memoryspine

[memoryspine]

THE CRYSTALLINE INK DRIPS INTO MIDNIGHT STARS...

no, yeona hadn't been crying. couldn't remember the last time she had, if only for the alarming way the silver replication of her blood would drip down her cheeks, smear away in a shimmer that only made her think something was wrong, broken. no, even when she was scratched, she barely felt something, like the hand at the edge of a fog and stepping in, the uncertainty of not being able to see even ten feet ahead, something to come in and grab at your ankles, pull you under.

everything had always felt distant. sound, touch, color, the world. maybe it was because she was built to live in it, something placed instead of learned.

she hears the bell at the door. of her spellbooks, the one who alarmed her of anyone stepping onto the threshold of her landing was one that didn't go off very often, but it still had her pulling the gloves over her hands, coaxing down her sleeves. every part of her was covered other than the porcelain curve of her throat only partially obscured by a velvet ribbon, the veil placed over her eyes. the bandage that she'd just wrapped spans the length of her arm, budged up underneath her clothing as she steps forward to place a hand against the door.

had she felt this presence before? sometimes, she could feel it, if something was familiar. it was like the glow of a candle once lit, a warmth similar to memory when you got close enough.

she lingers in the doorway, takes in the figure standing on her doorstep. "good evening. can i help you?"

the gem at her throat shimmers, safe.

@sllvertongue

[memoryspine]

--- OF MEMORY,

hi hello i am also reintroducing yeona, now your resident living doll who resides on the very outskirts of town. she works mainly as an alchemist when it comes to practicing her magic, and is usually the last chance sort of nurse for humans and something pretty normal for supernaturals. she mostly specializes in healing, mending, fixing and replacing, whether it comes to your objects or you!

she was created and forgotten--- or so it seems. dug up from underneath the rubble of a mansion and given new life by the one that saved her, the sorceress that granted her the revitalization she needed taught her all that she knows

alchemy came mostly from books she read and discovered in the library of what she barely understood as home, as it seemed that whatever life there had came and gone. in some barely discernible letters, she has the barest ideas that her creator went seeking something in astra, and was too afraid to try and sneak her along the journey. it seems something happened to the house while she was in it, though her memory has been scrambled since the occurrence

the sorceress, too, was driven by the desire for what astra offered, and afflicted with something even incurable by her own magic and yeona's learned alchemy, ends up leaving her behind to seek it out

yeona stays. out of the place she lives she offers her services, which consists of reading the notes of her creator and her savior and piecing together the rest on her own, mending bones and granting what wishes she could with what she can create

she has noticeable hinges at her shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees, hips, and ankles, and a majority of her structure is made from some sort of soft, smooth, material, her spine crafted metal that moves along with her. her blood color is an unnatural silver, and there's always something about her eyes that reflect different in the light, like facets of stone. she's gotten more natural with her movements over the years, but to those who are human, of flesh and blood, there is something that is little.. off

she tries to hide it. there are so many mixed opinions about the state of her being and how she was created among humans and supernaturals alike, and so she does not often show it or mention it. while her healing methods are universally quite successful, the oddness of her presence is enough to keep a good amount of people away, and she tends to keep to herself to lean into it (even though she is so curious about the world and humans and how they work..)

[memoryspine]

14!

you are struck blind, robbed of your sight in broad daylight. using your other senses, you think you can navigate to safety. what path do you take? where do you arrive?

there's a path yeona knows even with her eyes closed. she knows it so well if not for one, having traveled it so often that she had burned it to memory, but for two, that she lays awake and traces that path in her mind, over and over, if only she could return there once more like she aches to, even if she doesn't know if she would belong there anymore.

she would go home.

she knows her mother would scold her for thinking that she wouldn't be received with open, welcoming arms and a hot bowl of soup for the journey, but there's still that small part of her that feels like a failure, that feels like she went out into the world to make something of herself and show something honorable for her siblings to look up to only to end up like this, stuck in the bottom rungs of a city she can barely keep running with her own two hands.

lacks the education and the experience, and finds herself running a ground of a path back and forth from her apartment to gugus, keeps hoping that the money will be enough, that this will be enough, for her, to live like this.

she thinks about when she was younger, and dreaming about astra, that blinking star in the sky that promised her so many more things than this city. her mother combing her fingers through her hair and letting her rest her cheek on her thigh, thinks about the irony of dreaming about somewhere else when now she only dreams about home. of being right there again, safe and warm and loved, the sounds of the kitchen and the tv on down the hall, the sound of her sister's voice, and her laugh, and her father talking to the dogs as he feeds them the scraps from the restaurant.

she already knows what she wants, so why is it so hard to accept? to admit to herself? that all she wants to do is go home.

so she does. robbed of sight, memory is what aids her, the imprints of these places in her senses, the smell, the feel of the walls, the temperature of the streets, bustling with people. hot machines and oil, the rumble of the city through the earth, her fingers trail over every brick, step over the cracks in the pavement, it's like her feet settle right back into the path. these are the things she remembers, and it's what guides her back, those familiar steps she'd taken a million times when she was younger and aches that she hasn't in so long. been too scared to, for so long.

when she gets home, she can't see it, but she can smell it. she can feel it, knocking against the door like she did whenever she forgot her keys and had to beg someone to let her inside, giggling on the other side of the wood and peering at her through the keyhole. sighing and putting on a show, but there's no show, this time, it's just yeona blinking against darkness and then her mom's arms envelop her, and she's home.

she's home.

