[ lmao??? you can't expect her to remember everything???
anyway violet does not respond to the text. but several minutes later, she arrives! her hair is in a few truly massive rope braids that coil around her neck and trail down both her front and back; all have cleanly lopped-off edges, but none are the same length.
she's also carrying a plastic easter basket, complete with plastic easter grass and plastic easter eggs. ]
Nice hair. [she really can't comment. her own hair, short though it is, is filthy because she's been too depressed to shower since she got back from Bosuma, and also because of who she is as a person.]
Oh. I have extra. Want some? [ she's gotten REALLY good at growing it lately. vitamins and clean living, you know. ]
Ha. So, I made you this one [ she vaguely indicates the central egg, which is "jumbo" size ] and while I was it I also made these ones [ she makes no indication, but this clearly refers to the three "medium" eggs arranged around the edges ].
Happy Easter.
[ she holds out the basket! of course, she lets go of it a fraction of a second sooner than most people would (and than she really should, if she wants to make sure anna doesn't drop it). ]
[fortunately, Anna's got them swordswoman reflexes and manages to duck down and grab the basket just before it hits the ground.]
[except no, she fucking doesn't, because she only has one eye and it's exactly like Rose said. she's wrong about how far that thing is, every single time. all she can do is watch the basket land and hopefully none of these things pop open or shatter or. whatever happens to artificial eyes stored inside plastic eggs when they hit hard faux-marble and the only padding is a basket and some grass.]
[ what IS fortunate is that the eggs don't pop open (and they're stuffed with cotton padding inside, anyway)! but the basket tips over and a couple of them do go rolling a little ways across the floor.
Three takes a step back and does not make any motion toward helping retrieve them. ]
[of course she doesn't. why would she. Anna scrambles for the eggs, trailing her fingertips along the floor so she can better tell where they're rolling to, and soon gathers everything back into the basket. once she's on her feet and the basket is in hand, she fixes Violet with a stare.]
Okay, so do you want to come upstairs and help me try these on, or what. We could do it in the bathrooms down here, too, I guess.
[yeah, she shouldn't have expected Violet to give a concrete answer. she starts walking through the lobby, gesturing for Vi to follow.]
We'll do it down here. Light's better. Might as well get used to people gawking at me anyway.
[the bathrooms are pretty spacious down here, but once they get inside, she's only really concerned with standing in front of one of the sinks so they can use the mirror. her voice echoes slightly against the linoleum.]
Okay. [and she takes one of the medium-sized eggs out and opens it up.] Let's see what you've got for me.
it's because i was re-immersed in dod3 vids trying to figure out what the FUCK that huge spear thing
(( ... two killed one with was like where did she get that????? what is it???? ))
[ anyway the "eye" Anna has selected is perfectly smooth to the touch and has the same gently curved shape as the classic type of ocular prosthesis, but... it's just solid glitter inside. mostly pink, some silver, and a little bit of iridescent peach. ]
Oh, good choice. It's medical-grade resin. Apparently they usually take molds and measurements for this sort of thing. I just took my best guess.
[ but her best guesses are usually pretty good. ]
I'll make adjustments. If it doesn't fit.
it's her third daemon, biggsord. didnt you watch the canon telenovela.
[Anna holds the prosthesis up to eye level and lets it sparkle in the harsh fluorescent light of the bathroom, then palms it, puts her palm on the counter, and gives Violet a dead look in the mirror without turning her head.]
You do understand why I'd want one of these, right? [her reflection looks normal enough like this, she thinks. she could just be recovering from an injury or something. no reason she needs to be missing an eye under that white cloth eyepatch of hers.]
I don't want people to look at it. I want it to look like nothing's wrong if I ever go out without my eyepatch. Or at least I don't want people to be able to tell from fifty feet away.
[Anna sighs. that was. maybe too harsh, but this is still a sensitive thing for her. she places the glittery glass eye back in its egg, closes it up, and picks up the jumbo-sized one instead. that was probably the one Violet had wanted her to open first, right? presentation and everything.]
Maybe I still will, just to have something in there. It can't be good for me to just leave it empty.
