Don't Be Afraid To Be Who You Are - Isle Side

[missrecalled_mods]

The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down

Just over a week after the Isle visit people would find themselves drawn outside. The weather was finally getting warmer, but that wasn't all of it. A strange foul smelling - and fairly toxic - mold had begun growing in some of the classrooms. Thankfully not the ones where people were sleeping but it was still enough to make it unpleasant to remain indoors. Some might blame the growth of the mold on a certain obsessive compulsive cleaner, though others might say that he just discovered it and accidentally gave it access to oxygen and such.

Whichever the reason, sleeping outside for a few days was sounding like a better and better plan with every passing minute. Even the drizzling weather couldn't make the indoors terribly appealing for anyone with a sense of smell.

And it was over night on one such night that the rain was... different. Warmer and a bit tingly. And some people would awaken quite a bit older than when they fell asleep, perhaps. Their memories might have caught up with their age, or might come to them slowly. However it happens, there might be some very confusing moments as those who seemed to be young just a moment before are now... less so.

Gift In Time Gift In Time Nary A Reason Nary A Rhyme Gift In Time!

Weirdly, there was something good to come not long after the rain. In addition to aging some folks up, it also seemed to wash away the worst of the mold, allowing people to return indoors once more. And each of them would find, soon after, in some place that they considered theirs... a small gift. It was rare that positive things happened on the Isle, but perhaps this was a sign of things to come.

Or perhaps even a broken clock is right once in a blue moon...

Comments

Re: Gift

[ubuntu_programmer]

"Not graffiti at all," Ian said, distracted. "And actually very classified, but I have to get this all down before I lose any of it. Can you find me a curtain or something to hide it. But... I need to keep writing before I forget any of it, sorry."

[mist_the_point]

"Given that your work resembles nothing so much as it does the scrawlings of a madman, I suspect that whatever secrets it holds are quite safe, even in the open," he said dryly. "Still, tis good to know you haven't actually taken leave of your senses."

He glanced around and spotted what looked like a neatly folded blanket on the battered chaise. Not big enough to cover all of it, but if all of this was necessary for... whatever Ian needed it for, then hiding at least part of it was better than nothing. He retrieved the blanket and unfurled it, only to see that it bore the image of... was that some sort of knight? They had a sword, in any case, but it was difficult to tell because of the grim message superimposed over the image. "'You died?'", he read aloud, evidently puzzled. "What is this meant to be, a burial shroud?"

[ubuntu_programmer]

"What?" Ian asked, distracted for a moment. They glanced back. "Hy that's my Dark Souls blanket from Ho... home. From home. That'll cover some of it if we have a way to hang it."

Of course that explained exactly nothing.

[dualityinjest]

He hesitated only slightly, and the motion was so slight, it could be easily missed -- Sun seemed to barely glance down to what was presumably the corner of his vision, where Foulques had previously seen the number for his battery's charge, in one of the visions not too terribly long ago. "Yes?"

If he were lying, it wasn't terribly obvious.

[mist_the_point]

He couldn't quite tell if he was lying or not. Though perhaps a more specific question might tell him for certain. "What percentage of power do you have now?", he asked. After all 'finished' could mean very different things to Sun than it did to him.

[dualityinjest]

"Eighty four," he said, cheerfully.

[mist_the_point]

"'Dark Souls blanket'?", Foulques repeated. "Does it have something to do with Voidsent?" Of course, if it did have any magical properties, it wouldn't matter on the Isle, but still, anything to do with Voidsent should be treated with caution.

Still, in the meantime, he looked for a place to hang it up, first taking a look at the blackboard; it at least had a top edge that might be useful. "In any case, do you expect you'll be much longer in finishing this?", he asked. "I was hoping we might have that discussion about Sun and Chara now that neither is present."

[mist_the_point]

Clearly different then. "Best to let yourself recharge fully," he said. "If you insist on putting it off as long as possible, then should take full advantage when you do do it."

[dualityinjest]

"Nuh uh! The first eighty-five percent of a charge takes eighty-five percent of the time. The last fifteen percent takes the other hundred and fifteen percent!"

He sounded like he was in a lot better mood than a few minutes ago, though maybe that was because he was cracking a math joke...?

[mist_the_point]

Perhaps. But joke or not, it wasn't about to change Foulques' mind. "Somehow, I doubt that," he said dryly. "I know you dislike sitting idle, but if you recharged yourself more often, the task wouldn't take so long to accomplish."

[dualityinjest]

"No... that actually is how it works. It slows down a lot once it hits eighty five. And I shouldn't really go over that, anyway..."

[mist_the_point]

"Oh? And why not?", he said, quirking an eyebrow. "You'll not get into any trouble for taking more, you know."

