Replacing What Was Lost

Romi · Jul 10, 2018

Jude had come through the portal with nothing. There hadn't been time, and even if there had been time? He still wouldn't have had anything. Not really. Back in his home dimension his house had burnt down and taken almost all his things with him, so he'd been particularly light on personal affects since then.

It hadn't really hurt until he had a room of his own. A mostly empty room. No photos of family. No photos of his friends. It didn't really feel like home, which he supposed made some kind of sense considering that it wasn't really his home.

He kind of wanted it to be. He wanted to stop running.

He hadn't thought he'd ever really get a way to address the issue, but Erione's sculptures were... accurate. Really detailed. Even the small ones. So it seemed like a pretty obvious solution, assuming that Jude could even manage to do what he was thinking he could.

He'd invited Erione to a small cafe not far from downtown, got himself a booth, and settled in to wait. Officer Genovese had given him some money to handle expenses, but Jude himself regretted that. It was a far cry from growing up, where he'd had his own budget and funds to spare. Borrowing someone else's money felt weird, even if it was for a good cause.

@PixelatedGlory

PixelatedGlory · Jul 10, 2018

Erione was actually really excited that Jude was planning to have him make a sculpture. Of course he was usually pretty happy, especially when making glass for people to enjoy, but this was something more than a little glass animal or small trinket. A sculpture that someone specifically commissioned was likely to be extremely important to them. It was the kind of thing that solidified worshipers' devotion and brought new people to enjoy the splendor of glass.

Ok, so maybe that was getting a little too dramatic. He was going to a meeting with Jude to discuss the particulars of a glass statue that he wanted to have made. Erione didn't have all the details yet but he really was quite excited. Enough so that he wasn't even terribly dismayed to learn that Jude wanted to meet in a cafe Erione had not been to before.

It was a long walk from the closest safe destination for his transportation via glass. Well, technically the cafe was only about 3 blocks from the cute little antique shop window but to Erione that was a fair distance to walk. Physical exertion tired him out much quicker than it would a human. It wasn't enough to exhaust him but he did need to stop a little ways away to collect himself before entering.

Erione caught his breath and fixed his clothes a bit- although to any observer it probably wasn't clear whether anything was actually made more presentable. He still had messy hair with random clips in it and his clothes were half untucked and adorned with an assortment of pins and buttons that definitely didn't match. Erione wasn't worried about people thinking he was weird. He usually just did his own thing and most people still seemed to enjoy having him around regardless.

The cafe looked rather inviting and Erione made a mental note to come back and visit it a few more times even without scheduling a meeting with Jude. He needed more fun places like that and if he visited more he could probably turn the large glass window on the front into a destination point. The outside of course, since business owners weren't too fond of people just popping up inside unannounced. He pulled open the door and stepped inside, enjoying the smell of fresh coffee and food. He was somewhat embarrassed to be running a few minutes late but it had taken longer to walk than he had been prepared for.

It took a moment before Erione spotted Jude in his booth but as soon as he did he walked over with a smile on his face and a bit of a glint in his warm, red eyes. "Hiya Jude!," he exclaimed with joy, "nice little place you picked." At some point between entering the door and getting to the booth he had materialized a little marble-sized ball of forest green glass. He let it roll around on the back of his hand as he used the other to gesture to the empty seat. "Mind if I sit?" They were there together to discuss the sculpture project but it was still polite to ask.

Romi · Jul 12, 2018

Jude had been around Erione enough that his unusual appearance didn't really bother him. Maybe a year or two ago he'd have stuck up his nose at the idea of sitting down to eat with someone who looked like they'd just rolled out of bed, but Jude had spent the better part of six months hanging around a professional adult hero who had doodled on his hero costume in a manner extremely similar to a child playing with paints, complete with a bright pink smiley face on his helmet.

To say the least, he'd gotten over any concerns he might have had about being seen with people whose physical appearance wasn't up to the standard he'd been raised with.

Jude himself looked like he normally did. He'd pulled on a grey hoodie, some still fresh looking jeans, and he'd more or less left it at that. It was nice not having to wear a mask. It was nicer still not having to hide the silver on his face, or the metal of his hand. No one on Manta Carlos batted an eye at it. It was just normal.

