[Time is weird when you don't exist on the same planes of reality as most people, nevermind not exist at all. It's been two solid years for Raíz's family; two years of missions and moving on, before they're to gather in three day's time for dinner. That's three more days in which they'll all either willingly make their way back to the manor or, at the last minute, be pulled in on the spot. But it's still three more days away, giving Jewel Beetle (or Bebe as he's trying out,) to make himself familiar with the place.
He spent far too long looking at himself in the mirror of the bathroom, so he finally set out to look into other rooms and meet the others. The door to her room is ajar (likely due to Devon's previous peering inward,) so he allows himself to indulge in curiosity and gently press it inward to look in. She's facing away from him, big headphones on and her attention on a phone, or an iPad. Bonus points if she's drawing.
Jewel feels funny almost immediately. Like he's seeing something for the first time (yet he knows it's not - not the first, not the second even,) and even though he doesn't know how he knows her, he knows that he... knows her. He knows she is familiar, she is safe, and she is... doing something, so he's just going to quietly stare. But his curiosity leaks forward, buzzing faintly in her headphones (as he figures out what she's listening to,) and flickers her screen (as he wants to know what she's doing,) just enough to be noticed.
Because he probably should be noticed to, leaning on her door frame, silent as night.]
[ Loose gym shorts, a tank top, sneakers on the floor as patterned socks swing back and forth with an idle motion of her legs, Cellar lies stomach down on her bed, propped up on her elbow, chin on her palm, dragging a digital pen across the iPad's screen. She taps the undo button often, keeps forgetting and re-figuring out the interface of a software that's familiar-ish but not quite what she's used to, clicking her tongue with soft frustration any time she messes up a line or picks the wrong size for her brush. The canvas is peppered with small cats, spiders and soot sprites, lines soft and lacking confidence.
Cellar hums every now and then, sings the lyrics when she remembers them, dodging all the higher notes to whisper the words instead. Adjusts the left side of the over-ear speakers when white noise sneaks into the track, shifts and sits up when her screen starts to malfunction, quietly confused. Locking the screen once, unlocking it again, Cellar closes her drawing and starts browsing other programs to see if the issue repeats itself. Here's a new reason for another noise in her mouth, tongue against teeth, and her headphones drop back on her shoulders when she moves to get off her bed. ]
Oh—! Jesus.
[ It's like she opens and closes up within a second, startled into wide eyes, then a closed fist at her chest as she shuts them for a deep breath, spider leg constructs sprouting from her back. Not that many people in this house would sneak up on her in a way that'd need self-defense, but the number isn't zero, either, so she just developed the habit. The legs fold without going away, even as she relaxes her shoulders and puts a kinder tone on. ]
Hey. [ The new guy. The new, really pretty new guy, who she's caught herself staring at many times now, yet ... somehow didn't gather the courage (or audacity) to approach, like his power was to make the house's biggest flirt suddenly turn shy. And now he's here. ] Did you need something?
[She's cute when she jumps. And maybe it'd be the truth to say he should be more aware of sneaking up on people here - some more dangerous than others - but nothing about this moment makes him feel on edge or defensive. He should probably apologize for being invasive (he liked what she was drawing after all,) but he'll save that for later.]
Hi. I was just taking a walk around...
["Decided to just stare at you."]
I was going to ask if you'd give me a tour but then you looked busy.
[ She takes her headphones off the back of her neck like she's peeling them away, deposited on the bed before she pulls down the tank top riding up her navel at the hem. Then she releases the iPad and pen attached to its side, brushes hair behind her ears — thinking, for a second, that it's a lot longer than it really is, like it used to be at her shoulders and she just forgot she got a haircut. It's been sitting at her jawline for years, though. Weird. ]
Right. [ Smile wider now, laughing with skeptical self-deprecation. ] No, actually, I was just messing around with the… [ If she continues she might end up rambling about her adventures with that iPad, so Cellar culls it with a deep breath instead. ] Thing. Anyway, I'm not busy. No one's showed you around yet? Jewel, right?
[He makes a face - he isn't quite confident in either of them yet. But he is seemingly a little bit brighter now that he has her attention - and he just finds himself... happier for it. His eyes rake her over a bit, and only after a beat does he push off of the doorframe to be ready to take this tour that up until this moment he really didn't even care about.]
