welp.

[ownership]

[ Rosella huffs. Those large, lamplike eyes don't do anything but blink for several moments, something completely blank in the set of her expression.

Finally (finally): ]

I will admit a small spectrum of observations. I have not had experience managing weaknesses, as The Aviary corrected our own. I would not find the existence you propose satisfactory. Additionally, I am unsure of the protocol belonging to various enviroments outside of the ones I have been educated, and would be less than efficient in a foreign field.

—but I will go, if you so wish.

Comments

[feeding]

It's like someone garbled your version of English to hard mode.

[ownership]

[ Unblinking: ]

Yes.

[feeding]

Can you talk in binary too?

[ownership]

[ She looks like she's about to roll her eyes at you. ]

No.

[feeding]

[ Well, he's gotta cover all his bases. Sometimes robots don't like being called a toaster, it's a thing. ]

Huh. What about dead languages? Technically undead, if you can speak it, but that's just semantics, yeah?

[ownership]

I was tasked to stealth and deep immersion combat. I have very little skill in connection to linguistics and communication studies, if that answers your query.

[feeding]

It answers a few, yeah. Is there a reason you got the life sucked out of your speech, or is that just a thing you like to do? Because you sound really stiff.

[ownership]

I do not enjoy employing the use of colloquialism.

[feeding]

[ Ah. Like the academy administration, then. ]

Technical speech's all good and well, except for when you wanna blend in. How's that working out for you?

[ownership]

I am not an immersive operative.

[ She's looking at you like you're slow. She's said this part already, doofus. ]

[feeding]

[ In so many words, and not as directly. Can't fault a boy for asking. ]

Which doesn't answer the question. You just don't play ball, then?

[bouts]

[ She sure does use a lot of big words.

Following a beat of consideration: ] Y' a good listener, huh?

[ownership]

Yes. I am well-versed in carrying out mission statements and protocols to specific and individual desires.

[bouts]

[ He'd laugh, he thinks, if he hadn't served much the same purpose, once upon a time. Not that his checks and balances ever made out in a manner that precise. ]

What about yours?

[ Your desires, he means, though he's got just about as little of an answer for the question. ]

[ownership]

[ A still blink, then two. By the time she reaches three: ]

I do not understand your query.

[bouts]

[ Flatly: ] What d'you want? That no one tells y' t' want or do.

[ownership]

[ Way to hit the nail on the head, Julian.

There is a long, long pause, but between the two, drawn out silences seem to be the norm. At length: ]

I do not understand the purpose of asking such a question.

[bouts]

[ Julian shrugs. (It's not easy, nor entirely freeing, living on your terms, but it's something.) ]

Doesn't matter. 'S been asked.

[ownership]

[ A muscle in her jaw tics. (Frustration.) ]

Then I would summize that asking a question does not entail an answer.

[bouts]

[ Again, he shrugs, in a guess not kind of movement. ]

What if I want one?

[wont]

[ This face. Not that it has any actual affect on you. ]

Rosella.

[ownership]

[ Yeah, you're right. What face? ]

Yes, Alayne Stone?

[wont]

[ That's quite alright, she's happy just to look at you. ]

Preparing for a trip, Rosella?

[ownership]

I have been tasked to a new enviroment.

[ So.... .. . . . . .... yes. She means yes. ]

[wont]

[ She remembers how you talk. Despite there being no need for it, Alayne smiles praisingly. ]

And you shall prove adaptive once again, no doubt.

[ownership]

There is no certainty.

[ But Rosella does seem to preen under it all the same; a small, subtle thing in the shape of her mouth. ]

Has the time been— [ ah, here it comes ] —kind to you, Alayne?

[wont]

[ Alayne's smile changes shape, turns small and secret. ]

And what is kindness, Rosella?

[ Like a tutor, asking questions. Or perhaps it's a joke. (Lost on her, no doubt.) ]

[ownership]

[ She takes her time with her answer, as any good student would, though the answer comes out in a very stock-standard way. ]

A skill you endeavored to teach me upon the vessel Tranquility.

[wont]

It is. [ Alayne's eyebrows lift ever so slightly. ] And what did you learn?

[ownership]

It is— difficult. To be kind.

[ Then, she allows: ] But many react favorably.

[wont]

Some people flourish on kindness. [ Alayne takes to it like a weed to water, both a strength and a weakness. ] Other people wield it like a weapon.

[ownership]

And which are you?

[wont]

[ Alayne thinks on this for a moment then smiles, small and quiet. ] I am both.

[initiated]

[he can say nothing, only gaze back at her with a specific kind of understanding in his eyes.

She's leaving again.]

[ownership]

[ Rosella looks kind of awkward for a second, though that awkwardness manifests itself in a small tic of the muscle in her jaw.

A beat, then she chooses to sit down on the ground, cross-legged. ]

Hello, Tyler.

[initiated]

[he is small, apparently - deceivingly - fragile, pale complexion with brushes of pink on his cheeks and the tips of his fingers. they twitch softly, a sign of life as he quietly blinks at her, lips red and shut.

eventually, Tyler raises his hands.

You should be saying goodbye.]

[ownership]

[ Rosella doesn't understand the sentiment, but she understands the gesture of his hands. She stares at them, the strong lines embedded in his palm, then back towards his face.

Instead of blankness, there is curiosity instead. ]

Is this a request?

[initiated]

[simply:

It is a correction.

it doesn't mean he wants her to say it.]

[widowing]

You'll find your own way of managing quickly enough, I'd imagine.

[ natasha has been standing back a bit but now comes closer, arms crossed over her chest with a slight curve to her mouth. hers isn't a face she thought she'd be seeing again. ]

Just remember not to ask if it's a test. [ you remember how well that went last time. ]

[ownership]

I do not understand why so many are accustomed to panic at the first signs of implicit violence.

[ WOW SO FRUSTRATE ]

[widowing]

Most think themselves incapable of defending themselves should a violent situation arise. [ it's not always the case; even the simplest and most innocent of creatures has found ways of adapting to bad environments, but it's an explanation, or the start of one.

a beat. ]

You look well.

[ alive, anyway. ]

[logistic]

Curiously accommodating response considering the unsatisfactory state of the proposed relocation.