Scene #7997: Did Your Answer Change?

Owner	Pose
Xion	Xion begins by sending her ''good'' 'friend' Cantio a text messasge! > Hey Cantio! > :duskwave: > You're not busy, right? ON LOCATION: Xion splits open a horizontally-yawning corridor of darkness that limns itself in hard angles and pulled-apart pixels and circuit structures. She drops through, and besides her drops, tip-first, her 'stolen' copy of Cantio's sword in magenta crystal, landing upright and gravity-disobeying. Xion lands in a crouch -- though she may land in an odd space, having simply decided to teleport 'right to Cantio' rather than discovering where she was first and then making a specific entrance. Oh well!
Cantio	Cantio takes a bit to get back to Xion. Thankfully, it's not because of apprehension (although there is a bit), but because she's really in the groove with tinkering on some mechanical bullshit and needs a minute to calm down from that high. > Hi xion! :purpleheart: > Not to busy. Think I've come up with a more memorable design. wanna see? > *to > 8TOO ON LOCATION: Cantio's already started fiddling with the machine again when Xion just pops right on out, arriving in the middle of what looks like a big fancy garage. It smells greasy, there's mechanical parts everywhere, but there's plenty of open windows and entrances that there's no question that this is right on the ground floor of Cantio's home where anyone can (hypothetically) visit. Also, all the tools are pink and purple. Still, Xion showing up out of a portal rather than coming through the front door has her nearly jumping out of her skin. "Whoa! Ah, hey Xion. You're just in...! Actually, it's not finished yet, but what do you think?" She holds up a thing that looks like a pool inner tube, but way more solid and metallic with couple of vertical parentheses-esque lines drawn on each side. She forgets to actually explain what it is.
Xion	Xion had to laugh, very hard, at her phone for a bit: this bought Cantio extra tinkering time, and also made it seem safer. Less likely that Xion would simply arrive, as she generally did, but: Here she is! Dressed in denim overalls rolled up her ankles to reveal black socks in black boots, and a white t-shirt, Xion smiles from under a beat-up blue baseball cap. "Howdy!" Xion greets, "New magic wand? If it's not finished yet, it's hard to really see the shape. Have you finished thinking about it? What's your vision for it?"
Cantio	Clothes are important. That's why Cantio's dressed in.. Not her usual stuff! She's working, after all, so she's got the classic blacksmith-style outfit: A regular short sleeve shirt and long pants, leather apron for absorbing grease and accidental cuts/burns, goofy chunky goggles, and a ribbon to hold her hair back in a ponytail to really tie the whole look together. "Flying machine. Machines, rather. Like..." She giggles lightly, then splits the thing in half straight down the middle like a hinge so she can wear it like a hula hoop or big swimming donut. The drawn lines get wider near the bottom, like an upside-down wifi signal. "I'm going to give people the real power to fly. No need for licenses or training, since it's all supposed to be easy and safe enough that even someone's grandparents could figure it out." She sounds rather confident about this goal. Proud, even. "And not just my people, either. Everyone. Er. Eventually everyone, anyway. It's all in-house, too, so there'll be no way to deny where it came from and who did this for them." She pushes the goggles up. "What do you think?"
Xion	Xion reaches over to grasp the inverted sword that hangs vertically besides her, but instead of the blade being caught in her grasp and carried, the whole thing collapses back into her hand - hanging as an energy orb for a moment in her fingers before scattering into dark inventorying smoke. Simultaneous, she pushes off from her spot and approaches the hula-hoop flying machine and its designer. "Ohhh, so it's a broom. Clever, clever." Lifting her eyes up off the band, Xion grins. "Why'd you get on flying machines, anyway? Helping everyone and proving it was you, I get that part-" She bobs her head. "But the idea of flight, why that?"
Cantio	Cantio watches that sword's disappearance with a curious glint in her eyes, clearly looking like she really wants to ask. She holds back, though, as Xion approaches and calls her device- "A broom? N-no, it's more like a..." She really doesn't want to call it an inner tube. "... Onion ring." Fantastic. Cantio clears her throat, then moves right on ahead! " Humans are usually limited by their bodies on where they can move, and all sorts of things can make it worse. Age, accidents, genetics... Not everyone's lucky enough to have been born with so much stuff and so many powers like me and my sister, you know?" Cantio snaps her fingers as if she's trying to make a point about something, then pauses a bit too long before continuing. She probably forgot for a second there. "So this is my way of trying to fix that. Create a new normal, and then keep improving from there. The more people know where good things are coming from, the more resources come into my home. The more resources we get, the more I can keep improving things. Like a... A self-powering machine!" It's better than the onion ring thing, at least.