[she's taking guesses. she's done startlingly little research about this so far, just because she doesn't... if she does, it'll become even realer than it already is. it's only been a couple days since she lost it but she still feels like. maybe she can pretend it's not happening to her.]
[ Violet shrugs--or rather, she makes a slight, barely noticeable movement that is reminiscent of a shrug in some ways. ]
I thought of it like jewelry. A type of art that only you can wear. A new opportunity. Still, if they fit-- I already have the mold. It's easy to make more.
[ the one in the big egg......!!
it's the same smooth shape as the other one, of course. (they're all identical in that respect.) it's a sculpture of sea glass and fractured obsidian; spidery kintsugi-like veins of gold and silver run through it so that it seems it would all hold together even if it weren't encased in resin. the light that shines through it scatters haphazardly, casting sparks all over the walls and ceiling. ]
[this is... this is better, actually. Anna rolls it around in her hand carefully, watching the way it catches the light. she recognizes the technique Violet used to keep everything together, but doesn't know what it's called. after a moment of mesmerized watching, she closes her palm around the glass eye and looks at Violet directly.]
This, I like.
[and she's not just blowing smoke up Vi's ass to make her feel better. this one will attract attention just the same, but it's... it looks different. more interesting, more deliberate than just a ball of glitter shoved in her face. if art is what Violet was going for, it's definitely nailed that idea.]
Sure. The pink one, I thought maybe for clubbing. Of course, I'd like to make one that lights up. But powering it is tricky. It's hard to get access to certain kinds of materials. I also thought about attaching a chain or cord. Something that might link to an earring or micro-USB port. The problem is finding someplace to put it that won't get cause friction inside the socket or prevent the eyelids from closing. I'm still thinking about it but haven't yet found a solution that won't involve at least a minor surgical procedure. And of course if we went that far it would feel like a waste not to try to restore some of the actual functionality of an eye, wouldn't it? With an artificial retina and optical nerve link, or maybe some other kind of sensor... there's no law that says visual feedback is the only kind you can receive just because the receptors are installed where there used to be an eye... but that's pretty far outside my area of expertise for now. So they're all just roundish. And decorative. Have you ever worn contacts?
[Anna blinks (or winks, she guesses) and just stares at Violet for a second or two.]
No. I've got 20 vision. Jesus, Vi, I didn't think you were so into this whole thing.
[while she talks, she works at the eyepatch, and she really hopes Violet appreciates the level of trust she's showing right now. it'll probably go over her head, but, like, will it, though? she's fucking smart. Anna needs to give her more credit. whatever. point is that her eyepatch is now off her face and resting on the counter, and the only thing covering her empty socket and sagging eyelid is her hair.]
Oh. That's because I wasn't. I never thought about it until the other day.
[ it's fun to develop hyperfixations! ]
Sure thing.
[ she drawls the phrase in a singsong, like it's a sitcom catchphrase... and if she's surprised anna's asking her to do this, she doesn't show it.
Anyway. She pinches the eye decisively in the fingertips of one hand, leans in close, pushes anna's upper eyelid up, slides the eye partway in, pushes anna's lower eyelid down, slides the eye the rest of the way in, lets go, and steps back. ]
I'm not sure why you asked me to do that. How does it feel?
[the whole process is... uncomfortable seems like a good word. there's resistance from her eyelid but not nearly as much as there should be anymore; it's almost like her body doesn't want someone's fingers that close to the socket or something. her hand balls up against the counter while Violet works, and despite herself, she ends up gnawing on her lower lip as it goes in. it's not painful, it doesn't hurt, but. christ this is not something she ever wanted to do herself, and it's not something she wanted someone else to do, but this is her life now.]
[when Violet's done, Anna's a little too shaken by the process to be her normal acerbic self about it.]
Thanks. [her hand relaxes and she turns to the mirror to see how she looks, and it's. she likes it, but she can't bring herself to say it, really. her eyelid has something to work with, so it's not sagging as badly, but it's still not doing great. really, she can't focus on much else but what just happened.]