[ She can see a guy having an issue with it. Raíz seems to like throwing names around like that — 'Queen', 'Ivy', 'Emperor', 'Luna'; they all come as a surprise when you see the person behind them. They all become a habit eventually, too. There's not much of a choice. ]
I think they're cute. [ And she walks closer, still in her socks, to offer her hand. ] I'm Cellar Spider. [ Like she's already come up with an inside joke, ] I like Cellar.
[He blinks a few times and he wonders if she understand herself what it feels like to transition names. She has to, right? Theo and Teddie are names of the past, and maybe he's more than just a little attached to it. He steps forward, offering his hand to complete the shake.
Her name is- he has a weird expression, but it fades.]
When you agreed to your deal, did you feel weird after? I've been feeling a little off since I got here.
Like you're in the wrong place and your heart's gonna leap right out of your chest?
[ Her hand closed over her sternum, describing the anxiety that spawned from overwhelming uncertainty, all the changes and the past she was leaving behind. Brows knitted, smile sympathetic, Cellar angles her head. ]
Yeah, I think that's normal for most of us. [ A look aside, leaving those of us who aren't psychos out. ] I can't promise you'll get over it, [ A few years in and she still relapses, ] but I can do my best to help.
And how am I supposed to know we're a good match if you don't tell me, hm?
[ Or she could just... snoop around his file. Even if Great doesn't let her, Neon has access, and he definitely would. Except that'd require waiting. ]
[ Nooo who cares about her emails, he saw her sketches?? ]
Oh my god, you can't do that!
[ Clutching the ipad closer to her chest now, as if that'll do anything. This is like the telepath thing, isn't it? Why does Raíz hand out these powers asdfdg ]
Somehow I think I would believe it, actually. [ She's been living with these weirdos. The stuff that comes out of their mouth is probably just as wild as whatever they're typing into google. ] Okay, well — how're we having this audition? [ Finger tapping the origami case, ] No touching my iPad again.
[ That's all it takes to bring back her little sunshine-grin. ]
... Okay. I'm driving.
[ Because there's no way she's doing that in the house. Too many people around to take Jewel's attention away from her in the most annoying ways imaginable. And then there's Great. ]
Cellar brushes hair behind her ear — it drapes right back into where it was — walks over to her bed to leave the iPad behind and put her shoes on. Sneakers tied, jacket thrown over her tank top, she grabs a small backpack and returns to Th— Ted—, no — what? — Jewel, reaching for his hand, a little in disbelief of how charming he is. Is he sure it's just technology that's his thing? ]
[He clasps her hand as he turns toward the door, feeling their fingers slot together and it's the strangest feeling. Like he suddenly got up too fast? He brings his other hand up to the doorframe, catching himself in a sway, and he stares forward, halting in his step. He's been struggling with existing since... well, when he started to exist. A blank slate behind him, he felt hastily stitched together. Like something was missing.
He's felt her hand before. Seen her tuck her hair behind her ear before.
Heard her laugh before.
He looks back over his shoulder, almost afraid that she won't be there. He looks alarmed, and he holds her hand ever tighter.]
[ Fingers brush against fingers, skin against skin, and reality collapses around them. She stands like she's at the center of a blank universe, staring at a piece of her life that shouldn't fit in any logical place — somewhere in England, in a manor just as ridiculous as this, horror and hedonism walking hand in hand almost every day. She sees them by the pool, she sees them in an abandoned chapel; sees him picking her up from a clinic with a damaged shoulder, sees them sitting outside in the early hours while he shows her how to make art and reveals the many faces he's had. Sees them having sex, saying I love you and meaning it, kissing at the countdown of a new year, huddling in an apocalyptic scenario, making plans for the future when Raíz eventually found her way to their luxurious prison and brought them home. ]
Oh my god.
[ One arm thrown around him for a hug, face to face, she lets go of his hand to complete the embrace, holding Theodore Price so very so tight. She knows his name. He knows hers. ]
[His arms are around her, tightly cinched. He remembers meeting her - remembers the life they laid out together, full of dreams and a future that was almost taken from them. Because he remembers more than that, too. Disjointed memories that are all colliding in his brain, of how his life went on after that... after meeting her, after losing her. After losing everything and vindictively stabbing a knife into the heart of...
And then he was here, in the manor, somehow. Trying to think too hard of how he came to be here makes him feel lightheaded and odd in a way he doesn't want to test. Little does he know that the reason for his split thoughts is indeed rooted in the fact his memories were split from the Theo that was, into the Teddie that will be and the... Jewel Beetle that now exists. A happy ending for both mind and body, it seems.
