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kumeko · 4 years

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Title: say anything

A/N: For the @housekinoexchange exchange, for @red-dia! I hadn’t really thought of CinnaBortz before and now I’m left wondering why. They’re just really cute. I hope you enjoy it!

Summary: “What are you thinking,” Bortz asked and Cinnabar wasn’t used to that being a question, to her voice being heard. No, not just heard, desired.

…

“You were about to say something?” Bortz asked, their tone making it sound more like a demand. Just like the gem, each word was said forcefully, as though Bortz could infuse them with power by the very act of uttering them.

Maybe they could. If anyone could, it would be Bortz. Swallowing, Cinnabar stepped back a half-step, a denial already on her lips. “N-no…I…”

“I heard you,” Bortz interrupted, never one for nonsense. They stared at Cinnabar and Cinnabar had a feeling of being seen through, of being exposed. Like Bortz could see through all of their fears and doubts.

“I…” Cinnabar trailed off, rubbing their shoulder nervously. “I don’t know.” It was a half-truth—their mouth had opened earlier, about to refute Sensei’s words, deny Sensei’s rejection, but just what were they about to say?

Cinnabar didn’t know. Cinnabar barely knew themselves.

“Come here,” Bortz ordered with a roll of their eyes. Grabbing Cinnabar’s tie, they dragged them forward to the rest of the gems. With a disdainful snort, they added “You can figure it out while we come up with a plan.”

“I don’t—!” Cinnabar protested, but Bortz paid them no mind, still tugging them forward, forcing them to mingle with the other gems.

For once, Cinnabar stood with everyone.

“What is it?” Leaning against the wall, Bortz turned to Cinnabar. As usual, a perpetual scowl was on their face. The only thing different about them was their hair. Their short, short hair.

Cinnabar tried to tear their eyes away from it, from how ragged it looked. Sensei hadn’t bothered to trim it properly yet, focused more on cutting it off to repair Bortz’s broken limbs. For centuries, Bortz had looked impeccable, and now they weren’t.

All because Cinnabar’s acid corroded everything it touched. “N-nothing.”

If anything, Bortz’s scowl grew deeper. Brow furrowed, arms crossed, they glared. “Out with it.”

“You-your hair.” Cinnabar gestured at Bortz’s head, shame colouring their voice. “I’m sorry.”

“This?” Bortz snorted, flicking a short lock with a finger. “It’s fine. It’s just hair.”

“But…” It looked good on you. And it was strange to think that Cinnabar would never see the long-haired silhouetted of Bortz, to see their locks splayed out during hibernation. To see their hair whirl as they spun and fought. Which brought up an entirely different problem—Bortz used their hair as an extra limb when they battled. “Your fighting.”

“My fighting?” Bortz raised a brow before realization dawned on them. With a shrug, they turned back, looking straight ahead. “It’ll be fine. If something like this ruined my abilities, then I wasn’t a good fighter in the first place.”

Cinnabar’s brow knit, not feeling particularly relieved. “I should have aimed better.”

“It’s fine,” Bortz repeated shortly, irritation in their voice. When Cinnabar still looked worried, they added with a growl, “Look, you saved me. Alright? You saved me. It doesn’t matter how you did it—I’m here because of you. So quit thinking about it, we have more important things to worry about.”

“I saved you?” Cinnabar repeated, not sure if they’d heard right.

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” Bortz snapped, already looking away.

“I saved you,” Cinnabar murmured, smiling. They had saved someone. Helped someone.

They were needed and in the end, that was all that Cinnabar had ever wanted.

“Hey. You.”

Cinnabar stopped at Bortz’s words. It was funny how familiar their voice was becoming these days, how used to it Cinnabar was getting. They were spending less and less time at the cave these days, partially because Bortz kept dragging them out of it, insistent on getting Cinnabar’s opinion on things. Turning around, they waited as Bortz marched toward them. “Yes?”

“This plan.” Bortz held up a bag with Phos’ arm. It was the only way the diamond wouldn’t break Phos any further. “You good with it?”

Bemused, Cinnabar cocked their head. “I-I suggested it.”

“Yeah, I know that.” Bortz rolled their eyes. “It’s a good idea. Smart.”

Cinnabar smiled bashfully at the compliment. Curling their toes, they tucked a strand of hair behind their ear. “Thanks.”

