deercountry | (closed) march catchall

[ sorry to introduce you to capitalism, Chizuru... ]

That's America for you. [ ...well. ] Everywhere, in my time. You don't have money? Good luck living.

[ Maybe that's too sad and depressing to be saying in such a way to someone like Chizuru, but there's nothing pretty to that side of life. It's been a constant trouble in his life, even if sometimes it was his mom and her spiralling ways that lost them homes.

Or places to live. Could you call anywhere a home if you moved so often?

(So he liked to tell himself, so he never became disappointed. Told himself he was never attached.)

It's why he looks at her so nonchalant, having been trying to eye past her to see if there was any scenery beyond. Was there limitations to the stone, or to Chizuru's imagination? It could be one or the other. ]

Living here's easier--I never lived anywhere like I did with Tory back home. They were four or five rooms. Two bedrooms, a bathroom, and then a kitchen and living room. Sometimes you had a wall between those two, but not always.

[ He didn't have preference there, really. ]

[ At least the description of the house itself isn't too depressing to her - since it sounds very much like the house they're in right now, nothing too special.. The only special thing about it in comparison is that it's at least a proper free standing house, rather than an appartment.

It's clear just from the way the girl is staring at him that she's thinking about it. Trying to imagine it in her head. Not just the places Robby might have lived, but even the apparently harsh society he was just trying to get by in..

.. it doesn't feel fair. A kind guy like Robby - he deserved so much more, she thinks. ]

I'm sorry, Robby.

[ The words are said quietly. Honestly, Chizuru could elaborate on them. There's so much she could say here, but she knows what Robby is like. He acknowledges that his circumstances aren't the best, but never quite seems to want to linger on them either.

So she doesn't either. Instead Chizuru just provides a silent way to show her feelings all the same. Still holding his hand makes it easy to lean against him, something close to a hug but without the actual embrace. ]

Actually I.. I wonder if I could make something appear from your memories too, rather than just my own.

[ It's a good chance to test these powers, right? Not that she's good at them yet, judging by her failed attempts at making specific things happen a moment ago, but.. she's got to be brave and just try stuff - the sort of thing that always feels easier with Robby by her side. ]

[ Her sympathy apology does get an awkward--but appreciative--pull of Robby's mouth, at the very least. He might not have reason to linger on it--his moving home so often was as much a problem of his mom as the way the world works--but...it'd been a part of his life, still. One he'd become frustrated over plenty of times.

His lips turn closer into a smile when she leans against him, if brief.

It goes as she continues, the idea she presents. A place from his memories. Robby thinks, but nowhere is jumping out at him immediately. Rather- ]

Uh... do you wanna see somewhere I used to live? I remember the last place I was with my mom.

[ He supposes. It was rather simple, too, a place they needed to move into once his mom got out of rehab. The same standard layout as he's described to Chizuru, even though--it feels different, he thinks. There's no real memories Robby has of the place. Would it be that exciting to share? Compared to Chizuru and the home she shared with her dad. ]

It wasn't exciting. [ Which is why he feels the need to add that. ]

It's okay.

[ They're soft words, a gentle reassurance. It's nothing too strange coming from Chizuru, when she says stuff like this all the time. But as she moves to take Robby's other hand into her own as well, the stone will in that hand resting between their two hands, she smiles up at him. ]

I think it's a little exciting. I've never seen what houses are like where you come from. [ Sure, she assumes it's.. probably just a little closer to what you see in Trench. But there could be nuances. There could be little signs of Robby's life. Even if you only stay in a place for a short while, there's got to be little things like that, right..?

It's still something about Robby, about her friend, so it feels exciting to her. ]

I'm not sure how to do this.. [ Given that all of this is still new to her. But she wants to try. ] Maybe you should think about it really hard and describe it to me..?

[ Maybe she can get it to work that way with her paleblood. Somehow. ]

Edited 2023-04-10 09:42 (UTC)

Okay, [ he starts slowly; not because he's unsure about the idea, but because his own head is in the process of figuring out what to do. Robby thinks to say more, but there isn't really, so--think hard and describe, right?

He makes a 'here we go' kind of face before he closes his eyes and thinks back. The last flat...wasn't that spectacular, but the one before that, he and his mom were in longer. The dance-y, art-sy type of space with its print posters. ]

It was, uh... Two bedrooms, a bathroom, and the living room and kitchen were together. You entered near the kitchen? It was on your right when you enter, and the left was for coats, a mirror... uh, I don't remember a lot about them. It was just a normal...mirror?

