| No Touchy Touchy |
| Summary: | Kaylee and Taka hang out in the Sea Hub |
| Date: | 2017-01-19 |
| Related: | None |
| NPCs: | None |
| Scene Runner: | None |
| Players: |
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Sea Hub Coral Springs
Unlike the tight quarters above the surface, this central hub under the water is large and spacious. Not quite a dome in shape, there are windows along the surfaces making this like a giant bubble with plenty of views, both of the old fort above as well as a view down to the ocean floor below. Circular arches lead into rooms beyond this central room, not unlike what one may imagine a space station to look like. Though there are comfortable couch like benches and plants to fill the space, giving it a semblance of earth as well. These do not, however, compare to the view outside the windows.
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It's a quiet Thursday night in Coral Springs and students come and go to their various hangouts around the school. Except for one student, who is currently sitting on the floor, legs curled under her, working on a painting. There are several pots of paints to one side, a large mat (with several splotches on it) and a mixing board around her, as well. And, if anybody stops to look at what she's painting, it's a fairly abstract set of blue and purple blurs that very slightly resembles the view out of the window into the sea. For her part, Kaylee has her long hair pulled back in a pony tail and her glasses on, a small smudge of paint on her cheek where she must have brushed herself while adjusting her glasses. There are also a few drops of color at the tips of some of her strands of hair, which must have errantly brushed across the painting while she leaned in to get a closer look while she works. And, for as abstract as the painting IS, it's not that she lacks talent- the colors are actually blended fairly well. It's just … not how most people would 'see' it.
Really, if the weather weren't ridiculous, Taka would be spending almost all his time outside. But, it is ridiculous, so he's stuck inside. And although many of the rooms are comfortably large, they have those windows. The ones that look out into liquid wrongness. Really, if the Gods had meant for people to be underwater, they'd have fins, not wings!
Well, the Sea Hub has the advantage of a more normal outside view, even if it's too close to the water, so Taka wanders up from below, twiddling a pen in his hand, his ever-present notebook tucked under the other arm, whistling something that doesn't sound like it's in a Western scale of any sort. Which breaks off when he notices he's not alone in here. "Oh! Apology. I did not mean to disturb."
Kaylee doesn't take her face off of her painting, though she does smile in a friendly fashion as though she WERE looking at Taka. "It's okay, Taka! You didn't disturb me. What are you whistling?" she asks, still painting away on the canvas on the floor in front of her. "I didn't recognize the song at all."
"It is something from my world," Taka explains, wandering over to take a look at Kaylee's project. "It is an old air for a… uh. A dheki, it is a stringed instrument, I do not know if there is anything like it here. I never could play it, so I suppose it does not matter." He holds his wings back carefully and leans over the painting a bit. "What is this?"
"Oh! That's awesome! Will you whistle more? I'd love to hear it," Kaylee responds to his initial explanation. When Taka shows interest in her painting, Kaylee blushes fairly swiftly and stops, actually looking up and adjusting her glasses back into place. And subsequently getting some paint on her OTHER cheek, in the process, though she totally doesn't notice. "Um … it's … an impression? Like, with my powers, I totally can't see underwater. So, I'm painting basically what I DO see? Not with my eyes, though, with my … stuff. You know … I don't think they've told me what to call it, yet!"
Taka blushes in his turn. "I… am not musical. It is good enough for myself, but it would give you entirely the wrong impression about our music. If I can have some time to prepare myself, I could let you 'hear' it correctly, mind to mind."
He leans in a little closer to the painting. "I am not understanding. I do not like the view from the dorm room window, but one can see underwater, if darkly. Do you sense it some other way?"
