[network] 💟︎ · video

[dragony]

I can't believe the Synod is coming so soon!

[ The video opens on Ruka, sweetheart of White City, broadcasting from somewhere in that obnoxious penthouse of hers. She's not focused on the camera, though: she's busy applying shadow to her single visible eyelid, her attention on a mirror out-of-frame. ]

It's going to be so nice to see everyone under one roof again. I mean, I'm not really interested in all the political talk, so puh-lease don't bore me. I just want to see my friends again— [ —blending that shadow— ] —and, oh... maybe take a quick night-trip somewhere fun afterward? It's been a while since I've put a casino in the red.

Oh, but before I forget... there is something serious I wanted to talk about. [ Here she looks at the camera and smiles— ] I know, right? [ —but there is a bit more focus than you'd usually see in that vapid expression. ] A couple nights ago I lost something very important to me.

I lost a blue bracelet.

[ As she says it, a bead of light pops into existence. It glows a certain shade of blue. Once formed, the bead of light begins spinning quickly around Ruka's wrist, blurring enough that it shifts between looking like a physical shackle or looking like a blue stain on her skin. It almost looks like a tattoo. ]

It was always pretty ugly, so I never liked wearing it, but I've had it for a long time, and... it has a sentimental value, to me. I would like to get it back. So, if you know anything about it, let me know?

[ Finally, the light vanishes, and she points her makeup brush at the camera. ]

Now, don't try bartering in my DMs, okay? You'll get buried. If you can't make it to the White City before the Synod, you can meet me there, or let me know where to find you. Thanks~

Love ya! [ after blowing a kiss to the camera, she blots the lens with her brush, and the feed ends. ]





[ This video is a open broadcast that can be seen by any faction that allows wider network access. ]

Comments

[tobeahero]

Haven't seen it, sorry. But if you want some one to come with to put that casino in the red, I'm your girl!

[What a coincidence! Ashlynn is also in her own penthouse getting herself dolled up. Though she, herself, is standing in front of a clothes rack pulling out one outfit after another: judging it and then returning to the rack to judge the next.]

I just got an entire new designer line in and I'm dying to find a place to wear them.

[dragony]

You haven't? That's a shame. ... But, if you see anything like it, or hear about it, let me know? It's very important to me.

[ She sounds actually... kind of disappointed?? A genuine human emotion, from Ruka?? Shit. better move on. ]

Anyway! I have been keeping my eye on Vegas. A quick night-and-a-half trip is more than long enough to clean out a couple houses.

Will you be at the Synod this year? We can coordinate.

[tobeahero]

If I do, I will.

[She agreed with the kind of dismissive tone that said if she remembered she'd do it, but wouldn't put any effort into it.]

I will. It's a big anniversary, right? I was thinking dark blue with silver accents.

[For her dress]

[dragony]

[ There's a dead end. God. How does anybody live like this. ]

Mmmhmm. Ten years. Dark blue is a good choice. It's somber enough, without being funerary, you know? I think it'll look really cute on you.

[tobeahero]

[Apparently very happily, though her bubble has been burst just a little.]

Somber? Funerary? That is not what I'm going for! This is a celebration! We've made it ten years since that terrible day. The memorial service is only a few hours, I want something that's lively and invites us to think about the next ten years with hope and wonder!

[fridgeflower]

Never heard of this immensely sentimental bracelet, and it's obviously not going to be in my neck of the woods.

Must be something if it's got you going multi-faction about it, though. What's the deal?

[dragony]

Aww, don't tell me you're upset you didn't know about it before.

[ Laurie, too... it's disappointing in a practical way — she's one of the most dependable people Ruka knows, and she's the sort of person who'd be a lot more capable of making a plan for this type of situation. But it's personal, too...

It's one thing to pretend to know people who you're not close to. It's another to stamp out an easy fondness that doesn't belong.

Ugh. Here goes. ]

But, you know, unlike some people, I believe that what we are transcends where we decided to live. It's just so... petty, you know? [ It's the kind of argument she's seen her other self make over and over again. ] So if that bracelet wandered a little farther out, why shouldn't I ask?

But, if you haven't seen it, isn't that all you needed to say?

[fridgeflower]

Yeesh.

[ Who's really being petty here? Laurie rolls her eyes.

She's about to have to conclude, then, that yes, if she doesn't know anything about this bracelet, maybe they're already done here, but-- ]

Is your Synod schedule already too booked for Krakoan allyship, then?

[dragony]

... I suppose it would depend on what that entailed.

I can always make time, for a good reason.