You know the way it feels when you shove a glass eye into an empty eye socket? [it's a weak jab.] I couldn't do that myself.
I think they make suction rods for easier insertion and removal. "Easier" is probably the wrong word. I think they make suction rods for less direct insertion and removal. But I'm not sure where to get them. You might just have to leave it in forever. Are the dimensions right?
[Anna looks around with muscles that are still synchronized, as though it's going to help in the slightest. the glass eye, predictably, doesn't move, since it hasn't really been attached to anything and it's just kind of being. held in there. but it doesn't feel profoundly uncomfortable.]
Right enough? It's an eye. They're probably all the same size. I'm not an anime character or anything.
[she reaches for the eyepatch again, but she's taking her time putting it back on; it's hanging in her hand. the kintsugi-style lines catch her good eye, and she really can't deny that it looks pretty fucking sick. not as sick as having two eyes, but this is a good replacement.]
If I leave it in forever, that might not be the worst thing in the world. Unless I do decide to switch to the other ones. For style, or whatever.
Haha. You might be surprised. Transverse diameter, axial diameter, sagittal diameter. Overall orbital volume. Quirks. On the other hand. You're not wrong. There's a pretty narrow range of sizes and shapes. Regardless of other demographic characteristics. Even what we consider to be the full range of human eye colors is all varying densities of the exact same pigment. Compared to things like height, body habitus, hair texture, craniofacial structure, and elastic tissues-- Eyes don't really change. A great equalizer. Who would've thought.
If you want to take it back out and don't want to make yourself do it, give me a call. If I don't answer, call my boyfriend. He has a key to my place. If he doesn't answer, I guess call the fire department.
[ violet won't push anna to open the two remaining eggs, but for the record, the "eyes" they contain are as follows: one resembles a terrarium, with tiny, multicolored faux succulents on a bed of white sand. the other comes the closest to looking like the classic type of eyeball, but the blue iris is the wings of a tiny butterfly, and the pupil is its minuscule black body; the "sclera" is an opaque backing of the palest gray. the butterfly died of natural causes, though you can't exactly tell by looking. ]
[and Anna blinks again, and it's not a fluid motion but it is with both her eyes, at least.]
Yeah. Hey, Vi? Thank you. Like, for real. [she's not about to grow emotions now, in a public bathroom a few days after a brain stole her eye, but she can be grateful, at least.] You ever need anything that you think I'd be good for, I owe you one.
[she knows that she has no idea what she's promising. but she might as well promise it anyway.]
[this is awkward. but she's had worse conversations with worse people, and honestly, she's pretty chill with Vi right now.]
You ever wanna come over just to hang out or whatever, let me know. You can probably come up with some pretty interesting shit to do since I can't get wasted anymore.
no subject
anyway violet does not respond to the text. but several minutes later, she arrives! her hair is in a few truly massive rope braids that coil around her neck and trail down both her front and back; all have cleanly lopped-off edges, but none are the same length.
she's also carrying a plastic easter basket, complete with plastic easter grass and plastic easter eggs. ]
no subject
[that's definitely Violet.]
Nice hair. [she really can't comment. her own hair, short though it is, is filthy because she's been too depressed to shower since she got back from Bosuma, and also because of who she is as a person.]
It's chalky heart season, not jelly bean season.
no subject
I have extra.
Want some? [ she's gotten REALLY good at growing it lately. vitamins and clean living, you know. ]
Ha.
So, I made you this one [ she vaguely indicates the central egg, which is "jumbo" size ] and while I was it I also made these ones [ she makes no indication, but this clearly refers to the three "medium" eggs arranged around the edges ].
Happy Easter.
[ she holds out the basket! of course, she lets go of it a fraction of a second sooner than most people would (and than she really should, if she wants to make sure anna doesn't drop it). ]
no subject
[except no, she fucking doesn't, because she only has one eye and it's exactly like Rose said. she's wrong about how far that thing is, every single time. all she can do is watch the basket land and hopefully none of these things pop open or shatter or. whatever happens to artificial eyes stored inside plastic eggs when they hit hard faux-marble and the only padding is a basket and some grass.]