“But are you fine with it?” Bortz continued, ignoring their response. Pointing distastefully at Phos’ arm, they added, “You were close.”

A clipboard. A promise. It had been centuries, but that memory was still engraved in Cinnabar’s mind, of that first kindness, that first sense of companionship. They lowered their eyes, scuffing their shoe on the ground. “Close…I’m not sure.”

It wasn’t like Phos had talked to them much. It wasn’t like Phos had asked for their opinion or met for them outside from the occasional status report.

Close wasn’t the word for it.

“I wanted to be,” Cinnabar mumbled, finally uttering the words they’d wished they’d said back when Phos was around to hear it. Back when Phos was willing to hear it. “I wanted to be close.” To be friends. To be next to one another. To be partners, in every sense of the word.

“I see.” And there was no condemnation in Bortz’s voice, nor was there any pity. Just a simple understanding, an acceptance of the facts. “Are you fine with this?”

Were they? Cinnabar didn’t know. They remembered Phos, attacking sensei, wanting to hurt sensei. They remembered Phos swearing under the moon that they’d find them a job. Cinnabar could feel a tiny part of them crack at the memory, at the loss of what could have been.

Bortz didn’t say anything. Even their foot, for once, was not tapping impatiently. They just stared patiently, their expression hard. At one time, Cinnabar had found that face frightening.

Now…not so much. Cinnabar closed their eyes, remembering the tug of a tie. “Yes, I’m fine with it.”

They needed time to think, to process.

“They’re still not coming,” Bortz growled in irritation, their foot tapping the ground impatiently. Arms crossed, they stared up at the sun as though they could will a sunspot to appear.

Cinnabar followed their gaze, looking up at the bright blue sky. Summer had finally come, though poor Euc wouldn’t be able to enjoy it much. It wouldn’t be long before they started hibernating, preparing for the long winter. With a small smile, Cinnabar teased, “You sound like you want them to come.”

“I do. That’s the only way to defeat them,” Bortz answered shortly, serious to a fault. Did they recognize the playful tone or did it go over their head entirely? Cinnabar wasn’t sure how Dia did it all those years ago.

Dia. Thinking of them now, Cinnabar strained to catch a glimpse of the moon. Dia, Yellow Diamond, Pad, and the others—were they still alive? Were they all there, just waiting to be rescued, or maybe they were all like Phos, intent on destroying Sensei and listening to the Lunarians? Did they even know what happened to Phos?

“What are you thinking of?” Bortz asked, still scanning the skies intently. No matter how long they had peace, Bortz was ever vigilant. Even their body was tense, shoulders hunched up, knees locked.

And somehow, they always knew when Cinnabar had a question, a worry, a thought. They pulled out the words Cinnabar was hesitant to breath life into. All those years ago, patrolling the beaches at night, Cinnabar had imagined that this was what a partner was like.

That this was what it’d be like with Phos. A tremor of guilt ran up their spine; they hadn’t thought about Phos in decades. The clipboard remained on the cave floor, water-logged and forgotten.

“Do you think about Dia anymore?” Cinnabar covered their mouth. That wasn’t the question they wanted to ask, the words they wanted to say. “I-I mean…”

“Dia?” Bortz finally tore their eyes away from the sky, surprised.

Cinnabar nodded. Curiosity bloomed within them and while this wasn’t what they were going to ask, they needed to hear the answer.

“Not really,” Bortz scoffed, their voice dripping with disdain. “If that idiot wants to be on the moon, then that idiot can stay there.”

“T-That’s it?” Cinnabar blinked. They had expected rage, perhaps. Not acceptance, however grumpily it was given.

“Yeah, that’s it.” Bortz frowned. “Why would I spare that idiot any more thoughts than that? Dia made their decision, they can live with it.”

Huh. How very simple. How very Bortz like. How very right.

“I guess they can,” Cinnabar murmured.

“So?” Bortz asked, inspecting their blade. Even without use, it required maintenance. Or maybe more so because of disuse; since they weren’t wielding it, it was easier for the weapons to chip without anyone noticing. “What are you thinking about?”

You, Cinnabar almost answered, the syllables stuck in their throat. Somehow, it was hard to say, hard to admit. They had made their decision long ago but it was thing to think it, another to say it.

“Nothing,” they lied, keeping firm even when Bortz raised a doubtful eyebrow. “Nothing.”

