[It's a picture of a butterfly, so at least it's like, a nice bug she sends Konoha. She doesn't know Konoha's tolerance for bugs, but she figures butterflies are safe. Who doesn't like butterflies?
Its wings are black with white spots and blue near the bottom]
It's called a "spicebush swallowtail." Isn't it pretty? They apparently tend to stay in groups and appear to be rather social. I wonder if I could grow flowers on a windowsill and attract them?
[… There’s a message! Konoha knows what a message notification looks like on her metal thing now. But she assumes it’s from Patho-Gen, because… who else would send her a message?
Except it maybe isn’t because that’s a butterfly. How is a butterfly on her thing??? Ohhhhh okay she is going to try to figure this out…]
[She spends a good couple of minutes slowly deciphering the emojis, wondering what kind of game this is before she gives up and just calls Konoha outright]
[Oh- ! A video! Hold on, hold on... first the camera just shows hooves, then Konoha remembers she needs to turn it around... there's her face! Smiling and waving!]
Miss Helaena, sorry!
The butterfly is really pretty! I just couldn't figure out which pictures I should use to say "pretty"... so I did the surprised face because it was surprising people can send butterflies through the air to each other!
[She's quiet for a moment, brow slightly furrowed. Why would she use pictures to convey it when the word itself would suffice??
Then-- Oh.] Oh. I understand, yes.
Konoha, do you not know how to write on these devices? Or, what was it called... Type? If you press the buttons, the word will form. [She tilts her head, looking a tad concerned] They can be a bit difficult... It was hard to get used to at first, but my brother and I have been using it often to communicate with each other so we can get used to it. I can message you more often too, if you'd like?
[In the silence, Konoha's head cocks slightly to the side, smiling still, even if she's confused as to what Helaena is confused about. Until, right, she isn't. Right! Right! She was a princess-queen-lady.]
Someone showed me how to type! I know how to do it.
[Which might sound like a dismissal, at first, but really she's only trying to answer the question. She does know how to write on the devices, it's--]
I just don't know the actual words, aha... Sorry, you're probably used to talking to ladies who read proper, right?
[She isn't at all ashamed of her illiteracy, because who expects a lumber yard worker, let alone a jinba, to be anything but that? It would be crazier if she was! But she does have it in her to look apologetic that her lack caused trouble in this place where it felt like almost everyone else knew how to read and write.]
I definitely don't mind messaging more if you don't mind my pictures... Oh, I do know some words! Look!
[She doesn't realize the video captures her look of fierce concentration as she stares at her device and presses on the buttons until she sends...]
I... [She trails off, looking a bit surprised. She'd never actually given it much thought before] I don't really have any friends or ladies that spend time with me. I suppose I don't really know how many of them can read.
[She looks at the words that appear and smiles a bight, nodding] Yes, very good. I could teach you more words, if you'd like? I've been helping my children with their studies outside of their lessons. I wouldn't mind helping you, too.
[Hopefully gasping at that isn’t rude, because Konoha gasps.]
I mean-
[What do you do with yourself if you’re so rich and noble but don’t have any friends? You have all that time and no one to share it with??? Sure, kids are amazing, but…]
If you know some other words… we could try? Someone told me my language and theirs were different, even though they sounded right to me… I don’t know how it works…
No, I suppose I don't. I don't... really get along with people, I suppose. Mostly they find me odd, or unapproachable. And I don't really know what to do with them or how to talk to them... [She has her Special Interests and that's all she really knows rip.]
I would be willing to. Perhaps we can teach each other?
[That... That sounds so sad. Sure, if she was being blunt, Helaena did seem a bit of an odd duck, a little dreamy... But that's not so bad a thing to be as a person, when you think of all the things a person could be.
So-]
I'll be you friend, Helaena.
[Even if it seems insane to her that someone like her should even be able to be the friend of an Empress (er, "Queen")-]
Whether teaching each other writing works well or not!
Konoha! Hey, it's Ace. [ He's clearly forcing cheer into his tired tone, because Konoha's a sweet girl and he hates the thought of being a scar on her heart. ]
Listen, I'm leaving a message for now, 'cause I can't get out to see you. Just wanted to thank you for being a great friend, and say I'm so proud of you for coming as far as you have. You were scared at first, but you've grown up into your own — you remind me of my little brother, in some ways!
I hope you'll keep this message. Ask anyone for help if you don't know how to save it! Just in case I'm not the "me" you knew, when my Natural Soul finally kicks in like it's going to. I mean, what can we do about it besides rock n' roll, huh?
[ Konoha is hard at work in the fields, when the call comes in. She's been hard at work in the fields every single day this last moon, striving to find some sort of purpose in a world that isn't hers, that feels too big for her no matter how the Natural Soul tries to warp her body into one that belongs there. The farm was coming along, it was getting closer and closer to harvest, and there was so much you could find to do, if you were desperate not to think about poisoned rocks and being trapped far from home.
