quietmounds | (no subject)

(no subject)

WHAT in person
WHERE Tidy Living Apartments
WHEN Day 132

[A very unusual-looking cutie is standing in the foyer of the Tidy Living apartments today. You definitely haven't seen them before. They are repeatedly pressing the elevator button, then jumping when it opens]

But I don't get it... I know the ding means get in, but who's opening and closing the doors...? Is someone here raising and lowering it? Ahh, and when I went upstairs, it was completely incomprehensible...

[Help them out?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Can you elaborate a little...?

[gently, though, trying to make it clear she doesn't have to]

I don't know if I know enough to elaborate a little. They're ageless spirits who stay on the moon and come down to break us. When we fight them, they turn into smoke and just get sent back there.

That... qualifies as an elaboration!

Ah, I know that's a little odd, sorry. They've been a part of our lives for thousands of years now...

You're thousands of years old?

Not me personally, but our eldest is nearly 4000! That's Yellow Diamond.

Interesting! But here I am interrogating you when I should be showing you around, first.

Oh, that's all right. But I would love to be shown around.

[stepping out into Dia's apartment finally]

Well, for a start, this is the space that's been assigned for your personal use.

[Looks around blankly] The bed looks comfortable!

I can show you what things are for, but why don't you let me know what your physical needs are so I know what to prioritize? Or you can just point to things you're curious about, I don't mind either way.

My physical needs...? I sleep, I hibernate when there isn't much sunlight, and I need resin for when I break so I can put myself back together safely...

But you don't eat or drink, for example?

Oh, no. That'd just mess up my insides.

I see! Do you get your energy from the sun?

Yes, that's right! My inclusions are powered by the sun. It's really hard to stay awake when it's dark.

[so excited to be talking on the same page here]

...

What is your body made up of?

Just diamond! With inclusions. Ah. Microscopic life?

Diamond! But you move so fluidly.

Shouldn't I?

It just goes against my preconceptions. Are all thirty of you composed of diamond?

Oh, not at all! There are three diamonds. The rest are all different kinds of gemstones. From the lowest hardness up through us. Um... well, any gem who doesn't make it to life isn't flexible like this. I think it's our inclusions that allow it.

Do you happen to know if they're the seat of your consciousness as well?

Yes, they are. If we break and can't get our body parts back to reattach them, we lose the memories that were in the inclusions held in those parts.

Interesting! You mentioned breaking before as a bit of an inevitability... does it happen often?