[dualityinjest]

"It's... not really comfortable. It's like...." He barely paused, coming up with an example. "Imagine you have a bag. If you fill it all the way up, it's really tight... and it's not just that it's hard to get the last little bit stuffed in it... but also, if you stuff it that tight, the bag'll start to wear out even quicker, than if you were being nice to it."

He made a sighing sound. "It... also wears it out faster if it gets too empty, too... but... I'm... kinda...." He'd been getting quieter, not happy to admit it; the last bit, the used to it, might not have actually been intelligible if not for Foulques's better hearing.

[mist_the_point]

He considered that. It made sense; it would be rather like eating until one was absolutely stuffed. Fine on occasion, but not healthy to do regularly.

At the last bit, though, he frowned. Even if he hadn't picked up on it, he'd have been able to guess the end of that sentence, knowing what he did about Sun. "Yes, I suspect you are," he said. "You needn't continue to be used to it though, you know."

[dualityinjest]

"Something something habits die hard?" He went for his charger cord's plug again, going to pull it out. "....I know. I just... don't like having to stop when it's not finished...." But here, was it ever actually finished? "...Plus... like you said... I don't like to have to just... sit here."

[mist_the_point]

Again, Foulques gently stopped him. "A compromise, then, perhaps?", he said. "This time, stay until you reach 90% power, for my and Chara's peace of mind if naught else," he said. It wasn't too much above 85%, after all, so it shouldn't be too much of a detriment in time or battery strain.

"If you come back to recharge in a timely fashion- let's say, when you reach no less than 20%- and keep to such a schedule, then I'll say no more about it. If, however, you continue to work yourself to exhaustion, there will be another discussion about this, next time with Chara present. And I expect you'll find them far less willing to compromise on the issue of your health."

[dualityinjest]

"How about," he said, rays sinking a little again, "I come back at thirty. That five percent on top is going to take an hour, and I don't care for anything about it."

[mist_the_point]

Foulques sighed. "Very well," he said. "Provided you keep to that, I have no objections. Though do at least wait until you reach 85%; if that's the highest you can comfortably go, best to do so when you can in this place." Especially since he doubted Sun would actually stick to that promised schedule for very long.

[ubuntu_programmer]

"What? No I don't play Warcraft. Dark Souls is FromSoftware, not Blizzard. Just... let me finish this then we can discuss whatever, okay?"

[mist_the_point]

"You say that as if it makes any sense at all to me," he said dryly. "But very well. I've no objections to waiting a bit."

An examination of the blackboard revealed that the top edge was indeed pulled away from the wall enough to allow the edge of the blanket to be tucked behind it. Turned sideways and tucked in carefully, it blocked most of the board and what was written on it from view. Satisfied, Foulques returned to standing by the door, leaning on the wall there as he watched Ian work. Idly, the thought came to him that they might have made a fine Archanist, had they been born in his own world; from what little he could gather, there seemed to be a great deal of mathematics involved in what they were frantically writing, and it was from arcane formulas and geometries that Archanists drew their power.

[ubuntu_programmer]

It took Ian at least twenty minutes more to finish, then five minutes to examine it all, including looking at what the blanket now hid. Finally they at down on the desk, looking exhausted. "That's all of it I can remember. Both sets of code. I need to use the time I'm here to figure them out...."

They shook their head. "And that has nothing to do with you at all, sorry." They pulled their legs up to sit tailor style on the desk. "What was it you wanted to discuss with me?" Ian asked, a hand running through the now slightly longer hair with the red dye at the bottom. "Because whatever it is, is probably something I'd rather discuss than what is apparently going on at home, most of which I'm not even allowed to talk about if I wanted to."

Re: Zuko - OTA

[awkward_turtleduck]

Zuko startled, whirling to face the doorway, and dropping into a defensive stance. Immediately, a scowl crossed his face, and he settled his weight a bit more neutrally, though his shoulders remained tense. "Why are you here?"

He ignored her comment about his hair, though his eyebrow twitched and his scowl deepened.

[mist_the_point]

Foulques nodded, stepping away from the wall and closing the room's door for good measure to prevent casual eavesdroppers. "You said when we first met that you knew something of Chara's story, and potentially how we may be able to help them?", he said "I would be much interested to hear it, both for their own sake, and for the sake of practicality; tis difficult enough caring for a child, but one that reacts... unpredictably around anyone they perceive as human makes it significantly more so."

[dualityinjest]

"...All right. That won't take forever...." He gave another long, but quieter, sigh, and sank back down in the chair he was in, relaxed. "And then we can go ask Ian about these dolls."

Re: Zuko - OTA

[professorsong]

"Small island? Not much else to do to entertain myself?" She shrugged. "Take your pick."

Absolutely not out and about because she can't handle emotionally the fact that she found what she found in her room with no sign of the husband it belonged to. Nope.