Pursuing Perfection

Mindy pulls her hand back, "Sorry, I'm... I'm just used to doing that. Here, uh, you can take it if you still need it." She looks away with embarrassment. It's easy for her to slip back into tending to people, to her Stand's annoyance. Though at the moment she was too preoccupied with her new pet bug to judge her user.

Giant Steps lets Lovers sit on the gem, which glows softly in approval. "Good work, Lovers. You are the first to remove one of my seeds." She doesn't give compliments, this was more than anyone can expect from her.

The doctor clears her throat, "Well, you did it. I didn't think it was possible. Yes, I think we've spend enough time here. The heat is draining... I don't suppose you have a car...? If not, then I'll call a cab. I'm too tired to walk that far."

Steely’s breathing came in short, nervous panting. Even she can’t say what will happen…? He tries to shake it off, keeping his eyes closed and his spirit focused. Lovers can do this. If it can just make it out of his brain with the seed intact, he’ll win.

The small bit of encouragement, as backhanded as it may have been, from Giant Steps makes Lovers more determined. It isn’t just about saving its User; it’s also about earning the respect of the pretty Stand! And if there was anything the lover boy and his Stand had in common, it was their desire to impress pretty people.

It’s a bit of a shaky trip to his ear canal, the Lovers awkwardly carrying the seed while trying not to puncture or damage it. There’s a breathless moment where he nearly drops it that has Steely white knuckle the table, until finally…

A tiny Stand and a tiny seed exit his ear. The Stand throws the seed, letting it harmlessly break against the nearby wall. Steely Dan lets out a relieved sigh, his Lovers going back in to get rid of the other two seeds, more confident now in its ability to dispose of them.

Giant Steps is more than impressed. She's confused. She's never felt like this before. The Stand has never wanted someone to succeed other than for personal gain.

Mindy wipes sweat from Steely's brow with her handkerchief before Lovers gets to the next seed. Steely did this to himself, and it was Mindy's fault for putting the seeds there in the first place, but she can't stand seeing people suffer. It was different when it was Giant Steps causing the suffering, Mindy made excuses to justify it.

"Nothing bad would happen if you left them be, you know..."

wheels-of-fates-and-fortune-dea

"Nope! They were delivered safe and sound, i’m back here again because I gotta buy that same friend a new watch. His old one…broke"

ZZ grinned a little, this woman didn’t need to know about the real reason as to why he was buying Steely Dan a new watch, she was just some random ass woman he bumped into once before

"You buying something here too?"

#wheels-of-fates-and-fortune

How pathetic.

"...Broke. It sounds like that man is breaking your bank account for gifts. But I'm sure he loves your personality."

Mindy looks at products for sale behind ZZ, "I might. Just browsing for now."

Steely looks toward Giant Steps with as calm an expression as he can muster while he plays with a ticking time bomb in his brain. “…You’re bluffing,” he says quietly, “I know my own brain better than anybody. Where you have it positioned… organ failure no, paralysis maybe. All I have to do is get it out without breaking it, don’t I?”

He pauses, taking a deep breath and holding still. A bead of sweat rolls down his forehead as his Stand carefully picks up the seed. It was light despite its size, being almost bigger than Lovers itself. He now needed to figure out the best route out of his brain.

"It’s in the area postrema, right?" he says, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. "It’s close enough to the brain stem that if Lovers can just get it out of there, it can carry it up to my ear canal."

The lover boy folds his hands on the table carefully. To anyone else it would seem he might just be having a stomach ache from the nervous look on his face, or perhaps his date isn’t going so well. In fact, he was actually focusing on Lovers, the Stand carefully making its way toward its destination with the seed in hand.

Giant Steps stands up and leans close to Steely, watching him sweat. "You're smarter than you look, but still stupid enough to try something this reckless. If you break it, even I cannot say what will happen."

Mindy has never seen someone try to remove a seed. If Steely can do this without breaking it, then he was the right man for the job. She sits back and lets him work. Giant Steps on the other hand, is so close to his face that Steely can feel the cold.

