|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 11:16 am
Watching him process her request, she finished off her coffee and then looked for the correct place to put her cup. Fretting over this, she didn't really pay attention as he returned to the holo.
Until she felt something warm against her hand. Snapping her head around to look at him, her eyes wide, she realized he wasn't looking at her face but their hands. And he was putting pressure on her fingers, as if to suggest they should bend. Curious now, she allowed him to manipulate her grasp, noting that only some of her fingers were being pressed into her palms.
His hand lifted then, and she raised her glance to his face in confusion. He was looking a her, staring even, waiting for... something? Her ears folded back as she blinked, not sure what he was expecting. Uncomfortable under his glare, she focused on her hand again, and realized it was harder to see it.
Because the room was darker.
Oh.
And then Tayce remembered to start breathing again, and took a deep pull at the tube with a cough.
Raising her hand, she made the gesture again, pressing those fingers into her palm as she waved her arm around; perking up as she waited for something to happen. If this worked, she was gonna try the door next, get him to show her how that worked too.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 2:47 pm
He smiled when the lights went back up, though a little concerned that with how silly she acted, he was tempting danger...or...lightswitch raves in the middle of the night. There was a setting for that somewhere, he was sure. She seemed a little out of it though, probably still waking up like he was. He was tempted to offer her more coffee, but he could only stomach it from drinking so much, he wasn't as confident about her own ability to stand it.
The question about the lights taken care of, he poured himself another cup, realizing he had somehow already finished his. Sipping at the new gruel, he scrolled through another page of contracts, nothing really catching his eye. Flipping to the next tab, he frowned a bit as the end of the list stared back at him, not many good ones to choose from today apparently...
He switched to the two he had saved earlier, trying to decide which to take. The guard duty would be short, easy, and hopefully uneventful. The warehouse gig would be long, boring, and possibly strenuous. Not much of a choice really, they both paid a pretty small sum, but maybe... Opening the guard contract, he realized it listed the time required, but no info about who or where for safety reasons. Opening the warehouse contract next, it had a start time, well after the guard one, and was just a 'work until the job is finished' deal. He grinned and accepted both contracts, his omnitool vibrating with a faint buzz as it received more information on the two jobs. The meeting was in 2 hours, and about 1/2 an hour away, and he could make it to the specified warehouse well within the time limit between the two.
Or... He pulled up his map for a moment, plotting both locations and the apartment, tracing the paths as he thought. He could probably make it back to the apartment to make sure the female wasn't using her new light program to hold parties, and still make it to the warehouse with time to spare...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 2:57 pm
Satisfied with her newly given magical ability, Tayce hopped off the table, her empty mug promptly forgotten. She wiggled her tail in excitement, realizing that the sleeve was kind of a skeleton key; it would do anything she got it programmed to do. Maybe.
Scurrying out towards the main door, she pressed her hand against it, as if she could command it open.
Which she couldn't apparently. Dejected, her ears drooped and then she tried the mystical palm gesture... which just dimmed the lights. Stamping her foot in frustration, she made the gesture again rapidly to bring the lights back up. Huffing in exasperation, she snapped her fingers again, tilting her head at the male.
When she got his attention, she pointed to the door, and then waved her right hand again. To make sure he understood, she held her right arm out flat, as if she were looking at a holo from it, and held her left hand spread out perpendicular above it; mimicking the aerogel screen itself. She pointed to the door again, asking him to give her glowy sleeve the key.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 4:49 pm
Having found money to acquire for the day, he plotted his routes and saved them for later, then reviewed the messages from both contracts to make sure he had the gist of both. The first was the time and place for the meeting, temporary softkeys used to get in, as well as who to look for, what to challenge those trying to enter with, etc. Saving the keys, he switched to the next message, which was just listing what needed to be done, inventory lists, location of the warehouse, the usual crap for these manual labor jobs.
He noticed the lights went out, then back on again. He sighed, saving everything he needed, the rave he feared he was unleashing had begun... Hearing her snap to get his attention, he turned to watch her gesture by the door, ears perking up a bit. Something about the door, then shaking her omnitool like it was broken again. The second part didn't really make sense to him, but he gotten the idea, she wanted to know how to open the door with her new softkeys.