Son of a bitch.
no subject
Well.
[ what IS fortunate is that the eggs don't pop open (and they're stuffed with cotton padding inside, anyway)! but the basket tips over and a couple of them do go rolling a little ways across the floor.
Three takes a step back and does not make any motion toward helping retrieve them. ]
no subject
Okay, so do you want to come upstairs and help me try these on, or what. We could do it in the bathrooms down here, too, I guess.
i forgot her name was violet, rper of the year
Ah.
I hadn't considered that.
Sure, let's do it.
[ she didn't say which one!!!
sorry anna ]
i did think it was on purpose
We'll do it down here. Light's better. Might as well get used to people gawking at me anyway.
[the bathrooms are pretty spacious down here, but once they get inside, she's only really concerned with standing in front of one of the sinks so they can use the mirror. her voice echoes slightly against the linoleum.]
Okay. [and she takes one of the medium-sized eggs out and opens it up.] Let's see what you've got for me.
it's because i was re-immersed in dod3 vids trying to figure out what the FUCK that huge spear thing
like where did she get that????? what is it???? ))
[ anyway the "eye" Anna has selected is perfectly smooth to the touch and has the same gently curved shape as the classic type of ocular prosthesis, but...
it's just solid glitter inside. mostly pink, some silver, and a little bit of iridescent peach. ]
Oh, good choice.
It's medical-grade resin.
Apparently they usually take molds and measurements for this sort of thing.
I just took my best guess.
[ but her best guesses are usually pretty good. ]
I'll make adjustments.
If it doesn't fit.
it's her third daemon, biggsord. didnt you watch the canon telenovela.
You do understand why I'd want one of these, right? [her reflection looks normal enough like this, she thinks. she could just be recovering from an injury or something. no reason she needs to be missing an eye under that white cloth eyepatch of hers.]
I don't want people to look at it. I want it to look like nothing's wrong if I ever go out without my eyepatch. Or at least I don't want people to be able to tell from fifty feet away.
no im still rereading the canon chick tracts
Ah.
I messed up.
Well. You don't have to wear them.
wow! even worse! congratulations!
Maybe I still will, just to have something in there. It can't be good for me to just leave it empty.
[she's taking guesses. she's done startlingly little research about this so far, just because she doesn't... if she does, it'll become even realer than it already is. it's only been a couple days since she lost it but she still feels like. maybe she can pretend it's not happening to her.]
[either way, she opens the big egg.]
no subject
I thought of it like jewelry.
A type of art that only you can wear.
A new opportunity.
Still, if they fit--
I already have the mold.
It's easy to make more.
[ the one in the big egg......!!
it's the same smooth shape as the other one, of course. (they're all identical in that respect.) it's a sculpture of sea glass and fractured obsidian; spidery kintsugi-like veins of gold and silver run through it so that it seems it would all hold together even if it weren't encased in resin. the light that shines through it scatters haphazardly, casting sparks all over the walls and ceiling. ]
no subject
This, I like.
[and she's not just blowing smoke up Vi's ass to make her feel better. this one will attract attention just the same, but it's... it looks different. more interesting, more deliberate than just a ball of glitter shoved in her face. if art is what Violet was going for, it's definitely nailed that idea.]
Now I just need to get used to putting it in.
no subject
The pink one, I thought maybe for clubbing.
Of course, I'd like to make one that lights up. But powering it is tricky. It's hard to get access to certain kinds of materials.
I also thought about attaching a chain or cord. Something that might link to an earring or micro-USB port. The problem is finding someplace to put it that won't get cause friction inside the socket or prevent the eyelids from closing. I'm still thinking about it but haven't yet found a solution that won't involve at least a minor surgical procedure. And of course if we went that far it would feel like a waste not to try to restore some of the actual functionality of an eye, wouldn't it? With an artificial retina and optical nerve link, or maybe some other kind of sensor... there's no law that says visual feedback is the only kind you can receive just because the receptors are installed where there used to be an eye... but that's pretty far outside my area of expertise for now. So they're all just roundish. And decorative. Have you ever worn contacts?
no subject
No. I've got 20 vision. Jesus, Vi, I didn't think you were so into this whole thing.