[memoryspine]

10

you strike a deal with your memories as a price. however, this devil is merciful: they allow you to keep just one. which memory do you save?

yeona thinks the thing she aches the most for is before.

everything, she thinks, is when she started to believe that the things in her life were attached to other people, that these things she enjoyed were in fact just threads that led her to someone else, and maybe those threads so easily severed were because she couldn't believe she could have anything to herself, at all, that she was the mist that could conform to anything, and so this has to be because of the other person, right? she can't remember the last thing that was her own.

it's because her heart is so big and she loves so much, isn't it, so of course she loves this thing that she does, but if she boils it down, removes all of these connections that soothe her, does she really like it? is it just because it's hers?

well yes, doesn't she, it makes her happy, doesn't it? what used to make her happy, before it had anything to do with anyone else but herself? she thinks of the days it was raining, and she would drag them all out with eager hands to dance in it, thinks the skies and astra were doing them a favor, and if she lets the rain against her cheeks, it would mean that later on, she would really make it there.

have a cute little apartment with her sister, decorate the shelves with all of their favorite things. she could dance there, and play the radio, and have it all to herself, this thing that's warm and safe, isn't that all that she's ever wanted?

but she'd forget everything else, right? would she forget her, forget all of those times that they smiled and laughed, it's her fingers on her face, it's the soft, careful kisses she presses against every inch when they lay in bed at night, and her heart aches, it fucking aches, because she used to think what's the use in that, in kissing all over her face? but it made her happy, didn't it? isn't that what matters, that it made her happy?

but now its stained, and she hates that she thinks about it every single time, feels wrong, like she's done something she shouldn't whenever she sees kisses or the touch of another and thinks, remembers, and she isn't normal, is she, this isn't right, she's never been right, only what everyone else tells her to be. it's easier that way, isn't it?

but if she chooses this one memory--- she loses everything else. she misses those warm afternoons and the brush of her dress around her ankles with the sweet wind, the sun on her cheeks that feels like a kiss, too, when she orders coffee and it's made just right, curling up with a blanket and hearing her mom's voice down the line, we miss you, baby, and yeona blinking through the tears in her throat, it's better like this, i miss you too, mom.

if she forgot it all, who would she be? if she could restart it all for a moment, would those rainy afternoons with her siblings, coming in drenched and stealing warm cookies off the countertops and hoping mom didn't notice the gooey chocolate on their fingers and cheeks, if she went all of the way back to that, if that's all she could remember--- who would yeona become then?

would it happen all again? would she do it all over? she thinks she doesn't want to, doesn't want to, hopes that in another try of it maybe she could figure out what she loves all on her own, if all the rest of it was gone. maybe that's the merciful part.

it feels like shards in her chest, she loves these things, she is a mix of all of the things she's ever known and loved in her life. can she fault herself for that? it's human, isn't it, to find things through other humans? how much did she leave, she wonders, how many things does she see and think of her? is it anything? is yeona the only one stuck in it all, stuck in the memories, tucked away here like a flower in a book, drying out and drowning in all of that remembering.

what deal had she struck, anyways? what has she always wanted to know? would i have always been like this, no matter how it happened? she keeps doing the things she does because she loves them, but why can't she sever the memory? when does it fucking become hers?

she heals wounds and doesn't think about it, hands working as easy as those memories, sees the reflection of her spine in the mirror when she turns sometimes, remembers when she couldn't even look at it, because all she could remember is hands and fingertips and how it felt, laughing in that neon midnight, fluorescents and the moments that yeona thought she was going to carry with her proudly the rest of her life.

no, now she's haunted by them, stuck in her closet and following her around like a shadow wherever she goes. when will they be hers? when will she make her own? when will time wash it all away? will it ever take it all away?

she thinks of a time distant from now, so far from it all, not even thinking about it anymore. to be released from memory. relief.

she chooses the rain. maybe it'll wash it all away, and yeona will start all over where she knew she was loved and safe, where there was a warm home to return to, and she could stay outside as long as she wanted, watching the sun part through the clouds, telling her that each day was another new one to look forward to. more rain, more memories. didn't she always used to dream about that? more memories?

she misses craving them, instead of dreading making more, if only they'll haunt her later.

yeona will go back to the rain. it's merciful, that quiet, hazy afternoon, where laughter was easy, and she was hungry for more, and time seemed to tick by so slowly, maple syrup and viscous honey. hopeful for more. she thinks that only that memory will give her that, and it's more than she could ever ask for. that's what she wants to remember.

[memoryspine]

[EVENT 002] PROMPT MASTERLIST

this is the official masterlist of prompts for PART II of [EVENT 002] SHADOWS OVER ANSAN. before participating, please read the update post HERE. reblog this post for each muse you would like to participate with!

RULES.

please make sure you read the event update linked above!

everyone who participates must send at least one prompt to other participants. you can send multiple / anonymous prompts, but make sure at least one is off-anon, so that the main can keep track of participation.

question prompts must be answered in-character. you can decide on the format of the answer (either your muse's response as dialogue or written prose of their reaction, etc).

with that said, any prompt can be turned into an interaction, so feel free to communicate and start threads based on one!

participation (sending at least one prompt to every participating muse & answering at least one prompt) will count for activity.

please tag all answers / threads with #rmnt:event002.

QUESTION PROMPTS.

Describe yourself in your own words.

Describe your flaws.

Are your flaws redeemable?

Are you a good person?

What do you think it takes for someone to kill? To murder?

How far would you go to protect the ones you love?

How far would you go to protect yourself?

You dream of a face, a voice, a presence. Though the memory may be distant, and though you may not have known it then, you think that this must be how it feels to be safe. Who do you see? Whose voice do you hear?

You are found guilty of a crime and sentenced for a century in exile, in a place of your own that has been designed to evoke the most punishing sense of isolation. What does your prison look like?

You strike a deal with your memories as a price. However, this devil is merciful: they allow you to keep just one. Which memory do you save?

You strike a deal with your memories as a price. However, this devil is merciful: they only require one memory. Which memory do you give up?

You awaken with an inexplicable dread weighing in your stomach. You worry that something is wrong; you need to hear their voice to be sure. Who are you thinking of?

