Everything fades away, come turning of the tide | Day 332 [OPEN]

[grandiflora]

Who: Rose Quartz, OPEN
Open: Open
When: Evening of 332
Where: Monument -> Rose's house
What: Most of the Bastion is grieving, angry, or trying to deal with said emotions. Rose? She's just trying to settle in to this strange new life of hers.
Format: Action
Warnings: Possible spoilers for Steven Universe? Also possible talk of war and the like

[Not everyone was affected by events recently passed in the Bastion. As much as Rose would have liked to say she had a feeling regarding it one way or another, she really couldn't. This place was still new to her. It's people were still new to her. The passing of one whom she had never spoken to was sad and she was more than understanding at the sorrow the others around her felt...

It was just not an emotion she herself could dredge up properly.

There were always going to be casualties, and for as peaceful as the Bastion itself was their situation was hardly peaceful at all. Time would pass as it always did, regardless of how any of them dealt with it.

In the quiet that had settled on the Bastion in more current days, Rose had spent time on the Skyway as she always did, hoping for some hint of her Gems out there in the haze. There was none, but she returned with a good haul of shards in the meantime.

Today, however, she wasn't out there like she normally had been. Instead she could be seen, barefoot as always, taking trips from the house with the observatory room to the Monument and back again. Three times she went, carrying a wooden flat of some sort of strange plant. A fourth time she returned not with a plant but a shimmering pink weapon at her side.

Though she'll hardly expect to be approached given how busy everyone must be, she'll certainly respond if anyone does.]

Comments

[freedom_engineer]

[He smiles then, wider, but a little sadly.]

Rosethorn did the same thing. You even share part of the name.

[He nods in her direction]

The moss is capable of aiding you like that? I would not have envisioned that, personally.

[grandiflora]

[She caught that, but she wasn't about to ask why it was there. She had a feeling it had something to do with the lack of permanence in this place.]

I imagine her name is more related to the plant, though.

[Her's was because of the stone, after all. It was fairly obvious and right there on her belly where a human navel would normally be.]

Moss, and other plants.

[freedom_engineer]

It was a nickname, I believe. She was a plant mage.

[He nods in understanding, seemingly fine to let it drop.]

About the only thing I can really do is tend to my fruit, and take care of the plants over at the farm.

[grandiflora]

Even so, a quartz isn't exactly a plant.

[She does have to keep some things about her mysterious.]

That's still a valuable skill, Mr. Starfury.

[freedom_engineer]

That depends on your definition. My father has a gem garden that he's cultivated for several thousand years.

[His eyes twinkle a little mischievously. He's teasing about the definition. Not teasing about his dad's garden, though.]

Just one of many skills I've picked up here. Hard to keep track of them all, really.

[grandiflora]

Gem garden... ?

[Oh now you have her interest completely.]

[freedom_engineer]

Gem Garden.

[He nods, and he gives a pleased little grin.]

He's got a cave that he visits regularly, and he manipulates the tectonic pressures in the area. Lots of compression, lots of of heat. It makes for interesting gem development.

[grandiflora]

[You've said all the right words, Colin.]

That sounds incredible and beautiful. I would have loved to see something like that.

[freedom_engineer]

It's one of his big talents. He's a jeweler as a hobby.

I only know one of the dances he uses in the process, sadly.

[A single beat.]

And I'm guessing that means nothing to you. It's...

[Guh, he hates this. It's SO imprecise.]

It's like shamanistic magic, basically? Guiding the environment around you into behaving in a certain way. If it wants to.

[grandiflora]

Oh! No, I understand completely! Humans of old used to practice such things.

Granted I never saw them up close - we watched their evolution from a distance.

[freedom_engineer]

Ah, that does make it a little easier. Yeah, dad's basically a grand master of the natural dances.

[He puts a hand to his face then, actually blushing in embarrassment.]

There is no way to say that to make it sound as amazing as it is, I swear to all the gods above and below... But he could basically shape the land to his whim, if he wanted to. It made for amazing feats.

[grandiflora]

Impressive!

[Too bad he wasn't here with them. Not that Rose minds the company she has currently.]

[freedom_engineer]

[He smiles again, his face still a little flushed.]

With a name like Rose Quartz, I assume you're either a gem fanatic, or there's something else that I've missed completely?

[He glances down at the gem, then back up at her face questioningly?]

[grandiflora]

You've missed it. Completely, in fact.

[To that she just gives a knowing, teasing smile. But her hands do move, revealing the gem on her belly should he choose to look down and see it.]

[freedom_engineer]

[Colin grins and gives it a look.]

This is going to probably be a "Well duh" statement, but it seems to be a part of you.

Are your people all partly gemmed like that?

[grandiflora]

Close. It is me.

[Astute observation, though. She will give him that much credit.]

We are Gems. The Crystal Gems, to be specific.

[freedom_engineer]

Elven, myself.

[He pushes his hair away from his ear, and he smiles.]

I've never heard of your people. I could ask a hundred questions easily, but it would be rude...

[grandiflora]

I don't mind questions. That doesn't mean I can answer every single one of them, but I certainly don't mind them.

[freedom_engineer]

You sure? They're super science geek questions. And I'm not sure I'll think to avoid the potentially offensive ones. Kinda... socially inept here, you see.

[He gives her a goofy smile. A potentially silicon-based life form with a very carbon-based appearance? He is AGOG with scientific wonder.]

[grandiflora]

[That just gets Rose laughing, hardily and loudly. Oh Colin, you're as entertaining as humans! She's amused.]

I'm sure.

[freedom_engineer]

[He grins then.]

Don't say I didn't warn you.

So... your gem, you said it's you? Is the rest of your body just a projection then? Or is the gem like a brain? Or a CPU, if you prefer the less biological description?

[Yep, he's nerding out trying to figure out an interesting puzzle.]

[grandiflora]

I won't say you didn't warn me.

[She actually didn't mind the questions, even if she knew she could never truthfully answer everything presented to her.

Greg never seemed to ask many questions at all, really. She didn't mind that either, though it did make her wonder if he was truly as alright with it all as he claimed he was...]

A projection of sorts. We're still very much solid in this form. However if this form is damaged, we're capable of retreating inside our gems to reform it and regenerate a new one.

In that sense... no, I suppose it would be more biological than technical. As far as I know a computer can't retreat inside itself to repair damage.

[freedom_engineer]

Huh, that is interesting... Silicoids can't heal wounds at all without external help.

[He's more talking to himself than anything else, puzzling it out.]

Do you choose your own form, or is your form set and unalterable?

[A pause]

And I apologize, I know that's typically an offensive question... It's just so amazing, I don't even know where to begin shaping it right.

[grandiflora]

We choose our own. And we can choose to change it, when we regenerate.

[She shook her head then.]

I wouldn't worry too much about being offensive. That is really more of a human concept after all.

[freedom_engineer]

Everyone's got different things they're sensitive about. And somehow, I always seem to accidentally find them.

[He chuckes in self-depreciation, and he smiles.]

That is absolutely fascinating... I'm guessing your people are either big on magic or energy projection?

... And if I'm talking too much, you can always ask me anything you like. I don't want to hog the conversation.