“You,” Cinnabar admitted, the words just tumbling out of their mouth as they grabbed Bortz’s sleeve. Forcing their partner to a complete stop, Cinnabar repeated, “It was you. I’m thinking of you.”

And the words were so brazen, so blunt, but Cinnabar couldn’t go another minute without blurting them out to the gem that kept dragging them to the others. To the gem that kept asking for their thoughts, their opinions even when they were worthless.

To the gem that slowly, over the span of decades, started to weave their way into the composition of Cinnabar’s minerals, that completely took over their thoughts until Cinnabar couldn’t go a day without hearing Bortz’s usual commanding tone, without seeing their angry scowl.

“I can’t stop,” they admitted quietly, almost pleadingly.

Bortz froze and for a moment, Cinnabar feared a rejection. Feared cracking breaking into a million pieces. Then Bortz smirked, pleased, and yanked Cinnabar’s tie until they were closer. “About damn time.”

#cinnabar #hnk #houseki no kuni #bortz #cinnabortz #land of the lustrous #fanfic #I think they'd have a good relationship

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bobs-spaces · 7 years

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Here is a collection of pictures and comments from Science Teacher members of the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) who viewed the August 21st total solar eclipse from different locations across the United States of America. The State where the picture(s) was/were taken is abbreviated to be part of the picture name – so you could scroll down to the bottom of the picture to see that. The caption below a picture starts the sequence of pictures from each teacher. Clicking on any picture will open it into a slide show where you can move forward or backward through the various pictures. From Ryan Westberry: Here’s a video I made after watching the totality in Wyoming at Green River Lakes just off the center line. I sent my drone up really high to capture the landscape while also filming our reactions on the surface- and set it all to music. I did edit the language in the beginning of totality (overcome by that moment) but there are some “Oh S^*t” toward the end that need to be known if anyone plans on showing it. (I’m not promoting that.) I’m just wanting to share in the emotion (I was literally shaking and had tears of joy) and magnitude of watching the event and the love of the science. 🙂

Here is one of the 360o videos I made while the school yard was filling up with families and the students.

If you are wondering what do with any eclipse glasses perhaps donate them to the Eclipse Glasses Donation Program – organized by Astronomers Without Borders.

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Missouri: Briarcliff Elementary School students.

Missouri: Waiting patiently for the start.

Missouri: Briarcliff students getting ready

Wyoming: Drove out with my sister to Grand Island, NE from Wisconsin. I was concerned about cloud cover in Nebraska, so we got up at 4am on the morning 21st to drive for clear skies further west. Ended up in Fort Laramie, WY with beautiful weather. I know that my pictures aren’t nearly as neat or crisp as others, but this was my experience with this rare event. Took the eclipse image through the lens of my solar scope, along with another shot with my sister. On a side note, sure, the eclipse was pretty neat, but what affected me more was knowing that nearly everyone on the road during those couple days were there for the eclipse. It was this thought that made wading through traffic on the way back much easier for me. Being out it Wyoming, on the long windy and rolling hills, cars like ants crawling through the distance, I couldn’t help but think of myself as part of a convoy, similar to the Oregon Trail. Yet, instead of wagons, it was SUVs coming all the way from New York to Manitoba. I know I’m sounding a little poetic here, but this impacted me more than the eclipse itself.

Wyoming:

Wyoming: I drove 6,000 miles in total, from CT to Wyoming to see the eclipse in Jackson Hole with another teacher friend who flew from CT (I also went to a number of parks and monuments… a wonderful trip in total). But the highlight was totality. My friend brought two solar telescopes with her and we were able to see the details of the entire eclipse, complete with sun spots. As it neared totality, the birds all started calling and flying madly, then settled down and became silent as though it were night. A cat came walking out in the street, clearly unnerved — its tail was all puffed up and it kept looking around as if very confused and worried. And it got quite chilly. Jackson is at about 8,000′ and I had to go get a jacket — I’d say the temperature dropped at least 25 degrees. Altogether, stunning. So glad I made the trip.

Texas: South Texas only had a 50% version of the eclipse. We took a couple of Sunspotters out in front of our main office along with a handful of the glasses and some punched tag board. Our sky cleared up only a few minutes before the maximum coverage–it rained briefly at the beginning of the eclipse event and you can see the clouds in one of the views attached. While I really enjoyed seeing the eclipse through various viewers, what was really cool was our finance and other non-science staff who stopped by as they came back from lunch and looked at the image on the Sunspotters and took selfies or got us to take pictures of them with the images. Observing the staff go from nonchalant to kids again was great!