Your home falls. Where else do you seek shelter?

You are struck blind, robbed of your sight in broad daylight. Using your other senses, you think you can navigate to safety. What path do you take? Where do you arrive?

Choose a beginning: to have grown up alone but capable, or to have grown up loved but naïve?

Choose a fate: to be woven into eternal history but despised by all, or to be loved but ultimately forgotten even by those you loved most?

Choose an ending: being feared, being adored, or being forgotten?

You are standing in the water, mesmerized. The waves, which have risen, are now almost strong enough to sweep you out into the vast ocean. Just in time, someone from the shore shouts something that cuts through your haze and compels you to finally turn around. What do they say?

A nightmare devil seeks you out in your sleep. Fed by the sweet fear of bad dreams, it twists your senses, distorting the room and its form to become your greatest fear. What do you see?

What makes you human? Are you, at all?

INTERACTION PROMPTS.

" you don't look so good. "

" i heard that the water isn't safe. "

" don't drink that ! "

" what do you think will happen if we drink it ? "

" please help me . all the water's been taken . "

" here . you look like you could use a drink . "

" i'm starting to feel it too . . . "

" this city is falling apart . we should leave while we have the chance . "

" tell me a secret . "

" i trust you and you trust me , don't you ? we should just wait out this fever together. "

" i know you're lying to me . "

" how do i know what you're saying is true ? "

" i don't trust you . "

[memoryspine]

"so you do this often?" she asks mildly, tilting her head towards the tools. they don't look like they came from just any pharmacy kit. "either the real business is back here or you've got a serious hobby." or, the unspoken possibility: yeona had tech hidden away somewhere too. @ HAERAN ---

she likes how her name sounds in her voice, spoken between them. it makes her smile even brighter, one she tries to keep to herself but thinks she maybe doesn't do a very good job at hiding, indents in her cheeks. she doesn't know how to say that she wouldn't want to accept that kind of money at all, busies herself with closing the door instead. "it's nice to meet you too." yeona says, eyebrows furrowed at the mention of theatre until she follows her line of sight to the feathers.

"oh. oh--- i'm not. good at theatre, but sometimes the feathers make me feel fancy. so i--- wear them. while i work, back here, of course." she explains, and it seems a little silly when she says it out loud, but usually no one comes back, no one ever asks. it's just her own little world, here, but the feeling--- embarrassment, maybe, is only shown in the light flush of her cheeks as she presses forward, anyways.

once she's sitting in her chair, yeona leans her hip up against the desk, hands smoothing a few things back just so she can slide up onto the surface and sit facing her, reaching over to dig around in the toolbox she has for what she wants. she's really trying not to look at the other sitting in her chair for too long, tucking her hair behind her ear as she roots around with her other hand for that tiny little screwdriver, where is it?

she should have expected a question like that, hums a little as she reaches for an expanse of fabric, something soft, and drapes it over her lap, if only to make it seem a little more official than this actually is. sets everything out she thinks she'll want to reach for once she starts fixing things, mostly based on first glance.

"this is all me." yeona says, a little.. proud when it comes out of her mouth without really thinking about it, yes, it's hers. "so i do find myself doing these things quite often, but i really blame that on how nasty the system is for bad cybertech installations, too expensive for how cheap and quick it's done. but i have years of experience, now, and--- well, i've done my own tech, too. a little bit of everything, really." she's rambling, she finds, but somehow it's easy, in this back room, just the two of them.

sliding a pair of glasses onto her nose, her hands pat at the cover on her lap. "can you put your hand here, for me? i'm going to have to touch your hand and arm, mess with some things, but i'll try and make sure it won't hurt. it'll be as fast as i can make it, too." she offers a smile with her hands offered palms up, fingers gently wiggling, hoping it seems enough to be trusted. she knows how hard that can be, especially with something that feels as intimate as this, another piece of your body, what spends the most time with you then someone else can ever begin to understand.

"does saying it's a serious hobby make me sound a little better? i really just like--- fixing things, even if it's cars, anything mechanical. i love working on little old world things that i find around the shop, too. but cybertech is where i started." yeona admits, earnest grin and shine in her eyes as she talks about it, hopes that it can put some faith into the other's heart that she's as serious about this as she can be, as enthusiastic as she seems, too.

[memoryspine]

"how about this? if you fix it and it doesn't break again when i have to scrub this ink off, i'll pay you as much as that ring was worth," haeran finally decides, a hint of mirth glittering in her eyes. she steps back from the counter, ready to follow. "but only if i get your name first." @ HAERAN ---

there's something there that wasn't just a moment ago. as she takes the towel, and agrees, there's something that feels more real about the words that leave her mouth, tired and honest, and she wonders if that ring was something, a release, an uncovering that yeona wasn't aware of, but notices now that it's gone. shaking her head a little at the mention of the installation center, she reaches for another cloth underneath the counter to wipe off the few smears of ink on her hands.

"they're really not as reliable. too many people in and out, i don't think they prioritize actually fixing what they've done, just enough to get you out of there and the next person up." she remembers asking once, back when she was in that garage and fixing up people's tech for next to nothing, why they started something like this when the centers existed--- but she saw enough people in pain, in duct tape and quick fixes, the ones who didn't have money or didn't expect a lazy installation, and found the question answered for her.

it was what she missed the most, she thinks. that relief on someone's face, when something worked the way it was supposed to, and when yeona was the one that fixed it, that made it work.

she blinks a few times at the mention of her paying her the worth of the ring, and only shakes her head more. "my work isn't worth the price of that ring. but it is worth your name--- that's my price." yeona says, thinking she sees a glint there, and smiles, small, a quirk of her lips, a playful tone. "you can tell me later when your hand is back to working, yeah? mine's yeona. it's nice to meet you."

it's thrown over her shoulder as she steps out from behind the counter after she flicks the front open sign off with a button behind the counter, thumbs over something that locks the front door without her having to go over to it, so no one comes in while they work. it's close to closing time, anyways, and she did everything she needed to do hours ago in preparation of just leaving the store once the time ticked by.