Sliding off the table, he walked over to the female, moving around her to stop behind her. She already had the keys, she probably just didn't know how to use the door function, which was built-in since...everyone had doors...usually... He slid his hand atop hers again, lightly holding her wrist this time with his thumb, and drew her hand up in an arch over the door. As he did this, he pressed against one of her fingers, then released her hand at the end of the arch. Kind of like a 'click and drag' thing from those antique computers he saw in a museum on Earth. There was a pane on the omnitool with more functions, but he kind of assumed she would be better off with the gestures until she learned to read.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 6:08 pm
Smiling once he got of the table in appreciation, please and thank you's were hard to convey when you were mute after all, she stiffened slightly when he stood right behind her. Forcing herself to take a deep breath and relax, Tayce had to willfully remind herself that he didn't mean her harm, and it was okay; if she didn't trust him by now, when would she ever?
Letting him grasp her hand and hook her wrist, she backed up into him to look up at his face uncertainly before feeling him guide her arm. Turning her head to focus on the door again, she obeyed and bent her index to her palm, swinging her hand in an arch in front of the barrier as his hand fell away from hers.
When the door began to open she bounced in excitement, but stopped when she realized her back was bumping against his chest as she did so. Tilting her head to look up quizzically at him over her right shoulder, she flicked an ear in his direction curiously, but smiled in appreciation. Moving away so she didn't have to put her back to the open door to face him, it came to mind that she still didn't know his name. She debated offering her hand for him to shake, as if they were meeting for the first time and as a redo, but the concept would probably be lost on him without words to explain. Wrinkling her nose, she pondered on how to approach the problem, but couldn't really come up with any clear way.
Finally deciding to just wing it and see what happened, she pointed at him and tilted her head, hoping that was clear enough. Just in case it wasn't, she motioned a 'clacking' gesture with her hand, smacking her fingers into her thumb to mimic talking. It wasn't perfect, but he might get the idea. Or get frustrated. Oh well.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 7:19 pm
Caecilius smiled a little as the female celebrated the door opening, still a little apprehensive about what chaos he might be unleashing by showing her these things. But...it wasn't as if he had much choice, he couldn't really communicate with her besides gestures and body language... He made a note to himself to look into getting her a translator of some sort...he'd need to figure out something.
He tilted his head in response as she pointed at him, not really understanding what she was asking. The addition of the hand sign had him baffled though. He understood it...he thought...it was talking, or maybe eating or something like that. He didn't think she was pointing out that he spoke, that was fairly obvious, they just didn't understand each other's language. She pointed at him though, him, you...me? ME CAECILIUS, ME WANT MONEY, FOOD, SMASH...wait...could that be it? It...wasn't as if she'd really understand if he was going in the wrong direction, but...eh, why not. He tilted his head the other way as he pointed to himself, uncertainty in his voice.
"Caecilius?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 7:31 pm
It sounded like a single word, there were no breaks, but it was certainly a long one. No name she'd ever heard before, to be sure. If it was even a name. It was a question though; if because he was uncertain or if because it was simply the nature of whatever he said she had no way of knowing. Worst case, she'd assume it was his name and end up calling him "Toaster" in her head until she figured it out.
Either way? Too long. Wincing, she held up her hand with her index finger and thumb an inch apart, trying to convey she wanted the shorter version; if there was such a thing. People with long names had nicknames, right?
... Hopefully he didn't think she was asking for a little bit of him, or whatever that 'Caekill' word was.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 8:00 pm
He wasn't quite sure if she understood, or if he had even guessed what she was asking him correctly, especially with her reaction. But...if she couldn't understand their language, why the pained expression? Then she made another gesture, which was...tiny? Or maybe...small, little, short... OH, maybe she was asking for a shorter version? His name didn't quite roll of the tongue to begin with, and even Anahe just called him Cae. He tilted his head to the side again, but seemed a little more confident in his response, though he hoped he wasn't going off in the wrong direction. Only time would tell, if she started calling his teeth by his name or something...
"Caecilius, Cae."
He tapped his chin as he thought for a moment, if she was asking for his name, wouldn't the response be to ask for hers? Even if she had no means to answer, it might clarify whether he had gotten the question right to begin with... With that figured out, he pointed to himself, repeated his name, and then pointed at her with another tilt of his head. If she bit him, that probably meant he had been wrong...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 8:44 am
Nodding when he repeated himself, then just took what sounded like the first word and gave that to her, it seemed pretty likely that he understood. And if she was wrong he'd have no way of knowing anyway, so Cae would work for now. Was better than just thinking of him as "the guy".