[while she talks, she works at the eyepatch, and she really hopes Violet appreciates the level of trust she's showing right now. it'll probably go over her head, but, like, will it, though? she's fucking smart. Anna needs to give her more credit. whatever. point is that her eyepatch is now off her face and resting on the counter, and the only thing covering her empty socket and sagging eyelid is her hair.]
You want to do the honors?
no subject
I never thought about it until the other day.
[ it's fun to develop hyperfixations! ]
Sure thing.
[ she drawls the phrase in a singsong, like it's a sitcom catchphrase... and if she's surprised anna's asking her to do this, she doesn't show it.
Anyway. She pinches the eye decisively in the fingertips of one hand, leans in close, pushes anna's upper eyelid up, slides the eye partway in, pushes anna's lower eyelid down, slides the eye the rest of the way in, lets go, and steps back. ]
I'm not sure why you asked me to do that.
How does it feel?
no subject
[when Violet's done, Anna's a little too shaken by the process to be her normal acerbic self about it.]
Thanks. [her hand relaxes and she turns to the mirror to see how she looks, and it's. she likes it, but she can't bring herself to say it, really. her eyelid has something to work with, so it's not sagging as badly, but it's still not doing great. really, she can't focus on much else but what just happened.]
You know the way it feels when you shove a glass eye into an empty eye socket? [it's a weak jab.] I couldn't do that myself.
no subject
Mmmmmm.
I think they make suction rods for easier insertion and removal.
"Easier" is probably the wrong word.
I think they make suction rods for less direct insertion and removal.
But I'm not sure where to get them.
You might just have to leave it in forever.
Are the dimensions right?
no subject
Right enough? It's an eye. They're probably all the same size. I'm not an anime character or anything.
[she reaches for the eyepatch again, but she's taking her time putting it back on; it's hanging in her hand. the kintsugi-style lines catch her good eye, and she really can't deny that it looks pretty fucking sick. not as sick as having two eyes, but this is a good replacement.]
If I leave it in forever, that might not be the worst thing in the world. Unless I do decide to switch to the other ones. For style, or whatever.
no subject
You might be surprised.
Transverse diameter, axial diameter, sagittal diameter. Overall orbital volume. Quirks.
On the other hand. You're not wrong.
There's a pretty narrow range of sizes and shapes. Regardless of other demographic characteristics.
Even what we consider to be the full range of human eye colors is all varying densities of the exact same pigment.
Compared to things like height, body habitus, hair texture, craniofacial structure, and elastic tissues--
Eyes don't really change. A great equalizer.
Who would've thought.
If you want to take it back out and don't want to make yourself do it, give me a call.
If I don't answer, call my boyfriend. He has a key to my place.
If he doesn't answer, I guess call the fire department.
[ violet won't push anna to open the two remaining eggs, but for the record, the "eyes" they contain are as follows: one resembles a terrarium, with tiny, multicolored faux succulents on a bed of white sand. the other comes the closest to looking like the classic type of eyeball, but the blue iris is the wings of a tiny butterfly, and the pupil is its minuscule black body; the "sclera" is an opaque backing of the palest gray. the butterfly died of natural causes, though you can't exactly tell by looking. ]
no subject
Yeah. Hey, Vi? Thank you. Like, for real. [she's not about to grow emotions now, in a public bathroom a few days after a brain stole her eye, but she can be grateful, at least.] You ever need anything that you think I'd be good for, I owe you one.
[she knows that she has no idea what she's promising. but she might as well promise it anyway.]
no subject
I'll keep it in mind.
[ she'll have forgotten by the time she gets home. ]
Sorry you needed it. But they were fun to make. Thanks for letting me.
no subject
[this is awkward. but she's had worse conversations with worse people, and honestly, she's pretty chill with Vi right now.]
You ever wanna come over just to hang out or whatever, let me know. You can probably come up with some pretty interesting shit to do since I can't get wasted anymore.