"c'mon, it's this way." she says, and leads her towards the back. it's an unassuming door, that she holds open, but it leads into a dimly lit room, an old world lamp made of stained glass throwing color shards across the drab room, a desk with things piled on top, the little trinkets that yeona had found and hidden away to take for herself, a few of her tools out. sometimes she fixed things that were broken upon being brought in, so they could resell them at a higher price.

it's a metallic box dotted with various stickers she'd found over time, that covers a good part of the desk. overfilled with old world tools and new, ones she'd invested in and lined the insides with velvet--- though the materials are strewn across the desk, tonight, a melted coffee and a jacket thrown over her chair, a feather boa and a string of pearls, for when she wanted to feel fancy.

"you can sit in my chair. i'm sorry for the mess, i was a little bored earlier and then i had to leave it when a customer suddenly came in."

[memoryspine]

a shadow ripples against the brick walls of an alleyway, deeper down the street. it's one of the sealed floodstreet entrances, he recognizes it. has taken that exact same way into the building before, in fact. minseo instinctively steps towards it, before he remembers he wasn't the only one there and turns back to meet yeona's eyes. "did you hear that too, or am i just imagining things?" @ MINSEO ---

here's the thing, yeona didn't bring an umbrella today. instead, when she saw the forecast for rain, rain, rain, more rain, she left it leaning against the corner near the door, and accepted that it was this. it was this, rainwater in their hair and soaking their clothes, wanting to feel it down to the bone. there had been a part of her lately singing for something else, something that felt close to home. maybe she missed her mother, that soup she always cooked when it rained, that always warmed her up better than even a good blanket could.

so it's rain, today. the scrapyards hadn't really warranted her anything to carry back, and so it means that her tote bag is light, and even if she is a bit sad she hadn't found anything good, she hadn't run into that.. minseo again, she thinks that's his name. they keep running into each other there, and while yeona's happy to trade things for better ones, and he seems nice enough when they talk, it's getting a little uncanny just.. how much she'd been seeing him around.

not even just there, at the scrapyard, but--- she's seen him once and now it's like she sees him everywhere, and so when she's walking down the sidewalk, thinking about the giant mug of hot chocolate that's awaiting her once she gets in her kitchen, she falters a bit in her steps because, isn't that a little funny? here, too?

and here's the thing about the apartments, for all of the things that she put up with, the noise, the people, now it's this investigation, too, barring the doors and making her check that her door is locked more than once at night, the windows, too. it's one of the times she tells herself she should really get a dog, at this point, if it'll help her sleep better at night.

but there, minseo at the entrance, and yeona hesitates, because, did he see her like she saw him? she can't even stop for long, that loud noise making her startle, prickling up her arms in an uneasiness that she can't shake, not like rainwater, not like the weight of the clouds.

shadows, down the alley. she shakes her head a little, because it's not like when she was younger, when those shadows seemed taller and she always felt it at the back of her neck, her sister telling her over and over that she's just making it up, it's not real.

but she meets minseo's eyes--- and it was real. it was real, because he's looking back at her, asking her if she heard it too. she remembers her sister, telling her she imagined it, she created it all for herself, a world of her own. how could she make this for minseo, too? would there be a comfort in turning away from it? maybe, but it would be a lie, and how many times did she lie to herself just to keep moving forward?

"i heard it." she says, stepping forward towards him a little more, looking at him, though, not the darkness beyond, the marked off floodstreets, they were barred for a reason. she barely skirts past the thought of why minseo is here, where she lives, that drip, drip, drip down her spine of encroaching fear.

"i'm sure you've heard the news lately, it's---" she turns her head, like it'll help her hear better. they'd said it was a hum, wasn't it? a lullaby? she suddenly feels the chill right through her, the scrolling through her phone at 3am and all of those comments blurring together, bright light and a dark room, not doing anything to help her nerves on just how safe she really feels.

she doesn't think she hears anything, but--- is that the wind?

"do you hear anything else?" do you hear that melody?

[memoryspine]

jaehyun tuts but he smiles, " it may not be as much, but it's still appreciated. " as small or as big as the pile might be, it's the thought that yeona still picks out things for him to look at that counts. he picks up a black and white plaid bringing it close to his face to check for any bad tears or loose stitching, " it's still coming down and there's no chance it's stopping any time soon. might be worse than usual storms we have in ansan. " living here all his life, he's seen enough of them. @ JAEHYUN ---

"sheer will, believe me." she mumbles, but it's faded as soon as she says it. she's working here to be as stable as she could be, more stable than she used to be, when nothing else much mattered but her hands and the one beside her. there's some sort of fog that comes to love, she thinks, one that's more blinding than the love she finds on her own, now, clearer, more uncertain, but one that doesn't leave her dizzy on the come down. loving life by herself, that's hard, but it stays a little longer than it does when she relies on someone else to give it to her.

"it would have to be giant. no wonder they haven't done it yet." oh, she could dream, at least. she doesn't know how many times she's found something only to realize that it's been rendered useless from untreated water damage, and lamented over the loss of what she could have done had she found it in a better condition. it's why she's happy to buy what people bring in here, if it'll keep a little better long enough for someone else to come and find it, bring it the love it needs.

even with the thought, it quickly fizzles as yeona watches jaehyun sort through the clothing she'd found him. it gives her an extra mission as she works, even as she puts stuff aside for herself, it's fun to find things for other people, too, all of the those that look good enough but she wouldn't buy for herself.

when she's finished laying them out, she leans forward on her elbows and lets him peruse what she'd found. "i'm happy if you can find anything from what i put together." yeona hums, palm against cheek, hair tickling the edges of her arm.