Kaylee grimaces a little at the suggestion of doing things 'mind-to-mind,' and shakes her head. "Aaaactually … it still makes me kind of really uncomfortable to hear stuff in my head that doesn't come from … my head …," she admits in a sheepish fashion. "But, do you have any MP3s or anything!?" Because aliens TOOOOTALLY use the same software as humans. To the questions about what she sees, Kaylee smiles and nods. "I can still see with my eyes pretty okay, especially when I'm wearing my glasses. But, I also detect the presence of photons in the area. However, with the way that water bends and splits light, it makes it almost impossible for me to see through it. I mean, even in like a pool and stuff, things get all super mixed up and jumbled and it's super disorienting. That's why I reeeeally don't like swimming at all. And, from under the water … this is kinda what I see, except I see it in 3D the whole time"
Taka nods. "Yes, I understand your people are not accustomed to mental contact. I do not have any recordings, I regret. My arrival on this world was accidental; I had nothing but the clothes I was wearing and a few small personal items."
He tries to digest her explanation of how she sees things, but the look on his face is most eloquent: he's not sure he's got it. "So…" he ventures, "you can sense 'visually' in a manner of speaking, without using your eyes? Any photon that strikes you anywhere?" He doesn't sound at all sure, but if one doesn't ask, one never learns.
"Aww! That's awful! But they've given you new clothes and stuff to wear, right?" Kaylee asks, concern evident in her voice. She offers a sympathetic pouty-face, as well, her bottom lip puffing out a little in solidarity with Taka's apparent loss. "I sure hope you've been okay and people have been nice to you since you've been here. I mean, most people here are really nice, anyway, but I can't even imagine how hard it would be to get stuck here on ACCIDENT! I don't think I know anybody that didn't know they were gonna be here before they arrived." And, if Taka's still close, Kaylee will reach out to offer his shoulder, arm or leg, whichever's in reach, a friendly petting. But, then he asks more about her powers and she scrunches up her face a little as she considers. "Ummmmmmm … not exactly? It's not really … um … visual? I just … I can FEEL photons. Pretty much all of them, within like a hundred feet or so. Like, for your eyes to work, the light actually has to enter your eyes and bounce off the back. My brain can just FEEL light, anywhere around me, three-sixty. I mean, I can't see through solid objects, like the floor or doors or anything. … at least, not yet, anyway," she says, grinning a little. "But oustide of that, if it's close enough, I can feel it."
Taka actually steps aside to prevent being touched. "Apology, Kaylee," he explains rapidly. "Physical contact is what allows mental contact between me and your people. Since you have said you prefer to not have your mind intruded on… well. I mean no insult, I am only guarding your mind from mine. I can not always control whether I touch minds; I am so used to it, and it is natural to me. I can react on instinct rather than reason sometimes." He actually bows slightly, as if to punctuate the apology and explanation.
"As far as my circumstances being on this world…" Here, Taka sighs. "What is, is. I have arrived on a planet that at least supports my kind of life, that was luckier than I had any right to expect. And no one has been unpleasant or unfriendly to me. Some have been weird, but I am coming to understand that weird is normal here." Smile.
And at her explanation of how she senses things, his expression clears. "Yes, I think I understand. I wish I could see that." He glances back at the painting, and indicates it with a finger. "Well, in a way, I can, in some small part, yes?"
"Oh! Nononono! I'm totally sorry!" Kaylee says, pushing her glasses up again and waving her hands a little to ward off Taka's apology. "I totally didn't know that, and I'm kinda super touchy-feely, so I'm definitely the one who's sorry. So don't apologize!" She smiles, nodding. And then, back to talking about her powers! "Well … I mean … if you REALLY want to … if the whole mind-touching thing would let you, I could maybe show you if you wanted? I guess it doesn't seem very interesting to me, since it's just natural and actually a little frustrating for me. Especially at night when I'm trying to sleep but I can still see everything with my eyes closed."
"You did not know; there is nothing to apologize for." Taka steps back to where he was, within arm's reach. "I would like to see it, but I would like you to be prepared to show me. I am used to sharing minds, but I am sure than I am *not* used to however it is that you sense the world." He adds with a smile, "And I think you would want me to be better prepared to share our music with you."