[ The details feel...less than useful. Because Robby can remember the apartment well enough, but what should he pick out, tell Chizuru about them? He can't tell her how the kitchen had a microwave and a TV on top; because even if she knew what those were, would it help? The one that was in the living space, the two plush chairs and the red couch. ]

This helping at all? [ It might be hypocritical for Robby to lose heart in this idea so quickly, but--look, he's bad at describing things. Especially if he's doing it to a girl from ancient Japan. ]

[ There's a hum coming from Chizuru that really doesn't say much at all. It's hard to tell whether it even means yes or no in the face of the question he's asking her. It also doesn't help that the girl has closed her eyes by now, making it impossible to tell anything by her gaze either.

But it's since she's focusing over here. Really hard. It's true that the description is not doing much for her, since she mostly ends up imagining the room layout in a more traditional style, like the Japanese houses she's used to back home.

.. so she tries to not focus on the description. Instead she tries to dig beyond it, squeezing Robby's hands a little. It's not about the words here, she thinks. It's about.. the feeling behind it, the memory. Isn't that what people have told her? Palebloods who can tap into people's emotions. Even if that house may not have been home to Robby as much as people's houses usually are, there has to be something, and Chizuru is concentrating really hard to try and dip in that.

She's concentrating enough that tiny beads of sweat start to form at her temples, but it's not for nothing. Something is taking shape around them, the contours of Chizuru's house fading, replaced by something else.

Something that's still vague, like staring at it through a blurry gaze, but maybe Robby may actually recognize it as the very apartment he's thinking of.

It's only then that Chizuru mumbles, still not opening her eyes: ]

This is kind of hard..

[ Chizuru isn't the only one with her eyes closed. This is what you're supposed to do, isn't it? When you focus and think for something magical, extraordinary, how you make it happen. You don't see the magic in motion, and it helps, too: to picture the layout, his memories of the apartment. The parts of him that miss it; his mom had gotten most of it just as she liked it, though there's always better and new you could wish for. ]

Sorry; I'm no good describing things. [ --but fondness--and a pang of wistfulness--doesn't help with the now, and Robby gives his apology sheepishly. ] We can give up...--

[ Except--he's opening his eyes then, willing to skip over this idea and just stick with places Chizuru knows (maybe they can try a different location?), and sees the shift in the layout framed around her head. There it is, the TV--that's definitely where the TV should be, and the wall mural. From Chizuru's side, she would see the kitchen and the way out if she were to look; the bedroom doors to the left, one with a fullbodied old-fashioned pin-up.

And she'll have reason to look, when Robby lightly shakes her hands. ] Chizu-- Chizu, look.

[ Is it bad to stop her from keeping her eyes closed or losing her concentration when the world is blurry as it is? But it's close, it's so close, that he wants her to see. ]

.. hm?

[ It's a noise that's little more than a mumble, like a noise someone might make in their sleep - even if Chizuru isn't asleep right now as much as she's just so deeply concentrated that it takes her a moment to pull herself out of it. Especially when she doesn't want to lose the concentration entirely, when she wants to keep at least part of it to try and figure this out. To actually be able to use some of the magic she should be able to use.

But it's not like Chizuru to ignore a request from a friend, let alone from Robby, so she does look. Carefully, at first, only opening a tiny bit of one eye..

.. but even that is enough to realise their surroundings have changed, huh.

A second eye follows, and she opens her eyes more. The girl looks surprised, but thankfully not enough to pop the sight around them like a bubble, though it remains blurry. ]

Is-- Is this it?

[ It's not like she'd recognize Robby's apartment, after all, blurry or not. But it does look totally unlike anything she has seen before, so it can't be one of her own memories.

She glances around them, but then her wide-eyed stare returns to the boy in front of her. ]

Is it right..?

[ He has to wonder how actually fascinating his old apartment looks to Chizuru right now, as he watches her, but does sneak glances around too, as if hoping it might change, become clearer, somehow. Is it him making it this way? The stone? Chizuru?

Who asks if this is right, and, well... ]

It's not usually blurry. [ At least said jokingly, though he's got a tugged frown on his mouth. Another look around taken, before briefly back to Chizuru: ] Lemme try.

[ That is, let's see what happens if he tries focusing more, here, and evident as he shuts his eyes now, taking both of Chizuru's hands in his (maybe it helps?? maybe it helps). He knows this apartment well enough, there's no need for it to be blurry--when he can recall the wall decor, the colour and the shape of the sofas, where there were wears and how they felt to sit on. He knows the kitchen, even the rooms beyond the doors closed. There's his to the side of his mom's, the bathroom beside that with its dinky shower and toilet. Printed posters of art nouveau or something like that that his mom picked out, the spice rack they never actually used.