"i'm going to hate it if it keeps us cooped up for too long. my apartment's too small and leaky, almost as bad as this place." she says, nose slightly wrinkled. she could hear too many noises, there, the walls too thin, and the windows not enough to keep her occupied, the shitty tv that doesn't project the right colors until it warms up, the echoing speakers. the storms are nothing new to her, but she still hates how much it keeps her inside, remembers being scolded, when she was younger, when she snuck outside to play in the rain, figured why let it go to waste by just watching it come down from inside?

it's like that now, stuck inside, but she's the one restraining herself from going out in it, knew she never did when one of her siblings wanted to go, even better, wanted to go with her out into it. it made the rain a little less sad, she thought.

"do you like that one? do you want to try it on?" she trails a pair of pants closer, ones she'd match with the top. "i think this would look good together, what do you think?"

maybe this makes rain a little less sad, too, when she's not the only one in it.

[memoryspine]

shoulders lifting in a shrug, " a few since i started working here. there's a level of finesse to them that not everyone is able to understand. " or in deiji's case, a level of hacking ability. " i hope it didn't take all your coins. you still have some left ? " perhaps the game attendant was feeling charitable tonight, not that her boss would care or notice. @ DEIJI ---

her fingers trail along the edge of the machine. "still, i love old world stuff like this. can't believe they only ever had things like this to entertain them, nothing else." she wishes she could prop something like this open to see how it works on the inside, where all of the wires lead, always intrigued to see how old world machines mimic the same kind of rewiring yeona's seen in cybertech installations, how close human could get to machine when they started getting outfitted in chrome and plastic.

she tucks the animal under her arm and moves a little closer, leaving the machine behind to continue the conversation with the person she'd caught the attention of. "thank you. oh--- you work here?" yeona says, that excitement evident in her eyes as she becomes close enough that it's a decent talking distance. she doesn't really hide the emotion, eyes shifting to the rest of the glittering machines dotting the room, all lined up pretty in an enticing, colorful row.

"i'm sure there's a way to play all of them better than i do, but i'm determined to figure it out on my own. even if i do end up wasting all of my coins." she shrugs an arm, the one not holding her plushie prone to her side, and leans against one of the machines. she shows her empty hands, looking listlessly over at the attendant she'd visited several times already that night.

"i've already refilled them a few times. maybe since i got this one, it's a sign from the universe that i should stop." yeona says, feels the metal of her spine press against the heated surface of the glass, only evident because of the tank top she's wearing, tilting her head a bit. she'd spent enough of her most recent paycheck here more times than she could count, anyways.

"do you tend to the games, too, or do you do something different? enough to get better at them?" she guesses, smiling, and wonders if the game attendant, for all of the coins (and extras they've slipped in, she's noticed) takes the time to indulge in the games, as frustrating as they could be.

"if you have any tips, i'm all ears, really."

[memoryspine]

"fuck." anger first---the embarrassment's there, yes, but above all, she despises that the damn thing had been so expensive but wouldn't do what it was made for. "i'm so sorry about that. here." hurriedly, she forces the rest of her signature onto the paper, gritting her teeth past the crookedness of it. then she pushes the paper back over the counter, clenching her ink-stained hand back to herself. @ HAERAN ---

she looks briefly back up to her when she mentions the glasses, smiles easy, hums before she goes right back to work. "they do. i've been working here for awhile, but it still tells me more things than i can tell with my own eyes, even as good as i tend to be with these things." yeona murmurs, and she's worked hard for that pride, a pride in something that she'd given herself and knows she's good at, had seen the results the longer she worked here, the more she bought and sold.

going through the motions is easy, she knows this, and it's second nature to her, now. she thinks, idly, the one thing different is to have someone that pretty on the other side of it, even if the hesitance locked in her heart is the root of the source between her fingers, the ring that hints that something else was here before her. it makes her wonder how much of it still lingers, how much time had passed for those things to fade, just as she'd found that they tend to do.

"of course." she hums, and thinks that maybe the ring will go to a new home, and mean new things, and maybe that's all anyone can ever hope for, is to move forward, to find new meanings, to grow. she tugs the glove off of her hand after she moves the ring underneath the counter to where she'll catalog the new addition, replace it in the jewelry case later on before she closes the shop. flexes her fingers and takes off the glasses too, placed onto the counter.

yeona doesn't mind the idle talk as she waits for her to sign, tries not to look too hard at the joints of her hand, of hearing that clicking underneath the tone of her voice and wishing she could fix it, knowing she could make it better. "sometimes more than others, but it's usually pretty slow. it is pretty quiet, it's why i have the music." she offers, hand gesturing towards the radio that plays low, when yeona feels herself start to drown in the hours here in the florescent lights, with nothing else to break it up.

she makes a soft noise when the ink splatters across the paper as the prosthetic snaps, and she reaches beneath the counter for a clean towel without thinking, bringing it out, palm upwards as she offers it, clutched in her fingers. slides the contract to the side, ink staining her hand, uncaring, as she shakes her head.

"no, no, don't be sorry. here, i can--- i hope this isn't too forward, but i know how to fix cybernetics. i can help with your hand, if you wouldn't mind me looking at it?" yeona offers, all of the words tumbling out of her as she says it. the contract, the ring, forgotten, even the spill of ink across the paper as she holds that towel out for her, the distance between them the length of the counter that she aims to close.

her brows furrowed, concern etched there as she keeps the towel clean only for her hand, even as she clutches it to herself. "it's something i like doing. don't even need the glasses for it, can do it all myself." she jokes, clearing the previous concern in her eyes for easy acceptance, hoping to come across as calm as she means.

