look anything like what he's familiar with, but it's the only thing he can think of for why they look like... that.

What he does know is that spirits are probably what is to blame for going on in this place, and if one is appearing now it must be for a reason. What he doesn't know is how you're supposed to address spirits, but he's been defaulting to What Would Uncle Do in unfamiliar situations and it hasn't let him down yet. And what Uncle would do is... be polite, probably?

Can't hurt, anyway.]

Excuse me, Mr. Spirit, sir? [Wait, maybe it's a lady?] Or, uh, ma'am? Can I ask you some questions about what's going on here? [There. Can't get offended by that, right?]

[ good thing Cinnabar has absolutely no concept of gender so they don't get offended by that. Their instinct is, at once, to back away and put some healthy distance between them and this stranger for his own good (if not their own peace of mind), but when they try, they find their body not quite behaving. The best they can do is sort of stiffly stand up a little straighter, as they turn to look at him, looking distinctly uncomfortable.

Wait, what...? What's going on? Their inclusions should be perfectly active in a place this bright... ]

Um... I guess...

[ they want to tell him to stay away, but they can't quite form the words. ]

[--Oh! Huh. Somehow he hadn't actually expected that to work--he'd always imagined spirits as being mercurial and whimsical and such. Which is why he asked despite not actually having any questions ready.]

Well--

[His brain is lagging and his mouth plows forward of its own accord. And straight to the point!]

Is it your doing? All of us being here? [Off to a great start...]

Huh?

[ they're offended enough by the suggestion to momentarily forget their mini-crisis over their body not quite working the way they want it to. ]

Where did you get that idea?

[ really, they should just walk away now... but, again, they find their feet not obeying their wishes. The mercury floating around them seems to come to a serene stop slightly above their head, although they don't notice it. ]

[What a bizarre question. Zuko's confusion absolutely shows on his face.]

Uh, well, you're--you're, um... [He gestures, vaguely, to kind of all over his body, and the longer Cinnabar takes to get it the more Zuko thinks he has maybe misjudged and accidentally done something very offensive, which is probably a legitimate worry considering he does it all the time.]

I thought you were... a spirit?

[ all they see is some human being weird and sticking his foot in his mouth. Cinnabar, again, urges their feet to take them somewhere away from this guy before things get more awkward, but they stay in one spot, crossing their arms across their chest. ]

I'm a gem. [ a sigh. ] I don't know what's going on, either. Don't blame me just because I look different from you. I'm...

[ one of the mercury blobs suddenly falls from its place in the air above their head and lands on their hair with a splat. They flinch. Something's wrong - that shouldn't happen - but they can't get away. Brow furrowing, they try to form the words, but-- ]

I'm stuck here, like you are.

shinsha time

zuko

who wants starbucks!!!

can i get a hot cocoa

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