But the sun starts to go down, and she has to finish up. She'd sent the other farmhand home early that day, so it's just her, washing dirt off her legs and hands, repacking her bag and-
[ She's learned more about how to operate the device from the absolutely nothing she knew when she first met Ace. She knows how to tap the swirling arrow to make the message play aloud again. This time, she presses it much harder to her ear, as if doing so would reveal something she missed the first time.
Why did it sound like... like some sort of final farewell? After meeting another with a similar Natural Soul who spoke about his discussions with Patho-Gen regarding his condition (and then obscured the worst of it to "protect" her from the knowledge), she knew that some people possessed by spirits would get sick, but...
[ Somewhat frantically, she checks the time on the message, and listens one more time. He said "just in case", yet- Wait? He wasn't going to do anything to himself, was he? Or just lay back and let something happen? No, he was a fighter, so he must be deathly ill? Was that it? ]
[ He picks up, actually. It's half a "goodbye" message, after all. The other half is a call to arms — a plea, that when he comes back wrong ( IF, he comes back wrong ), she doesn't take it personally. ]
— hey, Konoha! I didn't think you'd get my message until tonight. How's work?
[ he shoots for uh
casual, and big-brotherly, because he's already worried her most likely
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
text; un: bugs
Its wings are black with white spots and blue near the bottom]
It's called a "spicebush swallowtail." Isn't it pretty? They apparently tend to stay in groups and appear to be rather social. I wonder if I could grow flowers on a windowsill and attract them?
no subject
Except it maybe isn’t because that’s a butterfly. How is a butterfly on her thing??? Ohhhhh okay she is going to try to figure this out…]
🦋?
🦋 ➡️ 📱
👩🐎🌳🍃 ➡️ 😲
text --> video
Konoha? Did you not like the butterfly?
no subject
Miss Helaena, sorry!
The butterfly is really pretty! I just couldn't figure out which pictures I should use to say "pretty"... so I did the surprised face because it was surprising people can send butterflies through the air to each other!
[... Makes sense, right?]
no subject
Then-- Oh.] Oh. I understand, yes.
Konoha, do you not know how to write on these devices? Or, what was it called... Type? If you press the buttons, the word will form. [She tilts her head, looking a tad concerned] They can be a bit difficult... It was hard to get used to at first, but my brother and I have been using it often to communicate with each other so we can get used to it. I can message you more often too, if you'd like?
no subject
Someone showed me how to type! I know how to do it.
[Which might sound like a dismissal, at first, but really she's only trying to answer the question. She does know how to write on the devices, it's--]
I just don't know the actual words, aha... Sorry, you're probably used to talking to ladies who read proper, right?
[She isn't at all ashamed of her illiteracy, because who expects a lumber yard worker, let alone a jinba, to be anything but that? It would be crazier if she was! But she does have it in her to look apologetic that her lack caused trouble in this place where it felt like almost everyone else knew how to read and write.]
I definitely don't mind messaging more if you don't mind my pictures... Oh, I do know some words! Look!
[She doesn't realize the video captures her look of fierce concentration as she stares at her device and presses on the buttons until she sends...]
people
horse
konoha
tea
money
no subject
[She looks at the words that appear and smiles a bight, nodding] Yes, very good. I could teach you more words, if you'd like? I've been helping my children with their studies outside of their lessons. I wouldn't mind helping you, too.
no subject
[Hopefully gasping at that isn’t rude, because Konoha gasps.]
I mean-
[What do you do with yourself if you’re so rich and noble but don’t have any friends? You have all that time and no one to share it with??? Sure, kids are amazing, but…]
If you know some other words… we could try? Someone told me my language and theirs were different, even though they sounded right to me… I don’t know how it works…
no subject
I would be willing to. Perhaps we can teach each other?
no subject
So-]
I'll be you friend, Helaena.
[Even if it seems insane to her that someone like her should even be able to be the friend of an Empress (er, "Queen")-]
Whether teaching each other writing works well or not!
VOICEMAIL — @FIREFIST
Listen, I'm leaving a message for now, 'cause I can't get out to see you. Just wanted to thank you for being a great friend, and say I'm so proud of you for coming as far as you have. You were scared at first, but you've grown up into your own — you remind me of my little brother, in some ways!
I hope you'll keep this message. Ask anyone for help if you don't know how to save it! Just in case I'm not the "me" you knew, when my Natural Soul finally kicks in like it's going to. I mean, what can we do about it besides rock n' roll, huh?
1/?
But the sun starts to go down, and she has to finish up. She'd sent the other farmhand home early that day, so it's just her, washing dirt off her legs and hands, repacking her bag and-
Oh, a message on the Syntrofos.]
no subject
What is this? ]
no subject
Why did it sound like... like some sort of final farewell? After meeting another with a similar Natural Soul who spoke about his discussions with Patho-Gen regarding his condition (and then obscured the worst of it to "protect" her from the knowledge), she knew that some people possessed by spirits would get sick, but...
But... ]
no subject
no subject
fin
kills my own sickness,
— hey, Konoha! I didn't think you'd get my message until tonight. How's work?
[ he shoots for uh
casual, and big-brotherly, because he's already worried her most likely
embarassing.... ]