"i have some tools in the back, and we were going to close soon anyways. so it wouldn't be any trouble, really, i'd feel bad letting you leave when i know i can fix it for you. i won't ask anything for it, either, just being able to look at it and fix it is enough for me."

[memoryspine]

" i won't be surprised if sifters bring you tech filled with water. " even waterlogged he was certain they'd still try to sell it. " got anything new for me ? " perhaps he was came too frequently, considering it seemed a pile had been kept just for him. @ JAEHYUN ---

slumped against the counter, she can almost convince herself that time is passing by faster. having halfway rolled over at the lack of customers to keep her occupied, she startles a bit at the voice, since jaehyun's disposition doesn't quite look the same upside down. it definitely has her perking up though, because regulars tended to be some of her favorites, to break up her shifts from the long monotony they tended to be. and jaehyun, she always looked forward to showing him just what she'd found since the last time he had been in.

"it's because i am." she says, smiling, hands already busy underneath the counter to locate the pile of clothes she had been stacking there all week. "how did you know? everything's been particularly waterlogged these past few days. i guess it's all the rain, they really should try and cover over the junkyard so all of the things don't get ruined." her eyebrows furrow as she tries to gather it all in a neat manner, thinking about all of the old world junk that could've been salvaged if not for the needless water damage.

some of the ones they truly can't sell, yeona ends up sneaking home. nobody tends to miss them if they find their way into her bag, especially the ones she ends up taking without much of an exchange, just something to get rid of. she'd had her eye on a pocketwatch for the last several months, broken and unable to tell time any longer, tangled up chain and all. just a few more days, and she could take it home to mess with along her next paycheck.

"and i do!" they say, depositing a small stack of folded clothes on the counter. she sifts through them to start to lay them out so they're easier to see, multiple pieces she thought jaehyun might like after what she'd seen him purchase before, or what he wore into the store.

it was another little game for herself to pass the hours, what would jaehyun wear, right after she played the game for herself. more than half of her wardrobe was from gugus, she figured she had gotten so good at sifting through it all that it was a shame not to help someone else find nice pieces, too.

"not as good as some of the other weeks, but you can see if there's anything you like, yeah?" she mumbles, elbow against the glass as she leans a hip against the counter to watch. "is it still raining out there? i'm dreading walking home in all of it, i didn't even wear my good rain boots."

[memoryspine]

pulling up the display is like second nature in their eyes, she scans the machine, the amount of coins slipped inside having escalated since the last time a win had occurred. tilting their head, she waits watching as the person tries one more time, the moment the claw begins to drop, easily hacking the claws to become rigid when finally they clasp around the plush the other was hoping for. @ DEIJI ---

in the sea of neon lights, losing track of time seemed to be inevitable. at least, it's what yeona tells herself when she loses track of so much time inside the arcade. it's always just one more time, and she'll win, and then she'll leave, even if all that awaits her back home is an empty apartment and a small (slowly growing) alignment of plush stuffed toys she had managed to win on an empty shelf.

she would give herself her own little trinkets beside whatever else she brought home from gugus, and she liked to think of it as a learning experience. the machines intrigued her, for all of their hardware, and as good as she was with recognizing and repairing cybertech, she had always longed to be able to fix these machines, too. always held on to machines or gadgets from the old world a little too long even if sometimes she couldn't quite fix them as well as she could when she saw a piece of tech, but there was no lack of want in trying.

it's the claw machines that evade her the most. she knows they're supposed to be hard, and pit the odds against you, otherwise they'd be losing money on the amount of stuffed animals that would drop down, but she'd used an embarrassing amount of money to slip coin after coin in the slot, hoping it would finally ease into her own favor.

it's getting to the point she's considering a drink, instead.

she leans heavily against the glass and considers giving it a little kick, think she's done that to a car or motorcycle or two just to get it running, but she's sure it doesn't work like that, and she wouldn't want to get kicked out of the place, either. it's her last coin, she tells herself, as she puts just one more in. maybe she can placate another loss with playing another game to help herself feel better, but she's been working on this pink dog plushie for the better part of--- however long, she didn't want to know, and she didn't want it to be a waste.

another groan. it's so slow, she's so terrible at this, really, the claws landing just right over the plushie, just one more nudge and---

she gets it.

the claws start to carry it up and yeona finds herself making a fuss without realizing, hushed exclamations of "yes, yes, yes!" as it finally lands and she hunches down to pull it past the door and into her arms. it immediately is squished to her chest, wide eyes glancing around if anyone had seen her--- embarrassingly so, get so excited to win a claw machine.

she meets the eyes of a stranger nearby, and smiles, holding up the plushie to show just what a fuss she had been making for. "sorry, i had just been trying for so long. but i finally got it!" she points with the dog's paw at the person, eyebrows furrowed. "have you gotten anything? these machines are impossible."

[memoryspine]

she folds her arms across the glass and leans forward, gaze slipping slower to take in the clerk in full. not at all familiar, she confirms. it's been a while since she's seen a completely new face around here and she's intrigued, but she has to keep her heartbreak in mind a little longer. "i just can't look at it anymore. do you think you could help me...?" @ HAERAN ---

the fold of fabric between her fingers slips through once she looks up and meets eyes with the person at the counter. hum forgotten, the movement of her body stilling at her gaze trails down, down, that curtain of hair, the sound of their voice, the ring between her fingers. it trails over their hand--- yeona can't help it, when she sees any sort of cybertech, notes the stiffness, the metal not giving like it should, looks at the joints and wants to smooth it out between her hands, give movement back that was supposed to be there.

she knows the tools, how to hold each point to release the next, the itch of wanting to reach out and touch and solve coming over her. back to the ring. an appraisal. she's seen rings like that, seen a lot of them come through here, a bunch of it just didn't work out, i hoped she was the one, but it turns out it was only me that thought that. she thinks of a long, long time ago when she thought she was at that point of her life to find herself here now, empty hands, empty heart.

yeona's still looking at the movement of her fingers as she brushes at a tear. she could fix them in a few minutes, no problem. hears the click of the metal and wonders just what happened to get them to lock up like that, but knows it's none of her business. just like this ring is. her hands smooth over the shirt she was folding, offers an understanding look, tucking her hair behind her ear as she shifts and comes to the other side of the counter opposite them, hands flat on the glass.

sometimes it's for the money. sometimes it's because the memory gets to be too much, and a reminder is better sold than kept. she hears old engagement ring and tries to smooth over her expression. "of course i understand, we always try our best to keep all deals that come through the shop discreet and simple." she states, and notes the ring on the counter. reaches underneath the glass for a glove she slips on before she picks it up to turn it this way and that in the light, watch it glint.

