expiationnet | (video) an orb speaks

I'm okay. I learn a lot, it's kind of what I do... Do you have things with you like that? I would like to see it...

(she can replicate things that give stimuli, so honestly, she will just look at alien belongings and touch them a lot.)

It's nice to meet you too.

Oh, yeah. The tech I'm used to is a lot more advanced than what they've got going on here! I mean, we don't put our holo-comms in necklaces, for one thing. And I have jet boots and some sweet guns that would put these things to shame.

[ Is he going to spin one of his blasters, just to show off? Yes. ]

Not bad, huh?

... I don't understand anything from what you've just said, so I can't say if it's not bad. Would you let me touch them?

(JET?? GUN????)

Oh. [ He frowns for a sec, then shrugs. ] Yeah, fair.

Uh, why do you wanna touch my gear? Ooh, are you from a planet that isn't Earth? Is that like how you taste or something?

[ He's honestly asking, I apologize for his manners..... ]

... I don't know where I'm from! I taste with my tongue, I just-- I understand things better when I can touch... With my hands!

(it is strange how peter put it, but in all honesty, fushi probably has licked many things to understand them. stimuli is so important. :( )

Oh, that's cool! Yeah, if you wanna come see em, you totally can!

[ Like, no questions asked. That's a perfectly reasonable explanation. And Fushi seems nice enough, so that's not a weird request at all! ]

My bad, I just wasn't sure if you were maybe like, part Askavaariian or, you know... [ He pauses. ] Actually you probably don't, just forget I mentioned it! I've just met a lot of species, and some of them do things a little differently than others.

What's Askavaariian--, I don't know anything, but... Seem to know a lot! Can you tell me your stories? I want to hear them...

(species... like humans? animals? things fushi's never seen? perhaps this man has met something like them.

she wants to know.)

Where are you? Can you meet in my place?

Oh, it's a species of people from a planet called Oerlanii. They have a lot of extra limbs for feeling stuff, so they can taste colors and feel sounds and a bunch of things like that.

[ Don't ask him how he knows this, don't. Ask. (It's a sex thing.) ]

I'd be happy to tell you some stories, though! [PG-13 ones. ] I've got a ton. And sure, I don't mind meeting up -- where are you? I'm staying at the inn for now.

... Do you just hop from country to country like this?

(who's 200 years old and canonically doesn't know what sex is? fushi!

who's 200 years old and doesn't know planets are a thing? fushi!)

... Me too. Room 202.

(where, if the other noticed, lives a white-haired boy.)

Planet to planet, more like. Back home, I live with my friends on a ship called the Milano. We take jobs all around the galaxy -- though I used to run with a different crew for a while, too.

[ He says this so casually, you would think he's talking about shopping for groceries. ]

Cool! I'll be right over! Don't shiv me if you're actually a scumbag in disguise, okay?

[ He laughs. He's mostly kidding! oh god if he has to give fushi The Talk that would be hilarious

But next thing you know, there's a knock on the door! He's quick like that. ]

Hey, Fushi! It's Peter.

... What's a shiv!! Why does nothing you say make sense!!!

(this is going to be A Time for fushi, all around!!!

god tried to get fushi to fuck and they didn't understand it

but once there's a knock, she opens the door, blinking a few times and poking the poor man's chest, just to make sure. seems real, not like the one talking on the jewelry.)

Hey, come in...! Are you hungry at all?

[ Peter's laughter can be heard as she opens the door. He even takes her poking in stride, since their conversation has already been weird enough. ]

I spent a few years in prison as a kid, I had to make sure.

[ That's not a normal thing to say? ]

A shiv is a... knife. A really crappy, makeshift one. But I was joking anyway, don't worry about it. [ He waves dismissively. ] But yeah, I could eat!

... Are you a bad person, Peter?

(not that everyone who is imprisoned is bad. fushi's learned that, but some definitely aren't good.

although a bad person would probably not say it. on the table, however, there's plenty of food awaiting. fushi's replication comes in handy - stimuli makes it so she can have a copy simply sprout from her hand, so. it tastes exactly like fushi's once had it.)

... Can you tell me what kind of beings have you met...?

(maybe there are other fushis out there. blackhood, the creator, only made fushi, but what if there are other blackhoods? other universes that fushi has never even heard about?)

Edited (typo...) 2023-02-17 23:52 (UTC)

Whoa, no, no. That's not it at all.

[ Somehow the sheer honesty in that question cuts Peter deep. Maybe he shouldn't joke around with someone who's clearly so... new at everything, like Fushi is.

An honest question deserves an honest response, though. ]

I was a prisoner. My dad was somebody really important, and the bad guys grabbed me so that... they could keep my dad from helping their enemies. So that's why.