Texas:

Texas: Much better images than mine, but we only had 61% where I am. I did especially enjoy the tree shadows.

Texas:

South Carolina: We were on a boat in the middle of Charleston Harbor, anchored off of a small island that is a bird sanctuary. As soon as totality hit, all of the birds took off at once. It was very cloudy so it didn’t get as dark as we expected…reflection? We could see the “sunset” all around. I’m already making plans for 2024!

South Carolina: Thanks for starting this topic and for all the great images from people’s experiences! I drove to SC from NH to explore data collection in light intensity and temperature readings on land cover with small sensors that the teachers have been using on classroom phenomenon. We set up a cross the totality path with people willing to carry along the same sensors set at the same timing. Weather was especially helpful, adding tension by sending in one fat cloud that the sun escaped just at the last minute before the total event! I use an old digital camera that posts the date and time on the image and the picture below verified how close we came to missing the “main event”. Total started at 2:41. While these photos are not classic, thinking about evidence and alignment with data their importance to alignment with the data capture was essential. I felt connected to those watching but also to those who carried along the data loggers and shared the further project. Will take me some time to explore them and share with the teachers and sites in partial locations also using the same loggers.

South Carolina:

Oregon: I was lucky to have a sister in Oregon who arranged for us to stay with friends in Sisters, Oregon, just at the edge of being able to see the totality. My spouse and adult daughter came with me, happily. Surprisingly the traffic was very light, and thanks to firefighters there was very little smoke in the air. Plans were in place with glasses, colander, and champagne. Using the glasses (thank you NASA) we saw the totality, less than 1 minute, noted the change in light, birds quieting and temperature dropping. Knowing that the “cosmic coincidence” of Sun and Moon sizes and distance from the Earth makes our planet the only one in our solar system that experiences a total solar eclipse and seeing it in a community of science-interested people made it even more special. (We also saw new-to-me birds: White-headed woodpeckers, Mountain chickadee, Pygmy nuthatch.) On the NSTA Early Years blog, a preschool teacher posted about the preparation her class went through, their experience, and the follow-up questions they are investigating. http://nstacommunities.org/blog/2017/08/30/eclipse-report-from-preschool/

Oregon:

Oregon: Jordan Makower

Oregon:

New Jersey: We took the first picture the night before the eclipse over the Barnegat Bay in NJ. The second pic is from the beach with an iPhone in Lavallette, NJ

New Jersey:

Nebraska: This was my first eclipse as well. We had about 2 1/2 minutes in the heart of Nebraska’s beautiful Sand Hills just north of where I live. I did not attempt to photograph it…I left that to professionals. I couldn’t, however, resist taking this panoramic image during totality and managed to catch my daughter’s silhouette. It was partly cloudy that day as you can tell in the photo, but our view of the eclipse was completely clear during totality. It was an amazing experience. Absolutely breathtaking and beautiful!

Missouri: My viewing location was with 350 elementary school kiddos, staff, and parents. We had 80 seconds of totality but clouds covered the sky during totality with a few breaks giving everyone a chance to cheer but not for long. Rain started a few minutes later so from where I was we saw the first half only. My 4th total eclipse and still blown away.

Missouri: Sunspots!

Missouri: That’s the star Regulus in Leo the Lion to the left.

Louisiana: Taken in New Iberia, Louisiana by one of my students. We had a 73% eclipse. 🙂

Kentucky: It is also great for making projections on t-shirts. Family tradition since 1994.

Kentucky: I was in Hopkinsville, KY with the 2 minutes 40 seconds. This is my second total eclipse. I also have 2 annual too. I projected the image from my old astroscan on a piece of foam core board. Great little telescope. The crowd got to see the sunspots.

Kentucky: I was in Dawson Springs, KY where totality was 2 minutes 32 seconds. This was my first total eclipse, and it was an amazing experience. Here are the photos. My two pictures of totality were not the best because I did not want to take the time to change the settings on my camera. One question: at the start and end of totality, I heard a sound similar to thunder or fireworks. Any idea what that was?

Kentucky:

Kentucky: Great pictures from Hopkinsville, Kentukcy. The traffic was a nightmare from Hopkinsville to Cincinnati. Enjoy!