Does it work? He's waiting on some sign from Chizuru that thinking really hard can do something and, well--that's kind of how blood magic seems to work around here... ]

[ When Chizuru notices the other trying to focus really hard, trying to help, she does the same thing. As much as she'd like to look around at Robby's home - as blurry as it is - she figures that she has to try and help this along. Even if it's just by closing her eyes, by focusing on the stone the way she had before to try and draw out the power. Trying to draw out images that aren't her own, instead emerging from another mind.

It mostly means she tries to reach out to Robby. It doesn't feel easy, and Chizuru briefly wonders if this is the sort of thing that comes natural to people who have a bond - something she's heard a lot about, but has never experienced for herself.

Even without a bond-- she still tries though. She just wants to see Robby's home so badly, and she wants Robby to see it too. Even if he may not think of it as a home as much as Chizuru thought of the building they saw before, she still wants him to be able to see something familiar.

The desire mingles with Robby's own efforts, and the apartment around them slowly grows into focus. This time it's Chizuru who can't resist opening her eyes to peek, though her gasped surprise is very much the same as last time. ]

Robby, look, it's done..! You did it!

[ .. granted, it's more like they did it, but is Chizuru ever going to give herself that credit?

Clearly not.

Besides, the girl is way too busy with glancing around them with wide, surprised eyes. ]

This really is your home, right, right? [ Look at her repeating that last word in excitement, almost bouncing a little on the spot.. She's just glad it worked out! ]

[ It definitely has to be Chizuru this time who looks, because Robby's trying his darndest to make his imagination come to life...!!

And that sound of his name might be promising, except he won't open his eyes until she's done saying the rest. A split second where he doesn't want to open them in case it makes everything crash down, but he does, and--success. There it is, an apartment he hasn't called home in a while; a home that stopped being a home soon after his mom left, as the heating and electricity were turned off, before Mister LaRusso arrived at the front door.

...it's not all bad memories. Robby's looking as Chizuru asks her question, knowing the answer, and yet--he wants to take this space in. It's different from memories, despite memories being what's made it appear. An evening light filtering in through the slightly parted curtains (the outside will surely be blurry), while the rest of it is... ]

...Right. [ His home. Robby turns his head back to Chizuru with a grin, but one that's baffled, surprised, awkward. Like he isn't quite sure what to do, where to start with any of this. ]

You, uh... want a tour? Or [ Yeah, have an awkward laugh. ] You can point at stuff and make me talk about it.

[ Since it's all so...different, right?? ~~and luckily a schat knows what the place looks like :)~~ ]

[ Robby may be a little awkward about all of this, but it doesn't seem like the sentiment is mirrored in Chizuru. No - instead it seems like she's still riding the high of the excitement that came from the realisation that this really worked out. That they're standing in the apartment Robby lived in. A place Chizuru has never seen before, but one that's undoubtedly part of her friend's past.

It's exciting. It's a little heart-pounding in ways that feel too complicated to put into words, and Chizuru glances around as if she isn't too sure what to look at first, before he gaze settles on Robby again. ]

Yes! I want to see everything!

[ The look in her eyes as she says it is so earnest.. Like the idea of looking around an apartment is just the most exciting thing ever to Chizuru.

(It's exciting because it's Robby's.)

The bounce in her step definitely remains as she starts moving, gently tugging him along through their joined hands. Her jaw drops as she stares at all these things, some of which she's never seen before, and then--

She gasps as she glances right at a piece of art on the wall, pointing at it. ]

Robby, is that a nude woman?

[ Clearly the idea of modern art is what Chizuru needs explained the most out of all 20th century concepts, right...

It's just that she's used to a little bit more modesty than that. Under regular circumstances. She can't imagine her own father hanging something like that on the wall.. ]

[ This place probably is a lot more fascinating to look at than Chizuru's home (sorry, Chizuru's home). That had a lot more rooms, whereas this just has more...colour, right? A lot more tidbits, thanks to a more material world.

A 'nude woman'. Thanks for pointing that out, leading Chizuru. Robby actually needs to tip his head to look at it, mimicking the piece of art in the process. ]

I mean [ a huff ] is it really a nude woman? More like a kid painted it.

[ Wow, Robby....art snob right here. But let him gesture with his free hand over to the pair of prints in the kitchen. ]

What about those ones? They're less.....naked.

[ What does this even prove?? who knows. ]

[ To be fair, as far as Chizuru knows, a kid really could have painted it.. It's not like she knows anything about art beyond the kind of Japanese art she's used to, and that usually tends to be very different from this.

If not at least in style.