Xion	"A flying-broom. Like what witches ride." Xion continues, explanatory. She was going somewhere too, but Cantio goes another place. "You're -right-. Let's go. Bring your onion ring!" The Nobody decides, bright-eyed, as she pivots on a heel to gesture at the air. A second portal yawns open in the workshop, this one resolving in the middle of the pink-dappled and draped workshop room as a wavering-'wet' displacement in the air directly through to a open-counter-window beachside taco/fry house. Not accepting much argument, Xion grabs Cantio by the hand and leads the magi-tinkerer through to Brita's Taco and Fry. At the end of a beach strip of resturants near four PM, the taco house wafts strongly of fryerlator and flat-top grill. Xion immediately walks to the window and starts ordering onion rings from a vampy-looking buzz cut guy.
Cantio	"... Oh! I thought about that, but sitting or straddling on one isn't great for balance, you know? It /is/ pretty iconic, though..." Cantio pulls a drone over, then hits the record button. "Note: Consider accessories. Modular parts." She shoves it away, and then she raises an eyebrow when Xion points at nothing. There's another (smaller) jump at the appearance of a new portal, but Cantio does't miss a beat as she compresses her prototype into a smaller cube to shove into her pocket. She grabs a few more similar cubes from her workbench, letting out a brief noise as she dragged by hand right on through! "Eh? But I look like a mess still! and I haven't cleaned up or..." She starts to protest, but gives up shortly afterwards at the delectable smell punching her right in the face. As if on cue, Cantio's stomach sarts grumbling. She puts in an order for some tacos, too. Heavy cheese, heavy cream, light tomato. "Good idea. But... Why here? Do you like this place?" She asks while checking her pockets. Eventually, Cantio fishes out one of those little hand-sanitizer bottles and squeezes some into her hands before offering the same to Xion. It smells citrusy.
Xion	Laughing at the easy transition, Xion leans against the counter and smiles while she waits for their shared order - adding some crunchy tacos 'with everything' and 'the hot stuff'. The vampy guy seems to know Xion, which partially answers Cantio's question. She carries on her explanation shortly after: "People don't really fly often if they're not decently special, and the things that do tend to use it as a huge advantage, but doesn't everything? Use their strengths to their advantage." "It's like a broom. There's a teacher at the magic academy who has flying broom-drones that are more like little platforms, or seats. That's why I thought of that." "As for here? I just like good tacos, and this place is just kinda... nice!" A sparse beachside is scattered with a few people under umbrellas and playing a game of volleyball, though it's a bit hot in the late afternoon. Up the paved strip just a few paces is a pair of plastic tables and chairs with red and white mats over top with an umbrella down the center providing shade. There is Cholula, Tapatio, Ketchup, and brown mustard on the table. there is a circle of yellow mustard stain on the mat, but no actual yellow mustard available at the table. Accepting the squirt of hand sanitizer from Cantio, Xion accepts her order and pivots towards the table, settling down and adjusting to check her glistening-greasy paper cone of onion rings, and a tray of grilled-cheese-in-tortilla crispy super tacos that share a loading character with a baked potato, with jalapeno slices, onion bits, and a strong sauce glaze over sour cream/pico base that glistens over meat. They may be a little more good than advertised. "You're dressed fine. Maybe you're dressed for a burrito, but everyone's dressed for a burrito."
Cantio	Cantio listens, and Xion explains. There's a lot to take in, and she nods slowly in agreement as she tries to piece it all together in her head. "Right... So if everyone can do this eventually, certain disadvantages disappear, and new advantages can start appearing. Maybe... Someone that's never been good with their hands on a canvas up being an outstanding mural painter. Or an architect finds their passion now that they can get their hands on their work without having to rely on so many ladders." A beat, and then she taps on her chin lightly. "I'd just be worried about the brooms being kind of uncomfortable. Especially for guys with the... You know." She snickers briefly, then aids Xion with getting all that stuff to the table. She's not using her drones for this much, at least. The slight burn on her hands keeps her awake. "Going out casually can be really nice, yeah... No pretenses, no..." She struggles with her words a bit here, waving her free hand vaguely while getting plenty of that Cholula on everything. "... Acting. Nobody watching for a slip up, or a PR spin." Once that's done, she's working the other around her first taco to keep everything together so she can bite in without it all spilling out the back. Cantio goes at her food for a solid minute, then slows down enough to think again. She's a lot hungrier than she thought she was. "So... Um... You're not mad?" There's another moment of hesitation as Cantio visibly chooses her words carefully. "About... Me wanting everyone to know it's my project? That it's not... Er. Completely for charitable reasons?"
Xion	"Cantio I was just calling them brooms for fun." Xion insists. "You can have them be the floating onion rings. They just made me think of brooms. They're magic and make you fly." Xion gives Cantio a Look at 'guys and the... you know'. "You can fly sidesaddle, you know. And if you think about it: Cowboys ride the backs of horses, I don't see how they're different." "And now we've reinvented saddles." Xion laughs, as she takes an obscene halving bite of her extra-super taco, With Everything. "People aren't watching you -all- the time. And don't you want to be seen? You can have it both ways, but if you're willing to be okay with where you are, instead of sad because of where your'e not, it gets a lot less -complicated-." Cantio digs in, and then pivots into the 'So, um, you're not mad?' and Xion makes a face. "You're allowed to do good things, Cantio. Making a thing you want to share, and being compensated for that great work, is normal. You've not hit real greed yet. Wanting credit's fine. Just don't get greedy with credit. You've already gotten the idea."