He's kissing the crown of her head.]
I knew that I knew you. Even though I- didn't have reason to.
[ She feels strange in her own body, old-new memories from a place that's neither in the past or the future, really, except on the date announced to its every guest. Cellar changed while she was there, but she's still ... her, right? And Theo is here. ]
[He'll miss that. He feels like he understands her more now, having been separated from Mila as long as she had. He kisses her brow, then each cheek. Slow and methodical, like he has all the time in the world to bless her with these kisses. And, thanks to things working out for once... maybe he does.]
... I'm not sure what to do with our newfound freedom. What - what should we do? Besides... stay stitched at the hip.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
He spent far too long looking at himself in the mirror of the bathroom, so he finally set out to look into other rooms and meet the others. The door to her room is ajar (likely due to Devon's previous peering inward,) so he allows himself to indulge in curiosity and gently press it inward to look in. She's facing away from him, big headphones on and her attention on a phone, or an iPad. Bonus points if she's drawing.
Jewel feels funny almost immediately. Like he's seeing something for the first time (yet he knows it's not - not the first, not the second even,) and even though he doesn't know how he knows her, he knows that he... knows her. He knows she is familiar, she is safe, and she is... doing something, so he's just going to quietly stare. But his curiosity leaks forward, buzzing faintly in her headphones (as he figures out what she's listening to,) and flickers her screen (as he wants to know what she's doing,) just enough to be noticed.
Because he probably should be noticed to, leaning on her door frame, silent as night.]
no subject
Cellar hums every now and then, sings the lyrics when she remembers them, dodging all the higher notes to whisper the words instead. Adjusts the left side of the over-ear speakers when white noise sneaks into the track, shifts and sits up when her screen starts to malfunction, quietly confused. Locking the screen once, unlocking it again, Cellar closes her drawing and starts browsing other programs to see if the issue repeats itself. Here's a new reason for another noise in her mouth, tongue against teeth, and her headphones drop back on her shoulders when she moves to get off her bed. ]
Oh—! Jesus.
[ It's like she opens and closes up within a second, startled into wide eyes, then a closed fist at her chest as she shuts them for a deep breath, spider leg constructs sprouting from her back. Not that many people in this house would sneak up on her in a way that'd need self-defense, but the number isn't zero, either, so she just developed the habit. The legs fold without going away, even as she relaxes her shoulders and puts a kinder tone on. ]
Hey. [ The new guy. The new, really pretty new guy, who she's caught herself staring at many times now, yet ... somehow didn't gather the courage (or audacity) to approach, like his power was to make the house's biggest flirt suddenly turn shy. And now he's here. ] Did you need something?
no subject
Hi. I was just taking a walk around...
["Decided to just stare at you."]
I was going to ask if you'd give me a tour but then you looked busy.
no subject
Right. [ Smile wider now, laughing with skeptical self-deprecation. ] No, actually, I was just messing around with the… [ If she continues she might end up rambling about her adventures with that iPad, so Cellar culls it with a deep breath instead. ] Thing. Anyway, I'm not busy. No one's showed you around yet? Jewel, right?
i dont wanna have to keep reuploading icons
[He makes a face - he isn't quite confident in either of them yet. But he is seemingly a little bit brighter now that he has her attention - and he just finds himself... happier for it. His eyes rake her over a bit, and only after a beat does he push off of the doorframe to be ready to take this tour that up until this moment he really didn't even care about.]
You can tell me if they're lame.
no subject
You don't like Jewel?
[ She can see a guy having an issue with it. Raíz seems to like throwing names around like that — 'Queen', 'Ivy', 'Emperor', 'Luna'; they all come as a surprise when you see the person behind them. They all become a habit eventually, too. There's not much of a choice. ]
I think they're cute. [ And she walks closer, still in her socks, to offer her hand. ] I'm Cellar Spider. [ Like she's already come up with an inside joke, ] I like Cellar.
no subject
[He blinks a few times and he wonders if she understand herself what it feels like to transition names. She has to, right? Theo and Teddie are names of the past, and maybe he's more than just a little attached to it. He steps forward, offering his hand to complete the shake.
Her name is- he has a weird expression, but it fades.]
