Post by Lovely on Feb 23, 2013 12:11:05 GMT -5
August 27 2011
10:30 p.m.
He called it a compound. It was the only word he could think of similar enough in the language to work. She called it a camp which his lexicon identified as something more cheerful, more hopeful than the scrambled gathering in what was likely once a sunny park filled with children and laughter and barking dogs. Perhaps earlier that day it still had been, but the clear signs of the smoldering onslaught ensured that the next sunrise wasn't shining on anything but smokey reminders of such things. They would level an area and move on, he'd explained, reassuring the others as he started to set up for the night that this place was as safe as any of them could expect. A campfire would hardly be noticed with the ones they'd caused still dotting the area where libraries and houses and small family stores had stood nearby. And the wind was now still. The whipping torrents of low-flying craft had stopped for now, at least here. Garrett looked around to the others' needs and then started to poke at their own fire, occasionally watching the skies.
Aless had been the first to join this little band of.. survivors. She'd saved Garrett's life during the first attack on her home town and then he'd saved hers during the second. He'd actually come back for her after having left to go find his friends.. Since then she's stayed with the small group of men and other girls had joined the group, ones they'd managed to save in subsequent attacks as they kept moving from place to place. The three girls were aware of who or what they travelled with but that didn't seem to matter much to any of them, having your life saved by someone gave them quite a bit of credibility. It was still awkward and a little tense at times, beyond just the situation they were in. Aless moved to sit near the fire, almost next to Garret, they had posed as a couple when they ended up in more populated places or actual shelters. People at the first they'd found assumed and from there they had decided to let it work for them - it helped the guys to go undiscovered as being 'not from around here'. Tonight there were no others, just this handful that stuck together even when there had been opportunities for the girls to leave. She sighed softly, watching Garrett more than the fire for a minute.
He turned his attention from the streams of smoke that shielded the stars he'd tried to see. It was a strange sound she'd made and he failed at interpreting it. The confusion registered humanly over his features. "What is it?" His query lacked any tone of panic, being ever-calm when he spoke. It was this he considered a boon to the building of trust from the others, that he didn't command strongly or engage their already-heightened fear. He tried to grin, to seem less pensive and hard.
"Hmm? Oh.. nothing.." She tried to smile back and not look embarrassed. She had just been letting her mind wander and thinking about.. well all sorts of things. He might not understand them, they were from two different worlds - literally!
"Sounds are verbalizations. They're equivalent to words," he said, glancing back up to the sky a brief moment longer. "I can't find this one in my lexicon, but if you equate it to nothing, I won't add it." He turned away from staring and held his eyes closed a long moment now, though he faced her. The smoke wasn't something he was used to. "The attacks have been too random, or so I'd thought. I've been looking for patterns, something to tell me where they're going next."
She looked to him and gave a small sad smile. "Sometimes I forget how different we are.. and other times it's all I think about. A sigh has many meanings, it hard to explain. Sometimes it's because someone is thinking or day dreaming. It can be due to sadness or frustration, sometimes they are even happy sighs.. I was thinking.." She explained and blushed, turning her head to the side. "It had nothing to do with patterns or where they might go next.. but of course, I have no idea how they think."
He opened his eyes and the murky silver in them faded to the familiar blue. "Numerous and conflicting definitions. I will make note of that for later clarification... thinking sounds like that. I want to understand. The others I do understand, but I am just as confused about the path they are taking. Is this where I would make that sound because I am thinking?"
"You might make that sound now. People don't always sigh when they think.. but where you're confused, sighing is appropriate." She explained a little more and held out her hand to him. "Do you want to sit here or maybe walk around a little?"
Away from the smoke he might be able to think better, he decided. He nodded and reached for her hand. He'd learned quickly that such motions and interactions were just as useful to soothe the concerns of the survivors as speaking softly. "Walking away from the smoke, but not far. The stillness in the air is uncomfortable."
Aless nodded and gave him a small smile. "Away from the smoke.. it bothers you. Why do you poke at the fire?" She asked softly, wrapping her fingers around his hand firmly but also gently. "You're not very emotional.. or maybe you just don't show things." She commented quietly. "You know it's been nearly three months since we met.. and I feel like I know so little about you."
"I show things by poking at fires," he explained, trying to find something that would make sense. "It makes sounds... like sighs.. and tells me things about what's in it. Each thing burn differently, like stars," he said, pointing up as he took a step away from the smoke. "Elements... combinations make different colors, glow more... or less.. than others. I was... thinking," he said, this time actually grinning. "Poking, as you observed, means I'm thinking. I'm concerned about the path we take, and about the others."