Jude waved when he spotted Erione coming in the door a few minutes late, very nearly standing up before deciding that was probably too formal. Better to stay sitting, be friendly, and try and keep this a between-friends sort of thing rather than a business-associates kind of thing. He settled on grinning up at him, nodding as Erione asked about sitting and gesturing to the spot across from him.

"Of course," Jude said quickly. "Foods on me today, for the record, so pick whatever you want. Officer Genovese said the pancakes were good, but I haven't tried them myself."

As it turned out, he didn't actually share his favorite foods with Angelo. Maybe when he was older.

"So, I'm... not entirely sure how it is you normally do this. Is there like, a form, or a procedure, or do I just wing it and explain?" Jude asked, eyes briefly skimming the menu before deciding his order was probably going to be whatever you think is good.

PixelatedGlory · Jul 13, 2018

Erione slipped into the seat across from Jude without having to be told twice. As he sat the green ball of glass rolled off his hand onto the table and just sat there slowly spinning. He wasn't trying to be distracting or showing off. Really he wasn't even thinking too much about it- he just habitually fidgeted with things. "Food's on you huh? Guess I get to eat like a champion today," he tried to say with a straight face. Then a smile peeked through and he started giggling. "No, no I won't take advantage. Pancakes do sound good though."

In fact after only the briefest look over the menu ever he already knew exactly what he was going to order. A short stack of blueberry pancakes with maple syrup. And some orange juice. Because.... well actually he didn't really need a reason other than that was what he felt like, did he?

After getting situated in the seat Erione picked the glass marble back up and held it in his hands to keep himself from making it float around aimlessly. It was kind of funny actually. There was no set procedure for this kind of thing with Erione. Sometimes it was very efficient and he was given a full design document and sometimes he literally just chatted with the person until a vague idea struck him. It all depended on what the project was and who was asking for it. "Really you just explain what you want as best you can. I'll take a few notes on my phone but it's not a science. It's an art."

Erione set his phone on the table, relaxed his head back into the seat and waited with a huge smile on his face. He was looking forward to this. Talking about glass projects was great and honestly eating pancakes was going to be pretty good too.

Romi · Jul 13, 2018

When the waitress showed up, Jude quickly made his own order--a brief 'whats the most popular thing'--and then turned his attention back to the matter at hand.

"Well," Jude started, having put a whole lot of thought into how he'd explain what exactly he wanted, "you already know I come from another dimension. Our coming over here was pretty... last minute. Our world was kind of a mess, and it was one of those last minute 'get out who we can' deals. I don't think everyone's dead over there or anything, but I'm not sure they have it together enough to coordinate a second wave, so I think..."

Jude paused for a moment, looking a shade grim.

"Either way," Jude said, forcing himself back on track, "I don't have any personal effects. Like, no wallet, or family photos, or any of that. Just what I had on me. I left a lot of people behind, but not even having a photo of my dad is... frustrating, a bit. So I thought it'd be nice to have a little like... bust of him. Just for my nightstand, so I have something physical and there, other than my memories."

Which were technically flawless, but that was beside the point. And technically speaking, the whole idea of a bust of his father was just a selfish proof of concept anyway.

PixelatedGlory · Jul 14, 2018

Erione too placed his order when the waitress stopped by and he could practically taste the blueberry pancakes already. Still he was focused on Jude and what he was saying. The food would come eventually.

"I'm sorry you're going through all that. It sounds like things were really bad." Jude's story was one with a lot of pain even though Jude himself wasn't really showing it too much. Erione couldn't imagine being cut off from everything and everyone he knew back home. Even here, as homesick as he could get- and he had experienced it really bad last time, he spent the nights drifting between his shrines and his domain. He could see his people and if he really needed to he could just use his abilities to go back home. Erione felt so bad for Jude and his friends. Probably bad enough to have his feelings show on his face.

"So you want me to make a little statue of what your dad looks like? I can make a great one for you but I need some sort of reference. I don't know what he looks like without a picture or a really good description or something." Erione was a little nervous though and he used his thumb to roll the ball of glass around in his hand.. This was the first important project he had been asked to do here on the island and there he was sitting being unsure if he could even do it. Well that wasn't entirely true. He could try to sculpt something and have Jude tell him each step of the way whether it looked right but that would take forever even if Jude had an eye for that sort of thing.

