the_isle | You're From The Isle If Anybody Asks

First Awareness

Those used to this by now probably knew what it meant when they felt their magic return for a moment. For the rest, suddenly their powers were back. Just for a few minutes, but a lot could be done in a few minutes. If the person even noticed their powers were back, that is.

Of course those on the shore might have seen the hazy indistinct shape through the barrier coming closer, might have seen the moment the hole in the barrier opened. Might have seen King Ben leading people down a gangplank through the barrier with crates of supplies....

Unions, Re And Otherwise

Once the supplies were unloaded, the barrier was sealed up again. King Ben seemed to be in charge during the unloading, Once the barrier was closed again, by the green magic streaming from the Queen's finger, it was Mal who seemed to be in charge.

"Alright, listen up. We have 2 hours and the clock is ticking. I'm not FG but we're keeping to a deadline anyway. If you want to come to Auradon or know someone you want us to bring back, you have 2 hours to convince us. You and everyone else, sharing the same 2 hours. Along with anyone who has a supply request for our next visit, or updates. Those of you bringing supplies to the school, time to get cracking. Two hours passes faster than midnight at the ball."

Those Who Left

(Please TL Here for boat and Auradon Shenanigans. TY)

Those What Remain

Once those going back to Auradon had left and the barrier was back in place, it was for those who remained on the Isle to sort the supplies and figure out how to get done everything that needed to be done with the people that remained.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I didn't say I--" he stopped suddenly, watching Ian, rays sinking back into his head as he turned it to look back down to the wires in his hands. He was silent and still for a second or so, and then gently set the wires back down onto what was still in the bin.

"Sorry. I should go look for that soldering thing you asked for." Whatever it was that caused it, his mood had just died. "It might be in one of the other rooms."

Edited Date: 2025-05-17 09:36 am (UTC)

"Sorry? Why exactly are you sorry?"

"Getting distracted? Being dumb? You asked for tools and I-- I'll go find them. Sorry." Rays sinking most of the way back into his head as he talked, he turned and started heading for the door.

"Whoa, hold up. I never called you dumb. And we're not doing anything super urgent, so there is nothing wrong with getting distracted. You can stay here if you're not ready to get back to it yet."

"You didn't. But I-- if I'm not helping-- I should go look again. You need the screwdrivers and soldering thingy, right?" But he'd paused, turning back again toward Ian.

"Well sure... but I also need to finish setting up, and settling in. I'm here until they all come back from Auradon again. So we've got time."

"I--" He was rethinking it, anyway, rays once again moving in and out in a subtle loading-circle sort of pattern, until he shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I should get back to looking. I haven't seen anything that looks anything like a... a battery sandwich or that solder gun pen thing you were mentioning yet. Not really." He made a sound that was suspiciously sigh-like. "I'm sorry. I don't really know anything about any of this. If... if you'd asked for help making puppets, maybe? Or-- or maybe little noisemakers you can shake, that stuff, I can find parts for, easy! But...." He sank a little further, looking down again, seemingly at the broken appliances he'd pulled out and set on the floor, his rays mostly hidden. "But I don't-- I mean...."

Ian shrugged a bit, turning to face Sun while leaning back. "We all have different skill sets, just because I don't need puppets now doesn't mean there might not be a time when puppets are the only things that will save our lives. Weirder things have happened."

The loading-circle thing he was doing with his rays slowed nearly to a pause briefly, as Sun looked back up more again, toward Ian, but as he seemed unable to reply right away, it picked back up, subtle though it was. "I...."

What could he say to that? He looked back down at the broken appliances on the floor, sinking lower as he did, more as an extension of him looking down, it seemed, than anything -- standing at more of a distance now, it was more obvious how odd his stance was. Legs a bit apart, crouching to negate about two feet of his height, elbows away from his sides, even as he'd turned his hands subtly toward one another, holding them up somewhat in front of him....

It was hard to say he hadn't been designed to resemble a marionette, down to his body language. The way he didn't turn just his head when he looked around, the way his everything seemed to move a little at once, subtly bobbing as he took a step or straightened up or sank down....

Quiet, "I'm not so sure anything I'm actually good at is going to help here," he said, not looking back up yet, rays giving up on doing their loading-circle animation in favor of simply sinking into his head a little, hiding the reddest hues of their orange bases. "If you want to tell me what to do, I can follow directions? I know how to plug things together.... I'm sure I can figure out how to put together computer things! ...I wasn't allowed to touch the computers at the Daycare's desk -- those were for staff only -- but I've put the board of control things back together, in my room, after it fell down.... I even rearranged it to add another charger so the staff couldn't find it!" It was hard to tell if that last part was sheepish, or proud. Both, somehow, maybe? "...If you want me to help in here, I can... but... I don't actually know what I'm supposed to be doing. What I'm supposed to be looking for...."

"I thought you were staff there?" Ian asked, confused. "But I'll tell you what. There was a while back home where one of my closest friends felt at loose ends like you when she had to take a break from one of her main tasks to give other people a turn. Bothered her too. I was too swamped to help her. Magic did that. But I'm less swamped here. If there are things you don't know how to do, maybe I can teach you some of them?"

Sun's rays pulled back in a bit more again for a moment at that first question, but he didn't volunteer an explanation, just sank another few inches. Maybe he wasn't considered staff, somehow, despite working there? He hadn't expected to be called out on his phrasing there, at any rate, that much was clear enough....

"You... would?" He seemed to perk up a little again at that, though rather than standing back up straighter, he actually sank just slightly lower -- so that he could look up to Ian without changing his eye-height any, keeping his crouched stance such that Ian would be looking down subtly to see him. "There's... still a lot I don't know how to do, though. I-- I was made for taking care of little kids, not--" He glanced to the bin of junk he'd collected. "...Where should I even start?"

"Well... we can start at the beginning, alright? Basic programing. Hardware is easier to understand once you know it is supposed to work."

"Oh... okay...? I-- uh... What did you have in mind?"

Ian considered. "Given we don't have logo writer here or Room 25.... Ah! Okay, we'll need paper, pens, and index cards. Think you can find those?"

"Yeah... yeah, I'll be right back!" He turned and ducked back out the door, bells jingling as he hurried away, back to the room he'd stashed the things in. It only took him a minute or two, and then he was coming back, cradling a folder that was mostly intact. He'd gathered... well, it wasn't actually index cards and full pieces of paper, but it was probably about as good a substitute as this place probably had.

"Here! Will this work?" He carefully offered it over.

"We can make it work. Okay. So to start, let's start by making about a dozen cards that each have a uni-directional arrow on them. Well, actually you do that if you would, and if you can give me paper and a pen, I'll try to set the other part up."

"All right... but if it's just arrows, do they each need a whole card? I can put arrows on little pieces, too, right?"

He looked around, then set the folder down on part of a desk. Out came the pencils, and he offered one and the bigger pieces of paper to Ian.

"So long as the pieces are all the same sized and you can keep track of them," Ian said taking the supplies.

"Yeah, easy!"

He actually went for one of the smaller bits of paper first. Picked up the other pencil... and not long after at all, he was folding the paper to tear it carefully against the edge of the desk there, having made a good handful of postage-stamp-sized arrows, all drawn neatly, all rather uniform....