Kentucky:

Missouri: I was about 30 miles east and few miles south of you. The clouds cleared just in time. It was beautiful. One thing that really surprised me was how much light there was when the sun was almost totally eclipsed. Before totality, when there was just a small sliver of the sun visible, it was still pretty light. It was not until totality that is got “dark”. I assumed it was going to gradually get darker and darker leading up to totality. It did not work that way. Those of us that saw totality are likely making plans for the next one in the U.S. in 2024. Those that did not see totality really need to try to see it once. It is amazing and indescribable.

Illinois: We had teacher’s institute on Monday (students didn’t start til Wednesday). I convinced our principal to do an activity in the afternoon and we went outside as a staff. We are 180 miles north of Carbondale and experienced 90% coverage. I had eclipse glasses and pinhole viewers available, along with a telescope with solar filter. I also equiped our staff with UV bead braclets to observe changes in UV exposure. We were also able to experience the eclipse shadows caused by the light filtering through the trees. We had a blast and even got coverage in the local paper. The neatest part was seeing our staff really get into it. I’ll attach photos, but if you can’t get them they can also be viewed via our twitter account GRS_Science My brother was in Nashville and got to experience totality. He sent me photos a co-worker of his took and I was able to share those with my classes on Wednesday. I also had a few students that were able experience it first hand. My 3rd partial solar eclipse…never gets old!

Illinois:

Idaho: My daughter got a nice panorama of the 360° sunset. Photo by Kiana Duggan-Haas.

Idaho: I watched from a ridgetop just outside of Victor, Idaho with the Tetons in the background, at the Pine Creek Campground. Here’s a Google Street View Panorama of us and our site, taken before totality. I was with my two daughters (13 & 16) a couple of high school friends and their families, my cousin and her family, and another family who is friends with one of my high school buds and a few friends and family of these folks. Also on our ridgetop were another 15 or so people, including three planetary scientists from the USGS, a cinematographer and some others. Below are a few pics from our group. Our temperature change was substantial, though we didn’t have thermometers. I’d guess there was a swing of 20° F. We were at something like 8,000 feet in elevation. Totality was chilly, but brief. One thing that didn’t photograph well and I’ve not seen mentioned above are the shadow bands. They look something like the bands on the bottom of a pool on a sunny day and are caused by diffraction of the sun’s light when it’s just a sliver – immediately before and after totality. We’d laid down a white sheet to see them, and they were definitely there, I think wavering more quickly than the bands on the bottom of a pool. They were also pretty faint. I’ll note that the difference between totality and 98% of totality is quite impressive. I heard someone compare the difference to the difference between going 98% of the way to Disneyland vs. actually going to Disneyland. I’m not a Disney guy, so my analogy is that it’s like comparing getting 98% of the way to a climax to actually getting to a climax (you know, of your favorite book or whatever). The plans for this trip had been in the works since my first total solar eclipse viewed from the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula in 1991. More about that trip here (it’s my contribution to the My Earth Educator Story Project). One of the friends I saw that with was one of the high school friends who was with us this time – in fact, he was the lead organizer. I anxiously await my third eclipse when totality passes over my house on April 8, 2024. (Though April in Buffalo offers nothing like a guarantee of clear skies).

Idaho: I was at the base of Borah Pk, tallest mountain in Idaho near MacKay. We had an incredible total eclipse with clear skies. The temperature dropped 10 degrees, the birds were quiet and not flying. I was with a few friends but there was reported about 1000 people who started climbing Borah Peak around midnight! Attached are a few of my husband’s pictures.

Idaho:

Idaho: This is what it looked like, more or less, to my naked eye. Photo by Andy Frank.

Idaho: My first eclipse. We had a total of 2 minutes 2 seconds in Garden Valley Schools, Garden Valley, Idaho, Couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day. We also had Dr. Joe Llama from the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff talking us through what we were about to see. This is the one and only picture I took. It was amazing.

Georgia: Here is the temperature data recorded at a high school about 20 minutes north of Athens, GA We were at 99.7% totality.

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.

Teacher Eclipse Pictures Here is a collection of pictures and comments from Science Teacher members of the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association)

#astronomy #astrophotography #jupiter #leo the lion #mars #Mercury #moon #national science teachers association #nsta #observing #orbit around the sun #planets #Regulus #science #solar eclipse

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