[ He smiles, but it doesn't meet his eyes. This still burns him to this day, but not enough that he won't tell someone who's a kid, as far as he's concerned. But Peter steps on in and admires the spread. He had like no expectations and this looks great?? How.

Well, whatever! It's story time. Peter grabs a pear-looking thing and sniffs it before he takes a bite. ]

Yeah, none of my friends are from Earth, so I've met tons of people! One of my friends, Groot, he's a Flora Colossus -- the last of his whole kind. He's kind of like... a walking tree? Really tall. His planet was destroyed by Thanos, one of those bad guys I was talking about, and all that was left of him was a tiny splinter -- but someone found him and planted him in some soil and he grew right back into a person! Just like that!

[ Sure, it took years, but that's probably a nicer story than Rocket's or Gamora's or Drax's, right? ]

(fushi's not hungry, so really, this is all for the guest. there's not much to worry about, it seems, so there's a moment she sits next to the older-looking man, a hand supporting her head so she can listen.)

... I've known people who were paying the price for others. I'm sorry this is real for you as well.

(she knows that smile, at least. no need to be that clueless over it.)

... Is Earth your planet? What are planets? Does your friend speak? How does he walk? Does the soil go with him? Must you water him and must he sunbathe? How does any of this work--

... Can I ask you a question?

(NOT LIKE THE OTHER 300 COUNTED.)

[ Peter smiles. He knows she's being honest here too. Wow, it's nice. This is why kids are cool, even if it seems like she's been through some rough stuff too. ]

Yeah. My dad sucks.

[ J'son of Spartax for worst dad of forever, ok!!! But Peter just keeps up the stories. It's more fun to talk about stuff and help Fushi learn. He was once young and full of questions, too. ]

Yep, I'm from Earth! Though most people call it Terra. And planets are... whoa. Hm. [ He's never had to explain this one before. ] It's like, the place we're on? The ground, and the water, and everything? Lemme slow you down a bit on those answers, buddy. I'm not the best at explaining stuff.

[ He's smiling though. There's something very soft about her curiosity. It makes him wish he'd had someone nice to answer his questions, and not Yondu Udonta. ]

Okay, so Groot can talk. But his language is really subtle, and it's really rare, so most translators don't carry it, so for everyone else, whenever he speaks all we hear is "I am Groot." And he doesn't need the soil to live or anything, he just has to drink water same as most organics. Though I think being in the sun makes him heal a bit? I don't know his biology or anything. He's a really nice dude, everyone likes him.

[ He laughs. ]

But yeah, you can keep asking me questions, kid. I really don't mind.

Edited (last one sorry!) 2023-02-18 00:30 (UTC)

I'm sorry, this is all very new to me... I never heard much of anything that wasn't human, or animals, like crabs, birds, wolves, bears, fish...

(it's a lot of information, and sometimes, fushi's face appears a little blank, as if she's buffering. all these stories and peter's demeanor do make a smile stem from her lips, even if a little nostalgic.

so he has a companion who he cannot fully understand, and yet, thinks he's 'a nice dude'. all they can think is when they first took breaths, the shape of a wolf that was beloved by a lonesome human. then, march - a four-year-old who cared so much about them, even if fushi didn't even know how to eat.

it's... nice. there truly are people out there like this. it makes fushi feel warm, like they could find what was asked of them in the man - "find companions who understand you". fushi's tried, but the fear of grief and guilt hits harder.

... they have to try.)

You can keep secrets, right...?

[ Ooh, that's a big one. Not a question Peter expected, but not totally surprising, either. ]

Hey, it's all good. Different planets have different people in them. Different environments, different species...

[ Fushi doesn't strike Peter as Terran, with the way they asked questions. But really, Peter usually assumes people aren't Terran until proven otherwise. He imagines that kind of thing is rare, where everyone looks the same.

The point is, he's expecting Fushi to tell him that they're an alien. Which would be the most normal thing in the world for him. ]

Yeah, of course. Cross my heart.

[ He draws an X on his chest for good measure. ]

... What does that mean?

(please, peter, at this point they might be of your canon themselves... very confused... over everything peter says...

but there's a sigh. it's not 'alien', perse, however...)

Do you know any other orbs of light? That's what I am, really. I'm probably four times older than you or more. You know so much, so I thought maybe you knew others like me. There's only me as far as I know, but...

Sorry, it's like an extra promise. Like a pinky promise—crap, you probably don't know that one either, huh? My bad. I say a lot of Earth stuff, don't worry about it. My friends don't understand me either half the time.

[ He laughs. That, or he has taught all his friends his weird way of speaking, so they tend to get the phrases all wrong.

