Helios Sprensonne (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
folklorist) wrote2012-01-30 10:01 pm
folklorist) wrote2012-01-30 10:01 pm
Entry tags:
ϡ - Chapter ThirtyThree; An Unusual Return [Action|Voice] (backdated to early afternoon)
[Action: Locked to Robert and Helios]
[ It’s a normal day and everyone has gone back to their own worlds. The cacophony of unknown voices over the journals has ceased and there is simply silence. But it’s not as if either of these two would have remembered. They were both taken by the droids just before such events took place, and were replaced with ones that looked and acted just like them. No one knew they were gone and no one would have to.
Except…except things weren’t exactly right upon their return. They usually never were, to be fair. But this, this was something beyond anything Helios thought the Malnosso were capable of.
He was… he was warm...and the pain... The pain was gone; that constant dull pain that had been a part of his life for as long as he could remember...for as long as Elise has been gone. It wasn’t right.
Something is so very wrong right now, and he doesn’t know what to do.
Helios looks over at the scientist lying off to the side and he finally realizes that they’re in some random, empty, unclaimed house. Robert is sprawled on his side, wings twitching a little under his lab coat, but he otherwise looks normal.
It's only when Helios stoops close to shake him gently awake that he realizes something is wrong with him, too. Robert's hands are deathly cold against his palms...just like his usually are.
...They're going to have to talk.]
[Later action: Open to all]
[Eventually, Robert and Helios walk out of the building together, composed (enough) and ready to face all the inevitable accusations...though they will be very careful and recalcitrant about any major questions. And also a little reluctant to leave each other alone...especially not in their current conditions. Feel free to run into either of them on their meandering way back to House 55...they'd love the company.]
[Eventually, however, they'll get inside and be able to fish out Robert's journal...and then Helios fetches the journal to say a few words.]
Where is it? Oh! Yes it's on. [ He's always a bit more absentminded when there's a lot on his mind, forgive him. ]
It's b-been two days? N-No…around three, I believe. Ah, well, we’re both back. We’re both f-fine and, and there’s nothing to worry about! [ Oh yes. Nothing at all. ] W-We meaning Robert and I. H-He’s fine and-and if you want to speak with him you can. The Malnosso left us in better shape than usual. Ha...perhaps they are learning how to be compassionate. [ A light chuckle. ]
Yes, well, d-did anything happen? Is everyone…is everyone alright? [ A lot can happen in two days in Luceti after all. ]
[ OOC: Robert and Helios return from their mallynap! Feel free to specify in the subject line of your reply where your character is and who you want your character to talk to – either will talk if asked, though most action replies will probably be three-way threads.]
[ It’s a normal day and everyone has gone back to their own worlds. The cacophony of unknown voices over the journals has ceased and there is simply silence. But it’s not as if either of these two would have remembered. They were both taken by the droids just before such events took place, and were replaced with ones that looked and acted just like them. No one knew they were gone and no one would have to.
Except…except things weren’t exactly right upon their return. They usually never were, to be fair. But this, this was something beyond anything Helios thought the Malnosso were capable of.
He was… he was warm...and the pain... The pain was gone; that constant dull pain that had been a part of his life for as long as he could remember...for as long as Elise has been gone. It wasn’t right.
Something is so very wrong right now, and he doesn’t know what to do.
Helios looks over at the scientist lying off to the side and he finally realizes that they’re in some random, empty, unclaimed house. Robert is sprawled on his side, wings twitching a little under his lab coat, but he otherwise looks normal.
It's only when Helios stoops close to shake him gently awake that he realizes something is wrong with him, too. Robert's hands are deathly cold against his palms...just like his usually are.
...They're going to have to talk.]
[Later action: Open to all]
[Eventually, Robert and Helios walk out of the building together, composed (enough) and ready to face all the inevitable accusations...though they will be very careful and recalcitrant about any major questions. And also a little reluctant to leave each other alone...especially not in their current conditions. Feel free to run into either of them on their meandering way back to House 55...they'd love the company.]
[Eventually, however, they'll get inside and be able to fish out Robert's journal...and then Helios fetches the journal to say a few words.]
Where is it? Oh! Yes it's on. [ He's always a bit more absentminded when there's a lot on his mind, forgive him. ]
It's b-been two days? N-No…around three, I believe. Ah, well, we’re both back. We’re both f-fine and, and there’s nothing to worry about! [ Oh yes. Nothing at all. ] W-We meaning Robert and I. H-He’s fine and-and if you want to speak with him you can. The Malnosso left us in better shape than usual. Ha...perhaps they are learning how to be compassionate. [ A light chuckle. ]
Yes, well, d-did anything happen? Is everyone…is everyone alright? [ A lot can happen in two days in Luceti after all. ]
[ OOC: Robert and Helios return from their mallynap! Feel free to specify in the subject line of your reply where your character is and who you want your character to talk to – either will talk if asked, though most action replies will probably be three-way threads.]