The same goes for the prints once she turns to look at those. Judging by the way Chizuru blinks at them with an odd look in her eyes, she really hasn't seen much like it before. Especially when Trench isn't the most artsy place ever either.. ]

What.. are those..? [ The girl slowly manages to ask.

Still blinking in surprise though.

She manages to tear her gaze away from it all for just long enough to look over at Robby instead. ]

Are those people you know?

[ Yes. Clearly. Robby has family dressed in old-timey clothes and who pose naked for paintings for sure. But Chizuru's home obviously didn't have any art, so the only idea she has as to why someone would put these up in their home is that they're portraits of relatives.. ]

[ Okay, that wasn't a conclusion Robby was expecting. ]

You don't have prints in your time? [ It's not a baffled question, just--confused. Since he knows Japanese prints are a thing, but either Chizuru's never seen them or they don't exist yet. He's sure she would have seen a bunch in the books when they went to the library to look up Japanese books--but obviously, that doesn't mean she has to know about prints.

It's one of those time difference things, and Robby at least gets it in his head to explain, looking back at the different pieces: ] They're copies of artwork done by different people. Those two are ads? [ The two in the kitchen that he points to (at least, he thinks). ] People sell them these days just so people can hang them up. My mom picked them.

[ That one, and that one.......

And let's not say anything about a certain lady on a door, which Robby looks at and then, um.

Let's ignore it and maybe Chizuru won't notice it???? ]

[ Chizuru does shake her head in the middle of what he's saying, after the question and before the explanation. She probably even gets out a little bit of a 'we don't hang anything up in our house' before Robby arrives at the very end there.

Honestly, Chizuru probably would have known if she were just a touch less sheltered, but alas.. this practice of just hanging stuff up because you think it's pretty? It's still pretty new to her. It's why she may have trinkets in her own room here in Trench, but she sure doesn't have anything on the walls.

It makes her eyes grow a little wide as she's staring at these now, the things on the wall gaining an entire new meaning to her.. ]

Your mother liked these?

[ There's a note of surprise in her tone, but not because she can't imagine anyone liking them. It's more-- it's an interesting thing to know, and it's distracting her from what Robby was looking at for a moment. Chizuru is still looking at the two ad-like ones. ]

I see.. [ It feels more important to her if she thinks of it this way.

It's like seeing a part of a person important to Robby that she doesn't know at all. ]

What do you think your mother liked about these..?

[ Wow, asking him why his mom likes them? That's going to make Robby furrow his brain, a sorta-amused pull of his lips, but he isn't just going 'i dunno lol' to the question. What does he think his mom likes about them...? ]

I guess 'cause...they're artsy? [ Artsy. But he'll turn around, point over to where the wall pattern is over in the corner (IGNORE THE DOOR). ] Like that, see? My mom really liked that. It was already part of the apartment when we got it.

My mom likes lively spaces.

[ So is the conclusion he's going to come to, looking back at Chizuru with a lift of his brows, hands shoving away inside his pockets. It makes sense, doesn't it? Or so Robby hopes. ]

Pictures like that are cheap too.

[ ...You know, he'll also throw that in, looking back to the blue print, a light scoff. ] Probably how she ended up with that one.

Your mother likes.. artsy things.

[ Chizuru repeats the conclusion to herself, turning her head to look at the pattern Robby is pointing out. The girl sounds a lot more serious about this than she ought to, but-- really, could anyone blame her? Chizuru has spent so much time overthinking her own father's actions that she can't help but do the same when her thoughts are pointed to someone else's parents.

Even if she may never even get to know Robby's mother. Even if she's only a compilation of random facts in Chizuru's mind.

It feels important. ]

I guess the pattern is kind of pretty.. [ And it's a little bit easier to understand for a girl like Chizuru than.. well, all of that other stuff. It's a little more abstract. A little more universal. ] Was your mother some kind of artist at all, Robby?

[ He did mention a few things about her, sure, but never anything about work, as far as she remembers. ]

[ Homes probably say a lot about a person's character, but what does this place say about him or his mom, when it was just another place to rent? When this apartment wasn't chosen for any wall piece, just for its price, but on Chizuru's last remark, Robby is inspired to go over to where the TV and DVD box is. There's a DVD stand near to it, and he's grabbing a few of the top ones as- ]

She was a dancer. [ An...all sorts of dancer, but he's not going to get into details. Instead, he's turning around and showing the DVDs in hand: Dirty Dancing, Step Up, Fame, Chicago. Robby can remember the covers well--he grew up with them. ] She loved dancing; she'd go out dancing all the time, and made us watching movies. That's what these are. It's how we watch them.