Romi · Jul 14, 2018

In a lot of ways, Jude was used to his situation. He'd lost everything months before, and he'd spent the time between then and his arrival on Manta Carlos coming to terms with it. He'd already accepted his normal life was dead and gone. He'd moved past it. He'd moved on.

So he didn't look nearly as hurt as he probably should have.

"Thta's the idea," Jude said. "I..."

Jude still wasn't really used to talking about Giltenn, but he was going to have to get over it eventually. No one cared on Manta Carlos. It wasn't a secret. And Giltenn was disconnected from the other Gultha, no longer connected to a dangerous force that would threaten to destroy the world.

"I'm bonding with a... god of sorts. And they can convey information directly to me, sending... thoughts and ideas and things. I talked with them and I think, if I touch someone, I can probably do the same thing. Give them... mental images, in this case. So you wouldn't have to work from a verbal description. You'd just have... a picture of them? A 3D model? I'm honestly not entirely sure. But in theory it'd work better than just talking, if you'd be comfortable with that."

PixelatedGlory · Jul 15, 2018

Bonding with a god? What did that even mean? Erione knew that gods and how they interacted with mortals were apparently very different both here and in other worlds. Still, though the idea of a person being bonded with a god seemed a little dangerous. That was a lot of power to fuse with a human and he suspected it could kill them if not done right.

"Ok, I have a few questions that I need answered first," he replied and looked Jude in the eyes. It wasn't an aggressive or distrustful look but it was clear that Erione was trying to be careful. Linking to someone's mind by touch was a serious thing. "First I need to know that this god of yours won't be trying to take over me. Will I have the ability to stop the uh... transfer at any point I wish?"

Erione made a few notes in his phone about the plan and beneath the table his foot began tapping with a little bit of nervous energy. "Second, will there be any risk of pain or damage to either of us? Neither of them would make me say no immediately but I do want to know the risks." His friendly smile was still there but his tone had taken on more of a business-like mood. Even though he was only 16 he had been coached on how to keep himself safe and it showed a little in these types of conversations.

Romi · Jul 19, 2018

He was definitely being careful, and Jude really didn't mind that. Honestly? It had been risky. Super risky. He could have died, and he hadn't really realized that until way late.

"Well," Jude clarified, "it's technically me linking. I'm just kind of copying how I link to them, but doing it to other people. They won't be connecting to you at all. If you want to terminate it, you could just pull back, and the moment I'm not touching you, the connection would get broken. It's less like..."

Jude paused for a moment, trying to come up with a suitable metaphor. "It's less like plugging two computers into each other, and more like using a projector to shine onto the wall. There shouldn't be any back and forth or damage or anything. It should be pretty harmless."

There was an awful lot of should, which really came down to the fact that Jude hadn't actually done it before.

PixelatedGlory · Jul 19, 2018

Erione's foot continued tapping away though he was completely focused on Jude's responses. The answers had been about what Erione had expected. Apparently it wasn't supposed to be dangerous at all, though it didn't seem like Jude was able to say for certain nothing bad would happen.

"Ok, so it sounds like I shouldn't have to worry about the god in you taking over me. I can just pull away or shatter myself or something if I get worried," he said very calmly though his face showed he didn't relish the though of having to shatter himself to break a connection. It was good to know that it was only a touch-based link.

Erione put a few notes into his phone about how the link was supposed to work and then he moved on to what he felt was probably the last serious question before they could get to talking about more of the fun stuff. The creative stuff. The part that made him love designing works of art. Before all that though he looked back up to Jude. "How much of the image you give me will I retain? You might not know for sure but I figured I would ask," he added with a shrug. "To really get the sculptures made well I might just have to have you linked for a while." He could shape glass fairly quickly with his mind but if he really wanted to get the shapes right it would take a little time to finesse the glass into shape.

Erione's stomach growled a little and he sincerely hoped Jude didn't hear. He was trying not to think about the delicious pancakes that would soon be in front of him.

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Replacing What Was Lost

Romi

Secretly a Bird

PixelatedGlory

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Romi

Secretly a Bird

PixelatedGlory

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Romi

Secretly a Bird

PixelatedGlory

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Romi

Secretly a Bird

PixelatedGlory

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Romi

Secretly a Bird

PixelatedGlory

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