Talking to Myself

I think it's time I go my separate ways!

[asoloconversation-blog]

notagemsona:

“Ah…” 

Karat knows exactly what his best friend meant now, and his smile falters. No wonder Flourish had dyed his hair black– He’d been mourning, hadn’t he? He feels a little insensitive bringing it up, and quickly presses on to the new subject.

Two of Flourish’s brothers were gone for a while? That’s intriguing. Last he heard, Shadow was who-knows-where and Magnet seemed content where he was. Being stuck closer to Snake of all people, though… Ew. That can’t have been fun. Karat wrinkles his nose in disgust. “You poor thing. Is that brother of yours bothering you again? I’ll set him straight for you whenever you need me to! Oh… Why’d they run off, though…? Do you have any idea what happened? After being away for so long, it must have been big for Shadow to skedaddle with a brother in tow…”

Karat is a little reluctant to let Flourish’s hand go, but allows him to wipe at his face with a chuckle. Goodness, he’s adorable. What’s with that blush, though…? The DLN tilts his head, tapping his cheek with a finger curiously, not minding the slight pink coating them. 

“And yet, the sweetest of all is right in front of me.” He reaches for Flourish’s hand again with a wink, taking a step. “Well, shall we? I don’t think you’ve met Melody yet, have you? I’d love to introduce you, definitely! We should look for her when we get there.~”

Though Karat has his own thoughts about a long walk on the beach, and none of them have to do with his older sister…

 “Oh, no, no thank you. That won’t be necessary... at least not right now,” Flourish’s lack of a good relationship with the eldest of his line is no secret, but he doesn’t particularly want to trouble Karat to interfere on his behalf! After all, the poor dear’s had so much on his mind lately! There’s no need to add to it, especially over something as petty as Flourish’s fear of snakes (and Snake Man).

 “I’m not certain, actually, though I think it had something to do with Tone? He got into an argument with the fork-tongued wonder himself, though I don’t know how that was any worse than usual or why he would have left over it. As for Blake, he was grounded for a time, so someone must have allowed him to leave? It’s all very mysterious, frankly.” His image splinters into two again, and the dual Flourishes shrug and exchange puzzled looks before he returns to his usual, single iteration of himself.

Shrugging off his own concern about the mystery, he takes Karat’s hand when it’s offered and bites down a light laugh. “Well, if she’s there, I’d be glad to meet her. If not, however... we could always look for seashells, or any particular sparkly that might have washed ashore.~”

[notagemsona-blog]

“Black?” Karat replies, going quiet long enough to assess his best friend’s hair and trying to visualize it darker than the platinum blond he’s used to. It’s difficult, but at the same time Karat can’t help but feel a little sad he missed it– The thought of Flourish sporting dark hair was a nice one. “I imagine so– It was a nightmare trying to bleach my own hair light enough to go pink. I would’ve helped you out if I knew!”

It’s a little hard to imagine the DWN being anything but lonely in such a populated fortress, but Karat imagines that he means there was a lack of linemates to spend time with. Poor thing… He knows how that feels. After being given the okay to return to work, all of his line has been so busy catching up, they’ve gone months at a time without seeing each other! Karat plans to change that soon, though. After spending some long overdue time with Flourish. The holograms get a giggle out of the DLN and he takes the offered hand, squeezing it.

“I’m sorry. Thankfully, I finished training the new Robot Master– Diamond Woman; She’s a sweet little thing…” He neglects to mention how uncomfortable the new industry model makes him, though it might be evident in his expression. Not only was Diamond meant to replace him after his decommissioning, but she also made Karat feel like something was very off with himself… He can’t quite place what it is yet, though hopefully the time away would either help him figure it out or make the sense of wrongness go away. “Now that she’s more comfortable, they wanted her to spend a few days on her own. So until I’m called in, I’m all yours!~”

The question is met with a shrug. “Honestly darling, I’m not sure. Why not just wander until something strikes our fancy?”

[asoloconversation-blog]

 “Oh, well, it was during a point that you were... otherwise occupied,” Flourish says, shrugging his own explanation off. It’s not like he wants to tell Karat that the black dye was in mourning for him, after all. That would just ruin this wonderful get-together before it can even begin, and nobody wants that!  “But if I ever get it in my mind to try again, I’ll be sure and come to you first, alright?”

He smiles warmly at the DLN, then shivers.  “With Tone and Blake - Magnet and Shadow - gone for a while, there were less people standing between me and all those snakes.” Really, he loves his brothers, Snake Man included, but why, why, why does he have to be so much like the animal he’s named for? It’s just - just creepy!

 “Diamond Woman, hm? I’m sure she’s not half as sweet as you, dear,” he says, then has to pull his hand away and wipe it (carefully! he doesn’t want to ruin the concealer hiding his face seams) over his face to try and scrub away the blush that’s risen on it. 

 “So, wandering together it is! Perhaps a walk down by the beach after, if you’d like to look for your sister?”

[asoloconversation-blog]

   “There’s an obvious answer to that, Karrie: we need to go shopping~!”

[notagemsona-blog]

“Oh, Flourish!~ I was hoping I’d run into you sooner or later! How’ve you been, darling? But yes– Yes, my wardrobe could use an update…~ It’s been so busy at work, I’ve scarely had time to think.”

[asoloconversation-blog]

 “Oh, well enough, well enough. Black is terribly hard to remove from your hair, Karrie, never ever dye with it unless you want to fight with it for months.” Flourish keeps his tone light and his words nonsensical - while fashion is always important, it’s hardly what’s foremost on his mind right now. But he doesn’t want Karat to worry. Not when there’s much better things for both of them to do with their time!

 “It did get a bit lonely at the fortress for a while, I suppose. But you know I always,” and with a dramatic pause, his image splinters into two, then three, the copies of which drape over the original and beam at Karat,  “-have - “ “- company!” With a shared laugh, the copies fade out again and Gemini Man reaches for his friend’s hand, a more genuine smile lighting up his features. 

 “Not that my own company is half so pleasant as yours, dear. So, where shall we go first? Are you more interested in basics or accessories today?”

[notagemsona-blog]

“It’s been so long since I’ve had a proper day off, I’m not quite sure what to do with myself.”

[asoloconversation-blog]

   “There’s an obvious answer to that, Karrie: we need to go shopping~!”