"Oh.. well.. your face, I mean your expression doesn't change much..." She was stumbling to explain what she meant, especially with how he now smiled. "It's hard to tell how you're feeling.. or if you are." She reached up slowly toward his face. "It's almost like you're always trying to keep it one way.. the smile is nice.." Aless nodded a little and almost sighed but caught herself. "Why did you come back after you left to find your friends? When you say the others.. is it only the ones like you?"
Again he was confused and the touch on his face was clearly foreign to him. "I feel, but where we're from, expression isn't quite the same. I will try to improve," he said, straightening his face then smiling again to remember how it felt. "This is preferred? I came back to find more to help us.. help you and the ones who live here to survive the attacks and help drive the others away. This world simply got in the way. We never intended for this. I feel... that I have to help stop it."
His answer and expressions were almost mechanical, she watched him try to smile again, like he was testing out a new pair of shoes or something. She let her hand fall away and nodded her head. "Not always having the same expression on your face during everything that happens, is preferred." She told him gently, her smile had gone and she pretended the moisture in her eyes was from the smoke. "Humans are.. pretty emotional beings. Most of us tend to show how we feel, even if it's only a little because we're trying to get through something that is difficult." Like finding out if the alien you'd developed a crush on after he saved your life, didn't like you back.
Garrett nodded. He'd seen the other women with wet eyes like hers though her tones were different than theirs. The forced smile faded to the nearly blank expression again. "You are showing me now," he pointed out. His hand lifted to the corner of her eye to dab it lightly. "That you also do not like smoke and that you are thinking again, but not sighing."
"Yes.." Her voice was soft and she pushed out a smile for him, blinking to try to make the tears disappear. "I guess for us it's harder to hide emotions.. maybe more so for girls.. What.. I mean how do you make more of you, if you don't show emotions?"
For all his attempts to understand, her inquiries continued to confuse him. "How do we make more? In the incubation pods," he said as if it were well known, but how could she know? "Genetic pairing, selected and carefully applied and monitored. I don't understand about emotions, not like these, being involved in monitoring the centers."
Her eyes widened a bit at that and she sort of nodded her head - trying to imagine a society so closed off emotionally. Here was an example standing in front of her. "Okay.. well sounds terribly romantic.. I mean.. don't you date or marry.. You know, guys and girls and all that?" She was betting the answer was no, which did explain quite a bit. "If you want to pass for human or get them to trust you, other than us three that you guys have specifically saved, you need to show emotions.. you can't be all.. stone faced all the time."
10:30 p.m.
He called it a compound. It was the only word he could think of similar enough in the language to work. She called it a camp which his lexicon identified as something more cheerful, more hopeful than the scrambled gathering in what was likely once a sunny park filled with children and laughter and barking dogs. Perhaps earlier that day it still had been, but the clear signs of the smoldering onslaught ensured that the next sunrise wasn't shining on anything but smokey reminders of such things. They would level an area and move on, he'd explained, reassuring the others as he started to set up for the night that this place was as safe as any of them could expect. A campfire would hardly be noticed with the ones they'd caused still dotting the area where libraries and houses and small family stores had stood nearby. And the wind was now still. The whipping torrents of low-flying craft had stopped for now, at least here. Garrett looked around to the others' needs and then started to poke at their own fire, occasionally watching the skies.
Aless had been the first to join this little band of.. survivors. She'd saved Garrett's life during the first attack on her home town and then he'd saved hers during the second. He'd actually come back for her after having left to go find his friends.. Since then she's stayed with the small group of men and other girls had joined the group, ones they'd managed to save in subsequent attacks as they kept moving from place to place. The three girls were aware of who or what they travelled with but that didn't seem to matter much to any of them, having your life saved by someone gave them quite a bit of credibility. It was still awkward and a little tense at times, beyond just the situation they were in. Aless moved to sit near the fire, almost next to Garret, they had posed as a couple when they ended up in more populated places or actual shelters. People at the first they'd found assumed and from there they had decided to let it work for them - it helped the guys to go undiscovered as being 'not from around here'. Tonight there were no others, just this handful that stuck together even when there had been opportunities for the girls to leave. She sighed softly, watching Garrett more than the fire for a minute.
He turned his attention from the streams of smoke that shielded the stars he'd tried to see. It was a strange sound she'd made and he failed at interpreting it. The confusion registered humanly over his features. "What is it?" His query lacked any tone of panic, being ever-calm when he spoke. It was this he considered a boon to the building of trust from the others, that he didn't command strongly or engage their already-heightened fear. He tried to grin, to seem less pensive and hard.
"Hmm? Oh.. nothing.." She tried to smile back and not look embarrassed. She had just been letting her mind wander and thinking about.. well all sorts of things. He might not understand them, they were from two different worlds - literally!