[Voice]
... I... I have to... m-maintain confidentiality... b-because of the situation, which is... [... delicate.] ... n-not my place to divulge.
...
Erm. Even... th-this might have been... more than necessary...
[Awkwardly:] ... I dislike such... s-situations where I c-cannot simply... ... say things...
[Voice]
[He lets that sink in for a beat.]
Being honest doesn't mean giving details. If it's no one else's business, then it's no one else's business. But, if you're really in a shitty position and you're not good at hiding it, then be vague. Say you caught a bug, it was a wierd shift...you know. Normal stuff.
[Despite his airy tone and demeanor, Lupin adopts a more sober tone as he continues:] I hate to tell it to ya, but lying does get easier with time. [If an honest soul is to be corrupted, he might as well make it as clear as the sky after an ice storm] Just be careful not to get caught in all of them; no one will be able to save you.
[Voice]
But he listens anyway.]
... This is... v-very new for me...
[... Lying is something he knows he would have to get very good at if he were to go home, though. Unless he wanted to be arrested.]
... ... My name is... P-Professor Robert A-Alexander Hastings...
...
... I s-suppose it would have been... b-better to meet in... m-more positive circumstances.
[Voice]
He claps his hands audibly, for the sense of immediacy and finality.]
It is what it is. ...aren't you a little young to be a professor?
[Voice]
That clap startles Robert a little; of course, he had been paying attention, but he certainly didn't expect that. But it definitely gives him a reason to reply...]
... Ah, w-well... not by T-Terran standards, exactly...
[How to explain this...]
... I... am twenty-five, a-approximately. Assuming time d-dilation, and whatnot...
... Regardless, I was t-training to become an astrobiologist l-long before I... actually was hired by the Randi I-Institute...
[Voice]
...yeah. Not gonna think about that.]
That's still kinda young; I've got a full ten years on you.
[Voice]
[... Terran education is pretty intensive, but he's never really had anything to compare against here in Luceti.]
... I... s-suppose there might... b-be some differences, in... in terms of educational... p-protocol...?
... [Thoughtfully:] Though... I was considered a... r-rather quick learner...
[... He's actually kind of selling himself a bit short, here.]
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[So Japanese...have fun.]
[Voice]
Not that the mun is totally solid on Terran schooling...]Ah, w-well. Education on Terra is... v-variable, tailored to the i-inidividual student's needs, b-but... the typical human student w-would start education around four y-years of age, with core e-educational principles being expounded u-upon in later years...
... M-Most Terrans will have a solid idea of eventual c-career choice by f-fifteen, though it can... v-vary in practise and in estimated a-ability projections by... simulators.
[... Yep.]
I have... h-heard cases of people... changing their m-minds later, but... it t-tends to be rare...
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[He is legitimately confused.]
[Voice]
Then again, I'm biased.
[Voice]
[Voice]
You're one of those guys who thinks inside the box, aren't you?
[Voice]
... I... w-would not know. B-By... by definition, s-scientists do... need to have some, er, u-unique thinking processes...
[Voice]
Just my biases then. I never got structure and order. [He shrugs on his end, invisible to Robert's eyes via the audio feed.]
Here's a small tip: you can apply those 'unique thinking processes' to formulating lies next time. Or finding ways to avoid them. People are like science, when you get down to it. Their behaviors follow patterns that are pretty easy to manipulated.
[Voice]
[So many abstractions. So many unpredictable behaviours and things he can't account for and quirks he can't understand and... what feels like a whole language sometimes, hovering just beyond him.
He remembers the brief, experiment-induced time he could understand it. Sometimes it hurts, remembering that.]
[Voice]
That's when it becomes fun.
[Voice]
[There are many things that are difficult for Robert to comprehend. This is one of the worst.]
...
... You... s-seem experienced with... this c-concept...
[Voice]
--and, I don't mean literally stop thinking. [even he, especially he, knew how impossible that was.] I mean...just watch without judgements or opinions clouding your observations.
[Voice]
... Well, t-to an extent, I... d-do something like that. I just... do not th-think I would... necessarily be able to, er... i-interpret all the data...
[Voice]
I don't understand.
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