[fridgeflower]

I mean, I can buy you a drink, at least. We can figure out which party to hit up.

I'm not so far removed from my time at the Tower that I'm useless now. I'm still a fantastic conversationalist. To say the least.

[emeraldhanded]

[oh, it's Ruka. Fuu's about to scroll past this, as she does with every other appearance of Ruka's, idol culture isn't really Fuu's thing here or on home Earth--

--blue?

Why that blue? Why that design? Certainly not a typical "bracelet".]

What an unusual design. I'm sure it would be easy to spot.

[dragony]

It is.

[ Fuu, too... Ruka's aware she's not the only one here, but god is it lonely. ]

If you've seen it before, anyway.

[emeraldhanded]

[Has she...? No, it's probably just deja vu. And if it isn't, it's still not something she's going to share with Ruka on the public network.]

I would remember something like that. [Okay she sounded a little less breezy than she intended there. Smile!] I don't see how it would end up in Eden, but I will let you know if I see it anywhere.

[dragony]

Thanks.

I don't know where in the world it could be, but I'm sure anyone who knows about it must be an imPort. I hope I can get it back soon.

[nobilitease]

If you don't like wearing it, then why would it go missing? For that matter, why is that something you're asking all of us?

[ Claude's smile is fetching, disarming. Not to Ruka, of course, but it usually works on people a little better than it works on someone like Ruka. ]

Must be some bracelet.

[dragony]

I didn't like wearing it, but it was always with me.

[ It's technically true, even if it's not the truth. What a terrible skill to master.

But he's trying to be sweet — or, at least, trying to seem like he's trying to be sweet — and that's easy enough to play off. ]

I'm asking everyone because... well... it is easier than one-by-one. And people travel too. You know? If there's someone who recognizes it, but they left the White City, I'd want to speak to them, too.

It's very important to me.

[nobilitease]

Forgive my impertinence. I'm new here. I'm still getting a handle on how this place works. And how much everyone here likes each other.

[ He winks at her. It's a good play, considering her persona. ]

Which isn't very much, I'm gathering. So, was the bracelet a present from someone important? Anyone people around here might know? That's one way of lighting a fire underneath a search party. Everyone loves a story.

[dragony]

Well, I like everyone, even if they don't like me.

[ It's all smiles. Sure, the White Tower isn't anybody's favorite ally, and apparently she's been murdered by one of her exes once or twice going by passive-aggressive hashtags on Insta, but... that's how it goes!! ]

As for my bracelet, it was... [ how much can she say without lying? she hums a little for thought. ] ... bestowed upon me, a long time ago. Before I ever set foot in this world. [ Technically... true... ] ... It's a piece of 'home.'

text; un: j.kavinsky

[pillz]

oh, no. that sucks, man.

what's it made out of?

[she wouldn't be wrong, to try to head off a cheap dream replacement, even one well-intended.]

[dragony]

metal? i think

[ what the fuck are nanites made of. this is not her field. ]

it's very light
why?
have you seen it?

[pillz]

no. but i could probably find one just like it.

[in another life, he'd be outright deceptive about it; inflict a new gift upon her. in this one...]

what's the story behind the little thing, sweetheart?

[dragony]

oh
i don't want a replacement
i want the real thing
back where it belongs.

it's something i've had for a long time
i'm attached to it

[ It is increasingly worrisome that nobody has the faintest clue what she's talking about. is she really going to have to figure out how to get back on her own? ]


if you haven't seen it, don't worry about it
i'm sure it'll turn up soon
it always has before.

audio;

[afallon]

[He's almost certainly reading too much into this. Looking up the poster in this world's news, she might in fact be inclined to make a broadcast across factions about a bracelet. The color can easily be a coincidence.

But if he isn't reading too much into this...

Askeladd's tone is that of someone who's only showing curiosity out of boredom.] Did you register it with the people who made it?

[dragony]

[ thank god she's not doing an uncut live recording for the responses — it gives her a moment quiet, private jubilation over someone finally able to return her message.

She doesn't recognize the voice, but the situation is desperate. ]

I did. I even received a file about it, and everything, back then. I thought I kept them all, I swear, in someplace safe, but... I can't find any trace of them.

[ Maybe that's a little too loaded, but... well, it's not like the people who don't know would know what it really means. There's enough plausible deniability — that's all that matters. ]

[afallon]

[So he isn't the only one. Maybe there's a pattern to it, then, if they can figure it out.]

You must feel unsettled, losing something after all that. [Just enough, he hopes, to demonstrate his first comment wasn't a coincidence.]

You said you lost it a couple nights ago?