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 Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 10:46 pm
Her eyes widened as she listened, smiling vaguely as she tried to imagine creatures like Specks but bigger. Racing? She didn't know against whom, though she would assume each other. It appeared a grand affair in her head, she could only assume that the actual event was fairly similiar. She nodded slowly, "Working with animals in an act seems highly appealing." The idea of Specks going up in the air, which she was mildly confused by though she assumed something like levitation or maybe outright flying (ponies didn't seem equipped for it, but what did she know), made her smile broaden.
"He seems well behaved." Her expression wavered, however, when he asked after her own doings. The corners of her lips twitched slightly as she pulled at her shirt sleeves. What did she do other than watch after tigers?
"Well, at the moment, not much. But I'll probably be working with light later on." That seemed a poor explanation and with a soft sigh at her own silliness, she held her hand aloft between the two of them. With the fingers spread, she bent the light so that the hand phased completely out of sight down to the elbow where it eased into visibility again. If he were to reach out and touch her, she was still quite solid.
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 11:00 pm
Odd, how things could get so mixed up and lost in translation between the two of them even though they were both speaking the same kind of language. Needless to say, Jo didn't seem to realize he was confusing her and, by the sound of it, Aemilia didn't seem to understand that 'working with light' in terms of making her hand gahdamn Not There wasn't exactly exaplaining much to Jo.
"Jesus H., where the hell'd you put your hand?" He said, startled into blabbing something out before he could think to do otherwise. Without hesitation, Jo stuck his hand into the space where her arm had been, red knuckles brushing against what he suspected might be the underside of her entirely invisible wrist. He blinked, groping through the air until he got hold of her forearm, letting his fingers drag against the skin like a blind man, clearly not considering the possibility that have someone who was barely less than a stranger feel up one's arm might not be the most comfortable thing in the universe.
That said, he snatched back his hand relatively quickly. "How'd you -- is it some kind of machine or magic or...?" He grasped for the right words and finally just looked at her expectantly, unable to find a way to properly articulate his curiosity.
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 11:23 pm
She couldn't help the soft laughter that slipped from her throat as he tried to discover the source of her hand's disappearence, not minding - after the initial shock - his touch. It seemed a suitable response to something so surprising. Though Aemilia was quite used to her ability, she had quickly learned that it had not been common in her own world and time, much less here at the Cirque. Explaining how, exactly, she had developed this talent was a trial all on it's own. She didn't know the exact mechanics of how she obtained - or learned it.
Shrugging, the hand reappeared instanteously almost as though it had never been gone. Her smile was lopsided as she contemplated the exact words to explain what little she did know. "I guess I'm the machine?" That didn't seem to be the right response but she smiled and continued.
"I'm an experiment, you see. Military; I don't know exactly how I got this... or learned how to do this or whathaveyou, but I can bend light rays. Like..." She gestured to the white curl of hair that felt to one side of her face, patient as the strands changed from colourless to a bright pink and slowly through a rainbow of hues. "I can change the colour of things by altering what part of the light is absorbed or reflected. Making m'self invisible is a tad different, I don't know exactly how it's done, but it feels the same as when...I do this." Her hand waved toward the hair as it ceased it's changing. With a shrug, she beamed at him, rather proud of her explanation even if it offered no real answer.
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Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 12:02 am
Military. Experiments and... weird. "Government? What, like the army or the intelligence agency or something?" He wasn't looking at her sideways or out of the corner of his eye anymore anyway; rather, Jo was giving her a close once or twice over, studying her mismatched eyes, the streak of pale hair, and her general appearance like it was some kind of puzzle - something that if he looked hard enough he might be able to tell exactly how she was doing what she was doing...
"So if this how you look really? Or is it all..." -- he waved his hand in the air briefly, shrugged -- "Light stuff? I mean, your eyes really that color? Can you make things look different, and I mean more than just their color. What about their shape?" Jesus H., he was talking way too much. Jaw tightening, Jo screwed shut his mouth like the lid on a pickle jar and lapsed into silence, stubbornly waiting to spill more questions until she'd answered his other ones - unless she ran off screaming first or something, in which case he guessed he was s**t outta luck anyway.
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Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 9:36 am
She had never really given her background much thought, but his questions were nothing heavy enough to frighten her away. She considered each inquiry carefully save the first in the round as it was pretty straight forward, "Army, I believe. But really more of general military branch of the government; defense? But I don't believe I was meant for defense." Her face crinkled in a nervous, as well as mildly helpless smile before she turned to his following legitimate questions.
"Yes, this is how I look really." She laughed softly, "It takes alot of effort to work the light for long periods of time, I definitely couldn't keep it up all day." Touching first the colourless strip of hair and then her cheek just beneath the blue eye, she shrugged, "I think it might be a side effect of things, certain parts of me reflecting all light. I only know I woke up like this nearly two weeks ago, that was that." Changing shape? She hadn't tried to do that before, she wasn't sure if it could really be done. "Not sure. I can't shrink something, I don't know if I have the skill yet to make something appear shrunken."
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 6:32 pm
"Army's a lot different then since--" Jo shrugged a little and lapsed into silence, letting Aemilia continue her explanation, glad for the turn of subject. Well, mostly. Anyway.
"Huh, well, shape changing - or making it look that way I guess - would be about as handy as a pocket on a shirt. You planning to go into the ring or keep to the side show?" Jo glanced sideways, running an eye along the rest of the mess tent's occupants. He didn't know half of them, hell more than half probably, but he knew that much: sideshow, big tents. He hadn't figured out how much of a hierarchy difference there was between the two, but it didn't take a genius to know that there had to be one. Jo glanced back at Aemilia.