"Sounds are verbalizations. They're equivalent to words," he said, glancing back up to the sky a brief moment longer. "I can't find this one in my lexicon, but if you equate it to nothing, I won't add it." He turned away from staring and held his eyes closed a long moment now, though he faced her. The smoke wasn't something he was used to. "The attacks have been too random, or so I'd thought. I've been looking for patterns, something to tell me where they're going next."
She looked to him and gave a small sad smile. "Sometimes I forget how different we are.. and other times it's all I think about. A sigh has many meanings, it hard to explain. Sometimes it's because someone is thinking or day dreaming. It can be due to sadness or frustration, sometimes they are even happy sighs.. I was thinking.." She explained and blushed, turning her head to the side. "It had nothing to do with patterns or where they might go next.. but of course, I have no idea how they think."
He opened his eyes and the murky silver in them faded to the familiar blue. "Numerous and conflicting definitions. I will make note of that for later clarification... thinking sounds like that. I want to understand. The others I do understand, but I am just as confused about the path they are taking. Is this where I would make that sound because I am thinking?"
"You might make that sound now. People don't always sigh when they think.. but where you're confused, sighing is appropriate." She explained a little more and held out her hand to him. "Do you want to sit here or maybe walk around a little?"
Away from the smoke he might be able to think better, he decided. He nodded and reached for her hand. He'd learned quickly that such motions and interactions were just as useful to soothe the concerns of the survivors as speaking softly. "Walking away from the smoke, but not far. The stillness in the air is uncomfortable."
Aless nodded and gave him a small smile. "Away from the smoke.. it bothers you. Why do you poke at the fire?" She asked softly, wrapping her fingers around his hand firmly but also gently. "You're not very emotional.. or maybe you just don't show things." She commented quietly. "You know it's been nearly three months since we met.. and I feel like I know so little about you."
"I show things by poking at fires," he explained, trying to find something that would make sense. "It makes sounds... like sighs.. and tells me things about what's in it. Each thing burn differently, like stars," he said, pointing up as he took a step away from the smoke. "Elements... combinations make different colors, glow more... or less.. than others. I was... thinking," he said, this time actually grinning. "Poking, as you observed, means I'm thinking. I'm concerned about the path we take, and about the others."
"Oh.. well.. your face, I mean your expression doesn't change much..." She was stumbling to explain what she meant, especially with how he now smiled. "It's hard to tell how you're feeling.. or if you are." She reached up slowly toward his face. "It's almost like you're always trying to keep it one way.. the smile is nice.." Aless nodded a little and almost sighed but caught herself. "Why did you come back after you left to find your friends? When you say the others.. is it only the ones like you?"
Again he was confused and the touch on his face was clearly foreign to him. "I feel, but where we're from, expression isn't quite the same. I will try to improve," he said, straightening his face then smiling again to remember how it felt. "This is preferred? I came back to find more to help us.. help you and the ones who live here to survive the attacks and help drive the others away. This world simply got in the way. We never intended for this. I feel... that I have to help stop it."
His answer and expressions were almost mechanical, she watched him try to smile again, like he was testing out a new pair of shoes or something. She let her hand fall away and nodded her head. "Not always having the same expression on your face during everything that happens, is preferred." She told him gently, her smile had gone and she pretended the moisture in her eyes was from the smoke. "Humans are.. pretty emotional beings. Most of us tend to show how we feel, even if it's only a little because we're trying to get through something that is difficult." Like finding out if the alien you'd developed a crush on after he saved your life, didn't like you back.
Garrett nodded. He'd seen the other women with wet eyes like hers though her tones were different than theirs. The forced smile faded to the nearly blank expression again. "You are showing me now," he pointed out. His hand lifted to the corner of her eye to dab it lightly. "That you also do not like smoke and that you are thinking again, but not sighing."
"Yes.." Her voice was soft and she pushed out a smile for him, blinking to try to make the tears disappear. "I guess for us it's harder to hide emotions.. maybe more so for girls.. What.. I mean how do you make more of you, if you don't show emotions?"
For all his attempts to understand, her inquiries continued to confuse him. "How do we make more? In the incubation pods," he said as if it were well known, but how could she know? "Genetic pairing, selected and carefully applied and monitored. I don't understand about emotions, not like these, being involved in monitoring the centers."
Her eyes widened a bit at that and she sort of nodded her head - trying to imagine a society so closed off emotionally. Here was an example standing in front of her. "Okay.. well sounds terribly romantic.. I mean.. don't you date or marry.. You know, guys and girls and all that?" She was betting the answer was no, which did explain quite a bit. "If you want to pass for human or get them to trust you, other than us three that you guys have specifically saved, you need to show emotions.. you can't be all.. stone faced all the time."