Giant Steps straightens once more, folding her arms. It took a lot of gall to try removing her seeds, and while that was stupid, if Steely succeeds then he has earned respect from the heartless mantis woman. "Yes. Carry it carefully in your little claws, Lovers." Her voice was softer than before, more endearing. She genuinely wanted Lovers to succeed, to have a Stand worthy of her respect.

Lovers flops onto the gem unceremoniously. It watches Giant Steps produce the seed, settling down on its new perch with a small, happy chitter.

Steely Dan looks the seed over with some curiosity. “Those are what you put in me, huh…?” With the mention of their instability, he suddenly looks much more concerned. “Wait. You’re saying these things are unstable, that you don’t know what exactly will happen if they malfunction… and yet you put some in me?!”

His Stand is called back, Lovers zipping off of Giant Steps’ forehead to enter its user’s mind. It knew the curves of his brain better than any other territory, quickly seeking out the foreign invaders into its territory. “E… Eugh…” Steely hated seeing the inside of his mind through his Stand’s eyes. “A small gardener you can have, but not like this.”

Said gardener was already examining one seed, then began digging under it. The seed had rooted itself to Steely’s brain, and Lovers makes quick work of snipping through those roots with its tiny claws.

Mindy is used to this form of gambling, she doesn't see why he's concerned. "They can be a little stronger or weaker than expected, at least most of the time that's what I see. Rarely do these completely miss."

Once the roots are cut, the seed tips to the side and rolls down a curve of wrinkled grey matter. It doesn't get very far, stopping in a nearby depression in the flesh.

Giant Steps is surprisingly calm, usually she would be all over Steely for touching her pride and joy. "If you uproot them, they'll take your flesh with them. How will you get rid of them? They are too big to kick out without cutting large holes and bleeding profusely. Breaking them will release their contents prematurely, leading to worse results or catastrophic ones depending on where they are released. They'll just give you nausea and a head ache, will worry make you turn that into organ failure or paralysis?"

Mindy stares at her Stand. While that's true, she has never heard Giant Steps say that much at once to someone. Amazing.

#diagnosis #wheels-of-fates-and-fortune

"Oh shit hey, it's you again! That chick that helped me with my bags that one time! Didn't think i'd run into you again!"

"And you're that guy who can't balance bags. Were they safely delivered or dropped on the pavement?"

Lovers allows itself to be grabbed. Steely is not pleased by this. “I·ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ᴀ ғʟᴇᴀ.” It worms its way out of her grip, instead choosing to sit on her fingers. “I sᴀʏ ɪᴛ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ɪᴛ·s ᴛʀᴜᴇ. Yᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴀ ᴘʀᴇᴛᴛʏ Sᴛᴀɴᴅ.” Lovers looks up at her, and if it had eyebrows, they would be waggling.

Steely grabs his drink, turning his gaze back to Mindy. “Is she, now? I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by anything a Stand is capable of doing. My old employer was in possession of an incredibly powerful Stand, though I never actually found out what it did - just that it trumped all other Stands.” Until Kujo, that is. “What do you want from me, then? Now that I’ve agreed to help you, I want to know what it is I’m helping with.”

Giant Steps chooses to ignore the compliment, because there is no meaning to the statement. Instead, she lifts her hand and tips Lovers onto the gem embedded in her headpiece. The Stand is too small to have a conversation with face to face, it can rest there.

She stands and holds out a freshly made seed in the palm of her hand for Mindy to take. The pink lady holds it between her thumb and index finger for Steely to see, "This. I use these seeds to manipulate people, and they can only open properly inside someone. The issue is not everyone has the right environment for these to react properly, leading to unexpected results. They do something like what I intend, and are guaranteed to work if they have my Stand there to support them, but sometimes they go astray. I need to know why. Lovers is small enough to watch them, relay what happens, and provide support."

Mindy places the seed on the table. "They can work in this physical form, but expire quickly." The example seed looks dry and shrivelled, starting to crack.

"In summary, I need a small gardener."