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 10:17 pm
The girl pulled a face suddenly at his metaphor. As handy as a pocket on a shirt? She definitely didn't understand his meaning and her brow furrowed as she contemplated just what she was to get from that. His question, however, was something she could easily consider. A broad smile claimed her features, glancing around the tent as well though she knew she wouldn't see anyone she knew, even if she recognized them. She hoped she wasn't boring him, lest he chose to 'not recognize' her later. "I'd like to go in the ring. That is, if I've got anything good enough. I guess a side show would be a place to start, though."
Exhaling softly, as if she had been holding her breath for sometime, she relaxed slightly against the table and glanced at Specks before turning the question, "What about you?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 8:51 pm
The ring certainly seemed like what most people were after. Big lights, big tents, big crowds - big name, that. Not that Jo hadn't heard of his fair share of big name sideshow acts. Though he was hesitant to admit that half of them probably weren't considered resectable and not more than two were anything he'd consider talking about in front of a lady. Jesus H.
"Ring I guess," he answered briefly as he hooked his elbows onto the table behind him, knit his fingers together thougtfully. "Though that kind of thing takes... showmanship, which I haven't exactly got in spades." He grinned crooked at her, squinting in the midday sun which made his whole face look briefly old and weathered - or at least more so than it actually did. "Anyway, Specks and me probably aren't enough for a proper ring act - I'd have to pick up a couple more horses and get them trained proper before that." Jo rolled his shoulders in a shrug.
"Might take a while to find the right horses."
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Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:16 pm
She tilted her head at him as he spoke, trying to grasp the word 'showmanship'. That was a strange one, and she tried to keep from asking even as she felt her cheeks grow pink with embarrassment. She hadn't even opened her mouth, but she felt ashamed for not knowing. It was strange, the words and things that people took as commonplace. She knew she should know it, but it was beyond her. Something to do with a man, who was showy... and a ship? A boat?
Nodding slowly, she tried to keep on smiling as if nothing was amiss. The idea of more horses was intoxicating and she briefly wondered where they might find them. When he finished, however, she slowly voiced her own question with the best coverup of her shame that she could manage, "Uhm... wot exactly is showmanship? Being in the ring requires a boat?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 3:06 pm
Jo faltered, ground to a halt like a heavy train with breaks worn to the quick. Anything he'd been considering yammering on about died an unmourned death, just half formed in his mouth. It took him a moment to gather his bearings, like poker winnings, and haltingly he tried to explain it. "Showmanship," he said, gesturing absently with both hands. "It's, uh, being able to show up the crowd - get them interested and paying attention or something. I don't rightly know. Panache? You know, someone with that," -- he lagged and finished off lamely with a muted 'oomph' of his fist.
Oh, real smart going there, Jo. Grimacing slightly, he hooked his elbow back on the table and let his gaze stray back to Specks. The pony shook his head absently, chasing away flies with the movement. Jo reached forward and began scratching him behind one ear which seemed to content the little horse. In any case, his ears flopped slightly to each side and he exhaled heavily, satisfied with himself.
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 12:48 pm
Watching him with one eyebrow arched and the other furrowed as if she couldn't quite follow what the man was attempting to say, Aemilia felt color rising to her cheeks as he went on. He was flustered, she could tell, and his ending only solidified that idea. He really had done a brilliant job, though he didn't appear to think so, and Aemilia wasn't exactly sure how to react to someone who was so obviously put out of place.
Her mix-matched eyes took in every movement as he moved to scratch behind the pony's ear, deciding that petting the creature most provide some sort of comfort for the man. She felt undyingly bad for making him feel unnecessarily awkward. Reaching up with one hand, she tucked a few stray curls behind her ear before she offered a smile, "That makes sense, thank you. Learn somethin' new everyday, aye?" She wanted to put him back in his element so he could tell her about his act. Shuffling her feet beneath the bench somewhat, she finally tried, "Right horses? What makes them wrong?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 9:37 pm
With the subject of conversation turned once more back to horses and away from the awkward division of language and cultural barriers, Jo seemed to settle slowly back into his own skin - he fumbled less with his hands though he continued to absently scratch behind the pony's ears, smooth the sparse bits of forelock over Specks' broad face.
"It takes a certain kind've horse," he explained, haltingly at first. He was grasping for the right words to help her understand. "They've got to have the right personality and the right kind of mind. There's plenty of horses that've got a few bolts loose" -- he made a vaguely circular motion at his temple with his forefinger -- "Either because they've been mistreated or something or maybe they just weren't born with brains."
Jo shot her a sideways glance. "And the right colors would be nice too," he confessed, feeling silly. His Mother had raised him with 'color doesn't matter a lick,' and to be talking about it made him feel a little juvenile and inept. But in this case, in these circles... a pair of intelligent white horses and grays would go a lot farther than a mismatched couple of roans or chestnuts.
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 6:26 pm
She watched him as he 'settled into his own skin', appearing more enveloped in the element of something he understood completely. If there was one thing that Aemilia had learned about humanity in the past few weeks, it was that they liked to be sure of themselves and sure of what they were doing or, in this case, talking about. Glancing at Specks, she smiled broadly at the horse as if he understood what was going on, before returning her mix-matched eyes to Jo.
His explanation of 'a few bolts loose' was a bit confusing, and his circular motion at his temple made her eyebrows furrow and her head tilt to one side slightly for a moment as she murmured, "A few bolts loose... Oh!" She smiled, righting herself and nodding, "Crazy..." She was quiet enough to not interrupt him, though she wasn't sure if she would have interrupted or not so she chewed her lower lip, determined not to speak again until she had something to contribute to the conversation that didn't involve her own misunderstandings.
At his question, she reached out to stroke one finger down Speck's neck curiously before sitting back again, "What kind of colors can horses be?"
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