twenty ✶ video

[candidly]

[ oh look. gwen's inside a blanket fort she built in the corner of the living room. she's nomming on some marshmallows and she's got her homework next to her. ]

Have you ever done something that you haven't since you were a kid, just for kicks, and found out it's just as awesome as it was when you were five? 'Cause I'm totally having one of those moments right now and I gotta say, if you haven't built a blanket fort in the past five years? You should definitely do it again.

[ there's a pause and she looks around. ]

Extra credit if you can get it to cover your entire living room. I wonder if we've got enough blankets for that...

[ the feed clicks off as gwen gets up, presumably in search of more pillows and blankets. ]

Comments

video;

[glowsferatu]

[ kanaya just looks at the scene with bewilderment. the whole thing look so silly and...childish. she is way too busy taking herself seriously to understand the appeal. ]

And why should anyone like to do that?

video;

[candidly]

Because it's fun...?

video;

[glowsferatu]

It strikes me as an excessively juvenile exercise.

[candidly]

Well, yeah. That's kind of the point.

[glowsferatu]

Are puerilities really an agenda worth striving for? It's an impression I generally try to avoid.

[candidly]

Dude, you're like even more of a kid than me. You should be enjoying the fact that you can still be an immature snot sometimes.

[glowsferatu]

I'm still confused as to why that should be considered so enjoyable. There's nothing fun about acting immature.

[candidly]

Look, just try it once, preferably with some friends and awesome music in the background. And then you'll see.

[glowsferatu]

What a marvelous suggestion! It can be forever maintained afterward as "That Moment When Kanaya Officially Displayed Herself To Be Irrevocably Shithive Maggots". I have no doubt that any resulting recording would become an effectively utilized material for future defamation campaigns.

[candidly]

Nobody's going to blackmail you because you took the stick out of your ass for an afternoon.

[glowsferatu]

...Perhaps not, but they would at least worry. It would convey rather atypical behavior.

I suppose recreational construction of imaginary buildings may be more widespread on your world, but Alternian schoolfeeding devoted a considerable portion of its focus to instilling architectural proficiency at a rather young age. I'm not of any mind to shirk my duties, of course, but even for me, I see little pleasure to be gained from practicing it even further. I've had quite my fill for several lifetimes' worth.

[candidly]

Then do something else. Go find a playground and see how high you can get on the swings.

[glowsferatu]

[ she ponders that one for a second, trying to figure out whether gwen's actually suggesting what she thinks she might be. one word can have so many applications, but once she's determined that isn't the one being used here, she decides to respond as if it was anyway. for her own amusement, if nothing else. ]

I doubt the consumption of psychoactive compounds would be the most favorable course to adopt.

[candidly]

What? No, I didn't mean—Kanaya!!

[glowsferatu]

I mean, what level of chemically-induced inebriation would one even need to attain to propose such a suggestion?

[candidly]

None!!

[glowsferatu]

If there's one thing I know about those who partake, it's that they're basically evangelic with regards to such habits. That is, until they're abruptly cut off from their indulgences and attempt to kill everyone, all the while speaking out against the practices and not having the good sense to die when you wish they might and even attempt to assist them in achieving this result.

Okay, so that was only the one user, and I should hope his behavior isn't indicative of larger patterns. Come to think of it, I've known another as well, and she wasn't nearly as difficult. But I still hardly see where the fun would be in it.

[ but enough rambling, this joke has worn itself out ] So...swings?

[candidly]

Yes. Swings. They're fun, you should try them.

[glowsferatu]

[ she's still kind of smiling, but in a way that's less amused and more sardonic now ]

A different expression of elevation entirely, yes. But operating an apparatus for the sole purpose of achieving some momentary sensation of ascension before being pried from it once more by gravitational forces still strikes me as rather trivial.

Is flight an experience you've ever found yourself acquainted with, Gwen?

[candidly]

Only when on a plane.

[glowsferatu]

I formerly had the ability in my dreams, but usually there were more important things to be seen to than flying about without a care. I had information to gather which would be vital to our success.

[candidly]

So... your dreams work differently than human dreams. Good to know.

[glowsferatu]

Past tense, actually, and not nearly so exclusive to my species as you suggest.

My point is twofold. First, that a swing would be a poor substitute. Second, that sometimes there are far more important things to be done. A variety of things may depend on my not delaying from my duties for the sake of entertainment.

[candidly]

Everyone needs a break sometime, Kanaya.

[glowsferatu]

But not all of us necessarily deserve it.