Now it was to pointing, and she tilted her head. I'm Cae, you're ...?
Her ears drooped as she tried to think of a way to convey this. Anything she wrote he wouldn't be able to read, and she couldn't very well say her own name. Not with sound, anyway. Though, making the effort would count for something, right? Flicking her ears forward, she took a quick pull on her tube to take a deep breath before removing it so he could see her mouth.
Pointing to herself, she made the motions of saying her own name, overly animating the gesture so he might have some luck at seeing the sounds she were trying to make. The chances of that were slim to none though, unless he happened to be a lip reader. At least she made the attempt.
Closing her eyes as she waved enthusiastically and smiled at him, as if saying hi, Tayce nodded once before grabbing her tube again and biting down; the hissing rush of air filling her mouth.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 12:38 pm
She nodded, which seemed like perhaps he had it right, but then her ears went down. He frowned a bit at this, unsure of himself now, reminded of their first attempts to communicate the week prior.
One of his ears flopped over when she adjusted her breathing device, or...removed it? He wasn't quite sure what she was up to until she pointed to herself, then mouthed something, maybe her name? He watched her lips move, ears twitching as he tried to follow what she was trying to say.
He smiled and waved back as she introduced herself, glad they were making some sort of progress again. But how would he know if he got it right, if she could talk she would just tell him. ...He wasn't mute though, maybe if he just worked it out, maybe she would react or respond to hearing her own name? Speaking each possibility, he gave a bit of pause between each to give her time to respond...somehow.
"Taz, Taze, Tase, uh...Taste, Take?"
He frowned lightly, it didn't seem to match up to what she had mouthed to him, but maybe he had gotten close enough?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 7:27 am
Ears shooting up as he attempted to sound out what she'd mouthed, she bounced excitedly even though she shook her head no. At least he'd gotten the "T" sound, which was a damn good first step. Her ears were starting to lower though, as he traversed through all the attempts. No... no....close... no...
She held up a finger and thumb only a bit apart to show he was pretty close, and at least in the general area. Pacing for a moment, she thought about how to represent her name. He'd gotten the T part, so Ayce, ace? That she might be able to do. Did he play cards?
Oh hell, if he used to be in military, he probably most certainly had, even if it was just a practice in bullshitting or 'getting to know' other members of his squad.
Or whatever they called it.
Holding up a finger to ask for a moment, she mimed shuffling a deck of cards, and then dealing them both a hand as if they were playing poker. Then, spreading out his invisible cards in the air with the swipe of her hand, she 'flipped' over the first card and pointed to the invisible square and held up one finger.
This was... too convoluted though. Her heart sank at the realization that this was probably too abstract to convey a clear message. Booting up her omnitool again, she opened the thingy that she knew would bring up the games, and flicked through the symbols that meant nothing to her. Until she saw an icon of a deck of cards.
Solitaire. Everyone knew solitaire, ancient thing that it was. Bringing it up, she showed him the cards and then searched out an ace. It took some work since obviously nothing could ever be easy and none of them were in the offered deck. Hissing in frustration, she played long enough to uncover the ace of spades and pointed at it excitedly. She moved it and the ace of hearts was underneath. Of course, why not. She pointed to that too, nodding, hoping he'd understand it wasn't the card itself she wanted him to say, but the number or designation. T'spade didn't make much sense, and if he took to calling her that she'd probably bang her head into the wall every time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 8:11 am
Caecilius tilted his head a little as she simultaneously bounced and shook her head. So, he was wrong but she was happy that he was trying? One of his ears perked up when she made the 'short' gesture, though...this would make more sense as 'close', skritching his chin as he watched her next gesture. Dealing cards, taking his hand, pointing out a card...one card? He was lost, and it apparently dawned on her as well that it wasn't clear, her omnitool coming to life as she started doing something else.
Tilting his head the other way, he watched as she loaded up solitaire. Another game he had lost more hours to than he would like to admit... He wasn't quite sure what she was doing, other than showing him that he could play, which wasn't really related to her name...he thought at least? Twitching his ears, wondering if she had completely forgotten their little name exchange, until she frantically pointed at an ace of spades she had uncovered. Well...yeah, they were kind of required to win, spades tended to trump other suits in trick games as well. The ace of hearts she also pointed out, watching her look up at him expectantly. What did she want from him, were they still doing the name thing? He returned her gaze, tapping his chin thoughtfully as he tried to work it out again.