Anyway, Fushi is saying something that very serious, and Peter hears that. But Peter is, unfortunately, Peter. ]

Whoa, you're four times my age? You look good, dude!

[ OK, he hears it. It's bad. He holds his hands up in surrender, knowing his fast mouth can get him in trouble more than not. ]

Kidding. I'm kidding, sorry. I do that a lot, at the wrong times. Let me think...

[ He really does take the time to think. He's met a lot of races and species in the galaxy, but he's never heard of a race called "orbs of light." The Worldmind was kind of light-like? And Adam Warlock, well, the Magus was kind of like an orb of darkness, but still... Nova Force, Faith Energy, even the Infinity Stones... they don't sound quite like that. Certainly Fushi doesn't seem like a sentient infinity stone.

He's stumped. ]

I've never heard of a species called that, I'm sorry.

[ He knows that's probably not what Fushi wanted to hear. But he means every word he says: ]

But just because I've never heard of it doesn't mean there aren't other ones out there. The galaxy is huge and it's constantly expanding, so I know for a fact that it's impossible to truly see it all.

... Oh. Then cross my heart I will try to understand you more.

(look at them, learning, being nice. opening up, just like tonari had wanted-- but only for now. only a little bit. outliving everyone truly does suck.

the comment makes her shake her head, sighing a little. slowly, it's like gust and mist take over her, only to reveal the white-haired boy who often walks the hallways.)

Ah, that's... Not really how I look at all... This is not it, either, I think, but you'll find me more quickly and easily if you look for me like this... They were young, so-- I really don't have a body that shows how old I am...

(because this is not confusing at all. however, it does give him some sort of relief, and almost immediately, he starts to eat - the grump in his stomach signals so. this body is always starving...)

... It's okay, Peter. I figured. You don't have to look like that. I was just wondering if there was any other being who understood me somewhere.

(NOT LIKE THIS ISN'T SAD OR ANYTHING.)

[ Peter smirks at the turn of phrase, his eyes going wide with understanding as Fushi changes forms. That's so neat! And Fushi's follow up makes sense too—Peter's heard about that happening with shape-shifting species. It must be hard to not know or remember what you look like.

Even if not all of his words make sense, Peter reaches for Fushi and sets a tentative hand on his head. (Helps to be tall!) Fushi might be several times his age, but his words are just too sad. ]

Hey. You don't need to be the same species to be understood, Fushi. I know that real well.

[ He pulls back, hoping he hasn't overstepped. This is the part where he opens up his bleeding heart because he knows so badly how it feels to be completely and utterly alone. ]

I know it's probably hard to believe with how many humans there are here, but back home, I'm more used to being the odd guy out. [ There was also the whole first 3 years in prison, but that's a little too dark for right now. ] And my friends, they're... not one of us is from the same planet, or even species. So many of us lost everything in the War, but we all found each other. And despite all our differences, we still try to understand each other. That's what brings us together. So you really shouldn't give up on being understood, alright?

(fushi doesn't know -- simply because an orb doesn't come equipped with consciousness. several things they have been changed their priorities and ways of thinking - the years they've spent running from their problems as a sea creature taught them as much. digging for friends was such a huge thing.

there's a little moment of surprise, how long has it been since he's been petted? forty years? more? as a human, must have been more. the smile is there, though, even if a little hidden.)

... I know, I understand what you are saying... My friends are all... Humans, or animals. Many fishes... They are dead now, probably... The problem is that, even if you do understand me, you will die, right? I do not. You can cut my hand off right now, it'll just grow back. There's no end of me, so... I've been trying to find people, mine have all passed... But it's difficult with that. So that's what's hard for me to grasp. Maybe finding other immortal beings would help me... So, that's why I asked you.

[ Peter is a very physically affectionate guy, I'm afraid you might be stuck with him now, Fushi.

He nods, taking their words seriously. It's a real issue in space, too. Different races have different lifespans, a fact that isn't lost on Peter. Hell, he's probably going to age the quickest out of his friends, too. ]

Yeah, that's true. That has to hurt, losing people over and over.

[ He looks down at the pear he'd bit into. Already, the white part is starting to brown. To someone who lives forever, a human life would feel that fast, huh? It's wild. ]

I wish I could tell you it gets easier or something. If Groot were here, he'd know what to say. [ He's probably immortal too? He's so good at comforting people. ] But hey, there are species in the universe that live practically forever, so that's not as rare as you think. You'll have chances, I know it.

[ He looks back up, smiling softly. ]

And in the meantime, you might as well make some friends, right? Or, uh, not... I mean, it's really up to you, that's just what I think.

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