[ He'll show Chizuru, whether she moves in closer or doesn't. Opening up one of the cases to show the circular disk inside. ]

[ See, this makes some other things click into place. Robby had mentioned that his mother taught him dancing, so her being a dancer makes sense. And while it's not quite artsy in the same way as a painter is - especially in Chizuru's time and culture - she can still see how it falls into the same realm.

Though Robby distracts her with the concept of movies. Or, well, not exactly movies, since Chizuru did learn about those in Trench. But these physical carriers of said movies? Those are new to her, and she does move closer to take a look at the cases, and then the shiny thing inside..

It makes her eyes grow bigger. ]

You watch them.. with these? But they look like jewelry!

[ Don't ask her how she thinks you'd wear one. She's not sure. But it's all shiny and round? It gives off the same vibe?

It makes them seem expensive, or important, even though Robby has made it pretty clear nothing about this place really is expensive. Still, it's hard for someone seeing this for the first time to shrug off that impression, and her voice lowers the way one might when speaking in a church and not wanting to break some sanctity going on. ]

Can I-- Can I touch one?

[ But they look like jewellery!' Oh, okay, that gets a wide-eyed face from Robby, but at least he points it downwards like he's inspecting the case. It's alright, he's not going to laugh, okay. But is he going to tell someone about this one day? Yes.

For now: ] Go for it. They're plastic. Just poke your finger there...

[ He's directing her how to take the disk out from its case, pressing the piece in the middle of the disk to make it pop out. At least Robby has a good memory of how DVDs feel: like thin plastic, with a shine to them, and even what would happen if one were to tap a fingernail against the surface.

If Chizuru would dare to, of course. ]

The bottom side, without the picture, [ since Chizuru likely doesn't know what the 'bottom' of a disk is, ] that's where the movie's stored. You put it in a machine and it reads that side to make the disk work.

[ A very simplified version of how disks work. ...and about as much as Robby knows himself, really. ]

[ See, the upside of being from Chizuru's point in time is that the smallest things amaze you. Like, for example, the girl pressing her finger on the middle part and watching the disc pop out. It's the most basic of things, but the girl gasps as if she just saw a magic show.

At least she doesn't hesitate to take the disc into her hands, holding it.. entirely unlike the way one should hold a DVD, but it's not like she knows. Chizuru is instead much too busy studying the thing, turning it over in her hands until she's staring at the mentioned bottom side.

.. and staring at it.

... and staring at it for another moment. ]

Robby, that must be a really smart machine.. I mean, I can't read anything here!

[ The point.

Chizuru's head. ]

[ Does it really matter how one holds it when it's in a memory? ...well, Robby does wince and watch her a little, but tells himself this is just some weirdo magic space. It doesn't actually matter what she's doing with the DVD--does his mom even have it anymore?

He doesn't know what his mom has from their old apartment.

Instead, he gets to focus on Chizuru's reactions. His smile way more obvious and lasting, a grin from ear to ear. What a cute response.... ]

It can't do things you can either. You're both made of different stuff. [ Like one is plastic and metal, the other is Chizuru....! ] Pretty cool though, huh? That's technology.

[ Magical disk reading wizard machines. ]

[ Modern technology sure is a marvel. Shiny discs.. Chizuru can get behind that idea of technology, at least. It's so much better than guns and all those nasty things that get people killed. Chizuru is pretty sure that no one has ever been killed by one of these magical shiny discs. There's just no way. ]

Does that mean there are other things around here that are secretly movies..?

[ Chizuru glances around, as if to find something she doesn't recognize.. Which isn't hard, considering this apartment is filled to the brim with things that would never be seen in Chizuru's own time. She only has Trench to thank for the fact she even recognizes some of this.

But as the girl points-- ]

Like.. um, that, maybe?

[ -- she's definitely pointing at the microwave.

The secret movie microwave, clearly. ]

[ ah.....

He doesn't have time to explain that, no, that doesn't mean that, though Robby does start to begin. But Chizuru's already pointing, and, well--Robby grimaces, but in a more charitable manner than anything towards disgust.

Since: ] Uh, no... but that's a TV on it. That shows the movie when you play it.

[ So... she was close??? But Robby will walk over to the ~~secret movie~~ microwave now, expecting to be followed. He must show her the magic of the microwave--and how it has a door that opens to a space inside. ]

You stick food or drinks in this and it heats them up. If you get a meal that's already cooked, you can stick it in these and eat something quick. Me and mom lived on ready meals.

[ Surely a cook lover like Chizuru can appreciate a quick easy meal heater. ]

(closed) march catchall

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