"Card, suit, spade, heart, ace...ace? Tace?"
That certainly seemed like it would fit everything she had tried to say so far, his ears perking up a little at the chance of getting it right.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 4:17 pm
She had leaned in as he started guessing, trying to urge him on down the train of thought. At 'ace' she nodded happily, waiting for him to connect the two concepts. When he arrived at the idea, she rolled her head back and forth from shoulder to shoulder as if judging the attempt before finally nodding. Close enough. The 'a' sound wasn't long enough, but how was she going to convey that idea? No, especially when she might sent him flailing down the wrong path and he'd end up somewhere else entirely.
Besides, he looked so hopeful and it was...cute. He was trying so hard. Ruffling his hair, she nodded again with a grin, appreciating the effort. Waving again to confirm that they now 'knew' each other, more or less, she rushed back over to her coffee mug and pointed to it before looking it around and carrying it in a circle around the table; trying to convey the message of confusion since she didn't know what to do with the blasted thing.
Not drink more of it, that was for sure. She'd be hungry soon, though, and that thought was a little sobering. She was pretty sure that you weren't supposed to ask your host for food, just eat what was presented to you. Regretting her decision last night to wolf down the food bar he'd offered instead of saving it for later, she shoved the notion aside. Nothing she could do about it now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 9:47 pm
He smiled as she fluffed his hair, waving back at Tace, glad to finally have something to call her besides 'Alpha' or 'that homeless covert ops girl who I saw topless'. He repeated her name, just to confirm, though mostly to himself.
"Tace..."
Caecilius tilted his head as she went back to where she had left her coffee mug, and walked around with it as if she didn't know what to do it with. He doubted she was asking for him to refill the cup, she knew what coffee was, she must know how to make it. At the very least she would have seen him pour his second cup.
Walking past her to where he left his own cup, he quickly downed the last of the horrid sludge and carefully took her cup, walking over to the incinerator and placing the two in there. This time a pressed a different button though, and while there was a sizzling noise, the cups didn't vanish into omni-gel material. Taking the two cups out once they were done, he placed them by the coffee maker, not bothering to clean the maker itself for now. That done, he looked over to her, wondering if she understood what he just did, or if that even mattered right now.
He was curious though, and brought his omnitool to life, pulling up the scan he took of the inside of her hemlet. He showed her the scan and pointed at her, then the image, circling the first word. A roughly drawn circle appeared over the word SPARTAN, as he was trying to match up what her name was to the unknown script, mostly on a hunch. For all he knew it might not even be her name on the helmet, and could be something completely different, but what was the harm in asking?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 12:32 pm
She looked up as he called her 'name', tilting her head quizzically. He hadn't called her for anything in particular though, or so it seemed. Maybe just committing the syllables to memory. She stopped her pacing though, as he reached for his own cup and downed the swill. Wincing, knowing that couldn't of been pleasant, she relinquished her own empty mug of the drudgery and suddenly got very excited as he headed towards the burny box.
Ears pricked forward and she bounded behind him with a wide grin, she had to contain herself from clapping as he put the cups into it. Though, the button he picked was a different one, and she didn't know whether or not she was disappointed when he took the mugs back out. Her bouncing did stop though, as she tilted her head curiously. Following him back to the coffee maker, she peered into the cups once he put them down and noted they were spotless.
So... it sterilized too? Made sense, she supposed. Grinning up at him with a small tail wag, she nodded once, confirming that she'd remember next time. He was already bringing up something on the glowing sleeve though, and she crept closer to see what he was up to. It was a picture of the inside of her helmet. He'd taken a picture? She couldn't remember, but, apparently so. Or... he was messing with her stuff while it sat in the bathroom. She wrinkled her nose at the thought, but it wasn't like she wasn't invading his space too. Tayce did make a note to check out her gear and make sure nothing was damaged or missing though. If he was desperate for money, he might make off with her armor and sell it, and getting it back sounded like an impossible task.
She watched as he drew attention to one part of the image, a word in particular. SPARTAN. He pointed at her with a questioning expression and nodded. Yes, she was a Spartan. Maybe he knew of the program?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