When you agreed to your deal, did you feel weird after? I've been feeling a little off since I got here.
no subject
[ Her hand closed over her sternum, describing the anxiety that spawned from overwhelming uncertainty, all the changes and the past she was leaving behind. Brows knitted, smile sympathetic, Cellar angles her head. ]
Yeah, I think that's normal for most of us. [ A look aside, leaving those of us who aren't psychos out. ] I can't promise you'll get over it, [ A few years in and she still relapses, ] but I can do my best to help.
no subject
[What he describes could be it - but he hesitates a beat, wondering if he's just weird. Wrong?]
... Did you forget anything, too?
no subject
[ She gets it, but she wants to assuage any creeping anxieties and chooses to be playful. Something about him makes her feel like she has to, for —
For him.
Cellar puts the spider legs away, folding again until they're nothing. ]
I'm guessing you don't have a mentor yet.
no subject
... No. Do I need one?
no subject
[ oh no the dorkening ]
Anyway, he'll find someone for you, I'm sure. What can you do?
no subject
[Because, y'know...]
no subject
Me? Oh god, no. I'm way too new. I've only been here for a few years.
[ There's no way she'd be ready for that kind of responsibility, ha ha. Ha. ]
no subject
[Brows raise.]
But if you don't want me, that's cool too. I'm sure some other, equally cool person might...
no subject
You didn't answer my question.
[ Reverse eyebrow raise. ]
no subject
All the more reaaaason...
no subject
[ Or she could just... snoop around his file. Even if Great doesn't let her, Neon has access, and he definitely would. Except that'd require waiting. ]
no subject
[He laughs. But then... shrugs.]
It's not a very impressive power, so far as I've seen compared to some of the others. I'm just a techy guy?
no subject
You mean like you can mess with computers and stuff?
no subject
no subject
... Was that glitchy-thing you.
no subject
[He can't help it, he sees all! He pretends to wince.]
no subject
Oh my god, you can't do that!
[ Clutching the ipad closer to her chest now, as if that'll do anything. This is like the telepath thing, isn't it? Why does Raíz hand out these powers asdfdg ]
no subject
[But he laughs again.]
I try to tune it out. But I'm still figuring it out.
no subject
[ Her little Delphines are hers. Why'd she name them that? She forgo— ]
Or I guess I could help you figure it out.
no subject
[And the smutty texts those twins get up to? Geez.]
... How about I audition for mentee, and you decide if you accept or not.
no subject
no subject
[He claps his hands together.]
But we should do it over drinks.
no subject
... Okay. I'm driving.
[ Because there's no way she's doing that in the house. Too many people around to take Jewel's attention away from her in the most annoying ways imaginable. And then there's Great. ]
no subject
[He grins widely, then holds out his hand to her. Just feels right - like they're...
Like they're
Like they're
Like they're?
Eloping?]
no subject
[ She's said that before. Where?
Cellar brushes hair behind her ear — it drapes right back into where it was — walks over to her bed to leave the iPad behind and put her shoes on. Sneakers tied, jacket thrown over her tank top, she grabs a small backpack and returns to Th— Ted—, no — what? — Jewel, reaching for his hand, a little in disbelief of how charming he is. Is he sure it's just technology that's his thing? ]
no subject
He's felt her hand before. Seen her tuck her hair behind her ear before.
Heard her laugh before.
He looks back over his shoulder, almost afraid that she won't be there. He looks alarmed, and he holds her hand ever tighter.]
... Babe?
no subject
Oh my god.
[ One arm thrown around him for a hug, face to face, she lets go of his hand to complete the embrace, holding Theodore Price so very so tight. She knows his name. He knows hers. ]
You're here. It worked.
no subject
And then he was here, in the manor, somehow. Trying to think too hard of how he came to be here makes him feel lightheaded and odd in a way he doesn't want to test. Little does he know that the reason for his split thoughts is indeed rooted in the fact his memories were split from the Theo that was, into the Teddie that will be and the... Jewel Beetle that now exists. A happy ending for both mind and body, it seems.
He's kissing the crown of her head.]
I knew that I knew you. Even though I- didn't have reason to.
no subject
We found each other. And you look exactly the same.
[ She sounds happy, but also — sad? And self-aware. ]
I can't call you— [ She stops, looking up, same feeling translating on her expression, sad smile. Cellar mouths 'Teddie', just in case, ] Anymore.
no subject
[He'll miss that. He feels like he understands her more now, having been separated from Mila as long as she had. He kisses her brow, then each cheek. Slow and methodical, like he has all the time in the world to bless her with these kisses. And, thanks to things working out for once... maybe he does.]
... I'm not sure what to do with our newfound freedom. What - what should we do? Besides... stay stitched at the hip.