"i'll take care of it for you, you won't have to look at it for much longer." already starts filling out the form for the item, an undeniably expensive ring that tried to make up for its simple presentation in just how much it glittered, but it still didn't take away the emptiness that preceded it. no engravings, no scratches, shining like it had just been taken out of the box, no life breathed here, no life lived here that says it's leaving something behind.

it'll sell. the range of items here, the ones people brought in, sometimes yeona could sense a story between the marks against the surface, or how well loved it was, or how it seemed to not have spent as much time in the earth, precious and celebrated. passed to the next and given away, a wrong fit, one that didn't anymore but used to, one that never could have until it's given away to another.

she slips glasses onto her nose and they zero in on the diamond. ensures that the metal is real, that the diamond is, too, and she quickly scribbles out an amount on the top of the paper and turns it around on the counter for the customer to read. tucks the ring into a palm as she reaches, again, for a small box to settle the ring into the velvet like a finality, movements methodical, thorough. "i can offer you this amount. if that's agreeable to you, you can also see all of the specifications i outlined on the form. you're relinquishing the item for the sale and i can provide the amount in the form of a written check once you sign along the dotted line on the bottom."

there's a pen near the dice, eyes trailing over her fingers, gently snapping the box closed as she slides it over. yeona usually doesn't comment on the items that she buys, and with this, she hopes it's easier. straightens up a little and feels the metal along her spine glide and fold, leaning her hip against the counter as she watches them carefully.

some memories stayed. changed and shifted and became her own, and some were given away to time, to making space for new ones, rewritten, replaced. some lingered even though she wished they didn't, gives them more time instead, tries to make peace. she hopes this is peace, the ring tucked away, now. some things she wished it was as easy as signing it out of sight, instead of when even if it's gone, the memory can still stay. still linger. still haunt. the glasses slide down her nose, hair in her eyes. instead, despite, she still wishes for that peace. here, and again, and again. despite. despite.

[memoryspine]

@sllvertongue ---

she leaned against the counter and watched the rain beat down against the windows. continuous little streams that would split and trail long threads, blurring the neon lights outside and making the fluorescents inside feel even more suffocating, even more off, yellow-blue and artificial, leaning halfway against the dirtied countertops she just couldn't get the stains out of as hard as she tried. stretched her arms out and let their hair fall, a spill of ink and silver in this wasteland of drab color and worn down things, radio calling out in the background, crackling low.

weather reports. the flood and the storm and the city retreating into their hiding places, and all yeona did was watch the rain pour down. they'd had a few stragglers trying to sell things off, and they couldn't help but hand over the money, maybe even a little extra than it was worth. she hoped it went for things to help with the rain, snacks and lights and anything anyone needed last minute, wordless about the reason but eyes imploring, use it for something good.

she thinks about what she has in the fridge back home. probably some questionable looking fruit and a stupid amount of small bottles of tea, several cereal boxes she was sure she could count on. some instant noodles she had far too often then not. they keep seeing people scurry down the street with grocery bags weighing them down in the rain, hands too full for umbrellas, and knows the stores will probably be near cleared out by the time her shift is over.

yeona waits for the next song, groans, rolls over to the other side of the counter. there was nothing left for her to do, she'd catalogued what she needed to, dusted off the shelves, sorted the clothes and the old world cd's, wondering if anyone even had what they needed to even play them anymore. there's a pair of dice near the cash register, and she picks them up just to roll them across the counter, trying to get something higher each time. fail, fail, fail, win! fail, fail, how could she even roll a two that many times?

perks up when she hears the door chime open, dice rolling across the counter as she sweeps her fingers over them. "welcome to gugus." yeona calls out, hopes the person she's covering for with this shift is thankful that she agreed to stay here on such a rainy, shitty afternoon. she swears the hems of her pants still feel wet from walking here in the rain earlier.

she can't lean around when there's a customer, so she busies herself with refolding a shirt on the counter behind her, waiting if they happen to need help or not, not trying to be too obvious by peering over the clothing racks like she wants to, body moving back and forth to the radio as she hums under her breath. "let me know if you need help!" she tosses over her shoulder. for good measure, of course.

[memoryspine]

its aqua (he/they, 21+) again, with another muse.. this time i present park yeona, appraiser at gugus and fixer of all of your mechanical and cybertech needs. give her all of the little knickknacks from the past, your spluttering motorcycle, that cybertech that just hasn't been working quite right since you got it and she'll have you fixed up in no time. what's she doing in ansan? more like chasing remnants of her past, which she can't seem to fix no matter what she does.. profile/pages coming soon, but leave a like for us to appear in your dms (disc if you prefer!) and find more info under the read more!