Cantio	It takes her a moment, but then Cantio suddenly gets it. ".. Oh! Y-yeah, that's... I get it now, mhm." She clears her throat and shoves some more food into her face, trying to play off the blush as just eating too much spicy stuff at once. The darting eyes don't help. "Saddles, though... It's basically a seat, and people already make specials seats for children in cars. Maybe...?" That's another idea to test later. She's not about to bring out one of her drones while eating, though, so she'll just have to trust herself to remember it later. Xion proceeds to hit Cantio with The Logic again, and that has her pausing in mid-bite. She takes a little longer to mull over whether she wants to be seen or not, glancing upwards briefly and remembering that she /did/ tie her hair up in a ponytail for more than just practical reasons. "That... Hm. I'll need to think about that one one some more, but... I think I get it." She's still working on the self-image thing, but she's getting there (slowly). "Real greed, huh...? I don't know if I could ever-well. I could, if I really went off the deep end, but I like to think I wouldn't!" Cantio replies while finally getting into some onion rings, even scattering a few fragments of crispy onion ring shell into a taco to add more cronch. "Recognition and clout are useful, but to get it without doing anything to earn it... It just sounds too boring and depressing." Cantio decides with a firm nod, wiping her nose once from the build up of meat sweats. She looks over at the counter, then at the remaining food, then splits off a clone (coincidentally, cowgirl-styled) to buy some drinks. Five, just in case they need the extras. "If I ever do get that bad, though... Could I bother you to guide me back again?"
Xion	"You've got a hoop, and hoops are good. You could make wearable rings, bracelets and anklets. You could make flying clothes, or flying harnesses, or a little set of floating wings that attach to some point on the back. You can do it any way you like, a chair or a broom or a saddle-back to set upon." Xion rattles off, counting on her fingers until she runs out of ideas before she runs out of fingers. She drops her goopy fingers back into her tacos to take another bite, having to take long moments to chew, chew, chew and swallow, and lick her fingers adjacent to clean. It's part of the experience! "Well it's really unlikely, so I'm going to put it back on you: I don't think you're doing this thing to hurt people, and the path you're taking through it is direct and clear. It might be used for bad reasons, but it might be used for good reasons. It's not just a powerup for your super form, it has an independent form and purpose you're creating shapes for." "Yeah, you're allowed to take credit, especially if credit is what you're doing it for. The credit of doing a good thing - it has to be possible." "No matter what, it has to be okay for anyone to 'do a good thing'." Sighing while de-ringing a droopy onion with some careful use of fingers (and teeth), Xion dashes peppery hot sauce into the de-onion'ed ring and goes to eat that. A drink is ordered! How fortuitous! "I'd hope you can keep on doing good things, yourself, but proooobably."
Cantio	"A harness isn't a bad idea! Safer, although it might be harder to get on. But it can't be too easy to slip out of, either..." Cantio needs to keep track of all these ideas for later. She'll have to remember to remind the clone to write this all down later. Cowgirl Cantio comes back with the drinks, and Cantio Prime forgets to ask her to do that. "It's definitely going to be used for bad reasons. I saw that during the first test, but..." Cantio strokes her chin lightly as she tries to gauge how she really feels about that. She's only slightly annoyed at forgetting to wipe her greasy hand off before doing that, but she's probably done this before. "It worked out even with that hiccup." Cantio recalls something, and then she breaks out into a laugh. It's only mildly snorty. "Actually, it helped me figure out what I don't want to be a little more. I want to be someone that helps people. Mine, myself, even others. I want to... To do things without stopping myself before I even begin, or making excuses about why I shouldn't do something and take the safe path of not doing anything because it might hurt later. It's like that saying about making the biggest omelettes, you know?" She doesn't finish that reference. She's too busy trying to get an onion ring to lay out across another taco evenly. "And if I... When I come up with another form, it's not going to be like last time in the lab. I won't be hiding it and making anyone worry about what I'm doing again." There's that confidence again. Also, actually being able to hydrate with all this salty food. "But... Not yet. That'll be way later since... I'm already strong, just like you said. I just need to start using it."
Xion	Xion nods, listening more than talking as she goes in to her second and third tacos. The onion rings are left for Cantio - she seemed more preoccupied with them in the first place. Xion really enjoyed eating, in general. She got what she liked, and had extra drinks besides! "Maybe center yourself on making things more whole than breaking and frying them, Cantio. Word choice matters!" The Nobody laughs back. No notes are taken, but progress is made.