"I·ᴠᴇ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴍᴇᴛ ᴀɴᴏᴛʜᴇʀ Sᴛᴀɴᴅ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴍᴇ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ﹐ ᴇɪᴛʜᴇʀ." Lovers hovers in front of her, looking Giant Steps over with those big bug-eyes. "Yᴏᴜ·ʀᴇ ᴘʀᴇᴛᴛʏ."

Steely stares at the two Stands with some amount of confusion. He knew that Lovers had a tendency to act out and may even have had some personality beyond what he instilled in it - that was clear when the Stand had chosen to throw a fucking rave in Joseph Joestar’s brain. But he supposed he’d never really looked at it beyond that incident. “Can Stands like each other…? I didn’t think it was possible for them to possess that level of sentience.”

Giant Steps stares at the little thing, carefully grabbing it with two fingers and looking it over. "You're a strange flea." She wondered why a Stand would be attracted to another. Lovers, as the name suggests, is as big of a lover boy as its user. "Why would you say such a thing?" Pretty? They are not flesh and blood with a desire to procreate, it's physically impossible to mate. Giant Steps does not understand.

Mindy props her elbow on the table to support her head. "Stands are a mystery. They're all unique and so varied. If you had Giant Steps for a day you wouldn't be surprised that Stands can have connections. She's as functional as any other human being." Well, not socially.

((Just got back from a con, what's up.))

#needs therapy

lanafierce

Glad that Mindy agreed, Lana pulled her camera out of her purse and held it up to her eye. “Mm, yes, I’m a photographer. My name is Lana… Lana Fierce. Maybe you’ve heard of me?”

She wasn’t shy about her moderate fame, but not all that stuck up about it, either. It was simply… a ‘thing’ for her.

"My most famous work is… well, it’s called Mouth of Hell. It’s a photo series I did several years ago. If you’ve heard of any of my things, it’s probably that.”

The name sounded vaguely familiar, maybe Mindy had read it in articles at some point. She didn't keep up with the photography world. "I'm Mindy Durling. I've read your name once or twice before. But, I'm a hypnotherapist. I don't get to read many interesting magazines these days."

Mindy smiles for the photographer, waiting patiently until she's done.

She can see why that would become a recognized series. But the memories and stories Lana must have of those people...

"Yes, I've heard of it. The series of destitute men and women from the street. I always thought that would be a terrible burden, being recognized from slices of misery. I would be reminded of it constantly... how I came across those people, their stories, where they might be now..." Mindy trails off, staring into space.

#lanafierce

lanafierce

Why thank you! I simply adore your hair - I saw it from afar and was just… drawn to it. May I take your picture?

#are you famous #will you make me famous #lanafierce

"Take my picture...? Sure!"

She fluffs her hair nervously. "Nobody has asked me that before. So you're a photographer, then?"

//just a little plug for my jojo OC that i decided to go back to after ignoring for a while. i’m pretty shy about her but i’m trying to make an effort to be more active on her!//

#promo

just-your-fool

"If it’s not too much, I would be extremely grateful. I’m looking for the main street but all the streets look the same….then again everything is brighter here as well." The vampire would never get use to neon that and everything was ten times more irritating on an empty stomach.

She needed help before snacking though so any thoughts of food were pushed away, finding the hotel and shelter was first. One thing was for sure she would be counting her blessing, for now .

"Follow me, then. We'll get there shortly if we head this way."

Mindy leads the way, heading through an alleyway. She stops once they're away from any prying eyes, turning around and pushing the vampiress against the wall with her Stand.

Giant Steps presses her forearm against Cyndi's throat, while Mindy screams. "What are you, and why are you concealing yourself!?"

#just-your-fool

lanafierce started following you

Ooh, you're cute. I love the look, ruffles especially. How can I help you, miss?

#lanafierce #welcome

just-your-fool

Cyndi blinked looking down at her hands wondering if she was still jittery from the lack of feeding. It did cause her body some strain as well as a drop in physical color.

"I’m fine a little dizzy but i’m just not use to such a cold night after spending so long in a warmer climate….has me turned around honestly ." She spoke with a small laugh.