and some background.. ( mentions of cybertech installations regarding the spine )

born in '97, and has resided in ansan all of her 26 years of life. uses she/they/he in that order regarding pronouns, and is comfortable with masc and fem terms, though she usually regards herself using she/they the most

grew up in quite a large family, living overtop a restaurant they owned and worked in. she's the oldest sibling and had been working as a waitress for the majority of her time through school, fixing the machines at the restaurant and her parent's car and learning most of how things worked by messing around with whatever she could find at home and in the scrapyards

the scrapyards is where she meets her (now) ex-girlfriend that sort of shaped the trajectory of where she finds herself these days. her ex's older brother owned a garage that was the Official front for what she used as a third party cybertech installation in the back, usually found by word of mouth and for people looking for Cheap and Quick cybertech

yeona had never really had the means for getting any cybertech, so it was mostly things she regarded from far away. money was for food and restaurant expenses and not much else, and getting in a position to work on tech seemed a little too far out of reach with her responsibility to her family, so this seemed.. So Easy. too easy, when her girlfriend was just as interested in installing and fixing cybertech, too

so she starts working inbetween the restaurant and the garage, and starts working her way up in installations. they provide a lower cost amount for anything anyone brings in (no questions asked where it's from) or what they can order through her ex's older brother, but working at the garage is finally something that makes yeona realize there's More out there then what she thought there was

and she gets Good at it. despite no formal training, her ex teaches her everything she knows. her mother's a doctor and half of the supplies they have are borrowed when they won't be missed from the hospital, and they work well together. yeona's making enough money that she starts working on her own pieces, and it leads to the one she had been dreaming about for years: an entire strip of metal formed and fitted to her spine

aesthetics, yes, and she also works out a form of flexibility within the model and an ability to hook up the piece with the parts of her brain that associate with pain receptors--- the thing that always bothered her most about fixing tech was that sometimes she couldn't just run diagnostics herself, and with this, she could, as long as she made a connection to the person she was working on

after a long time of saving and working and learning, she trusts her ex to help her install the piece. she does half of it, and from her own experience, also works on it herself, determined to get it right. it's a long installation and it's her first piece of tech, and they did it together

it works, too. she can show it off, the silver that follows down the length of her spine and curves around her ribs, and it gives her more credibility when it comes to more complicated installations

everything goes a little wrong when her ex asks her to install a piece she found in the scrapyard. they're convinced it can't be fixed, and it seems wrong, and she just can't fight the feeling that it shouldn't be installed. but her lack of support leads into a series of disagreements they can't seem to get back from, and they break up

yeona loses all sense of herself. her place of work, her confidence in performing cybertech repairs, her support system and someone very important to her. she ends up moving out of their shared place into one of her own at black stone apartments, having not contacted her family much aside from sending money and receiving updates from their younger sister

while her younger sister had always dreamed of going to astra, yeona quickly lost sight of it when she thought she had found her place in ansan, and lost sight of the close relationship they once had. she discovers her sister is working at the astra air strip 4 now to be as close as she can get, and yeona finds work at gugus to keep saving money to send her and her family (and taking the extra little trinkets home from the old world to mess with)

she refuses to do any extensive cybertech installations like she used to, and sticks to repairing mechanical objects and tune ups to smaller pieces of tech. you can often find her at the underground, patching up fighters for free and occasionally betting on matches

similarly, you can find her wherever the nightrunners seem to pop up. she's found doing much of the same, repairing odd and ends, whether it be machine or person, and at the scrapyards, picking up anything she finds of value

aimless, she finds herself lost and without the purpose she thought she had. she had discarded too much of herself in the process of the breakup (a little over a year since it happened) and can barely look at the tech installed along her back without being reminded of it all (and the five years they spent together)

prone to distraction from the past and without a true goal in mind, she stays mostly stuck in place, working on finding her own meaning and the confidence in herself that she misses to chase after the things she loves, instead helping others in the meantime in place of her own dreams

spontaneous and eager for things to get them out of her head, you can find her everywhere and nowhere all at once. maybe one day she'll realize that everything was always hers, even if she's not in the same places with the same people, it's herself that was always there along the way, and that was all that really mattered

plot ideas!

anyone who frequents gugus! she's an appraiser there but she would love it if you were always bringing in things for her to add to the collection (or maybe sneak home)

you always seem to meet each other at the underground. whether a fighter (she's always fixing your tech at the side of the ring) a better (she's always swearing she'll win this next time) or you've noticed she's always around fixing things, she may turn you down for anything more than a tune up if you ask

you had your cybertech fixed or done by her back when she worked at the garage and ask her for a fix up but she (at first) seems to avoid you altogether due to the reminders it brings. still, at heart, she wishes to do what she can for this world, and ultimately agrees to help

nightrunners! let them fix whatever you need. probably goes under an alias and wears a mask of some sort when she's there just for the added protection, but she's reliable when it comes to quick tune ups and knows exactly what she's doing. you've seen each other around quite a bit and she's gotten used to coming around and seeing if you need any help

those at the scrapyard! even though she's making a good amount of money, she still finds herself going back to look for parts like she used to. she says it's a guilty pleasure but she's always loved it there for everything she might find and is determined to reclaim it for herself. a friendly face or a familiar one you trust to tell you if what you've dug out is worth the trip, yeona is more than happy to help

flings but she never intends on them going anywhere, and might be inclined to get themself out of there before he thinks it's too late (fem/nb leaning)

friends she's known since childhood who frequented her family's restaurant and they always got extra dessert, ones she lost contact with after her breakup and she kind of isolated herself from everything in her old life and she's slowly coming back, stumbling into each other at an old place they used to frequent, bringing you back to meet their family and remembering all of the nights you sat on the roof together and dreamed about astra and all of the stars beyond

those who live nearby in the black stone apartments, she tries her best not to be too noisy but sometimes she just forgets the time and she's still banging away at her latest prototype.. if you live nearby she probably never has any food or sugar to lend you but she Does have candles if the lights go out and One additional floatie for when the water gets too high (it's first come first serve, sorry, but she'll tie you to her's if they need to)

i'll have pages up with more information Soon but leave a like for now and we'll appear in your dm's to see if we can figure something out!