Sitting down beside the picnic basket, Identify had to physically restrain Vapaus with his hands wrapped in front of her chest in order to keep her from snuffling through the basket to see what was there. She turned her head to look at him, as if in pathetic question of why she couldn't have the food, but he merely tilted his head a fraction of an inch in response. Still, she understood it, and she flopped down onto her side with a dramatic snort.
Identify didn't really have much experience with touching. Most of the touching in his life had been mean, or harmful in some way or another. His Master would take him roughly by the wrists when he was in one of his moods, and he'd throw him easily against a wall, where Identify, no older than ten, would be left to lie on the ground and try to collect as much of his breath as he could. The workers at Capsule would kick him out of the way, or hit him when he'd try to resist.
Touching was not an activity he'd admit to practicing often. However, there was something different about his familiar. When Vapaus was in pain, so was he, and vice versa. Unless he had a masochistic pig representing his Ability, Identify wouldn't think she'd do a thing to purposefully harm him - emphasis on 'purposefully', as she also happened to be the least graceful creature he had ever met.
He didn't bother to dig into the basket quite yet, instead waiting patiently as Echo seemed to notice another pretty rock in the stream. As she bent forward to grab it, his eyes couldn't help but catch the small bottle pendant that swung forward from her shirt. It was a simple thing, really, just a bottle with what looked to be a tiny bracelet inside. It almost seemed like there was writing on the bracelet, too, but it was much too small and much too far away for Identify to be able to decipher.
As she secured the rock - a jade, she had called it - and approached the basket, Identify couldn't really keep his eyes off of the pendant. He wasn't quite sure what, but something about it fascinated him, just like that star-shaped rock - quarzitic, she had called it. When she was close enough, he reached for the pendant in an almost childlike manner, desiring to inspect it closer with that burning curiosity.
Just shy of touching it, it occurred to him what, exactly, he was doing, and he felt an electrical shock rush through him. He distinctly remembered when he would reach for something of his Master's, something he wasn't allowed to touch, and he'd be beaten with a bookend in punishment. He glanced up at Echo hesitantly and with a touch of fear, recoiling slightly as some long forgotten child within him waited for his punishment now
-
It was true that Ryder liked to consider himself a gentleman. Maybe it had something to do with being the only other odd one out, but he had always felt a sort of connection to his sister, Della. She was a year and a half older than him, being the second youngest in the family. Of Ryder's siblings and him, he and she were the only ones that didn't remember their mother. Sometimes, Jimmy and Billybob would tease them about that, but he and Della always felt that their numbers were equal on either side, so, younger and weaker or not, they could definitely take the older boys on their own.
Their father had been quite chauvinistic, and as such, only gave Della the more feminine of the chores. Wash the laundry. Do the dishes. Serve dinner, once she got old enough. She used to complain to Ryder that she wished she was given the chance to express who she was more. She would dream of the day she could marry a nice man and be able to boss him around.
Ryder did still keep in touch with his only sister. If anything, she taught him that women should be allowed to make their own decisions. And, with such in mind, he didn't say anything to Paisley about the clinic. If she were to challenge him about it - as he knew she always seemed up for a good challenge - he would simply explain that it didn't affect him what she did or didn't do.
He raised an eyebrow at her exclamation, watching as the protestors took notice of what was happening. He was unable to suppress a small grin, though, when Paisley gave in to his generous offer of help and linked her arm through his. It certainly wasn't the first time they touched, but usually he was forcing cuffs around her wrists, so it was a nice change.
"'Scuse us here," he smiled politely to the protestors. "Don't mind mah girl. We new in town an' we ain't got everywhere down pat. Big city an' all," he laughed good-naturedly. Luckily, he was a smooth talker, and they seemed to be believing his fib. "She ain't all there, neither. Thought y'all were a buncha merchants, right, suga'? Don't mind 'er. She don't talk much."
Edited By Creativity on 5/31/2019 at 8:55 PM.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 6/1/2019 at 1:33 PM
Post #502
Still totally oblivious to the fact that her pendant had swung loose, Echo's full attention was on the translucent green rock that she had fished out of the water. She carefully rubbed some dirt off the stone with her fingers, her eyes focused so closely to the task that her sandwich say forgotten on the ground next to her. It had been so long since she'd really lost herself in what she loved, but this place...it reminded her of everything she missed from her old life.
There was a feeling of pressure in a pocket of the cargo pants Echo was wearing, and her rust colored eyes barely flitted in that direction before returning to her prize. It was Gypsum, her little shrew familiar, wiggling out to crawl around on the ground. The familiars were the one thing that she still wasn't quite sure where her feelings lie on the subject. She didn't like being forced into a deep bond with something, but even with such an attitude she couldn't help but feel the companionship they all felt with their familiars.
While Gypsum sniffed around for worms and bugs, having stopped briefly at the abandoned sandwich before determining that it was not palatable to her, Echo finished cleaning her piece of jade. She gave it a quick "polish" by rubbing it vigorously against her pants and then looks up and leaned forward to show Identify...only to freeze dead in her tracks when she caught him just as he had begun to retract his hand. She glanced down at where her pendant was once against swinging in the air, and then back up at her...friend.
Was that fear in his eyes? Echo surmised that he had been reaching for the pendant, but the fear confused and disturbed her. Sure, Identify had some strange quirks, most of them her college education recognized as related to being OCD, but there had to be more to it than that. Something dark had to lay in this man's past that could cause him to look at her with the same naked fear of a child who'd just been caught with their hand in the proverbial cookie jar.
"I...," she started to say, her voice faltering for a moment while she was at a loss for words, and then she did something she had never done before and slowly lifted the chain and pendant over her head, "Here...you can look at it." She held it out to him, hoping Identify could see in her eyes that was not angry or upset.
"Its the only thing I have to remember my daughter by," she began to explain, "She...died, in the hospital right after she was born. I kept her hospital bracelet, which is whats inside the bottle." She left it at that...for now, and certainly it was more than she had ever really said to anybody else on the subject. It wasn't a topic she enjoyed, which is why she kept the pendant hidden as often as possible.
-----
Nothing about this situation made Paisley happy, not in the least. The clinic, these dumb protestors, and then of course Officer Curtis being here...all of it just made her want to punch something very hard. She wasn't a huge fan of physical violence, but her lithe frame often fooled people into thinking she was weak. Most people found out the hard way that their assumptions were wrong, and her little arms could pack quite a punch. In fact, Ryder had been on the other end of her swings once or twice. Which is what made this whole thing even more bizarre to her.
To his credit, Paisley had to admit that Ryder was indeed "making it look good", though she was finding herself wanting to kick him in the shins for some of his added theatrics. Since that would, of course, ruin the illusion, she settled for digging her well-manicured fingernails deeply into his arm she was still clinging too. She kept her had somewhat down, but with a dazed sort of smile on her face to try and play along with the ruse Ryder had concocted.
Shame was not a feeling Paisley bothered with at all. Her parents had raised to her to believe that whatever choices she made in life were no business of anybody else and she should never be ashamed of making a choice, regardless of how many people might disagree with her. It was why she had become an activist after they had died, because other people needed to know not to feel ashamed of who they were and what they chose to do with their lives.
It was why Paisley didn't, really couldn't, hate the protestors outside of the clinic. They might be making her personal life more difficult, but they had the right to feel the way the felt and the right to act accordingly.
"Alright, let go!" she snapped at Ryder once they were far enough away from the crowd, twisting her arm out of his and putting distance between them immediately, "I can handle things from here." She took off her sunglasses and threw the hood of her cotton jacket back so she could shake her hair out.
After that, bi-colored blue and gold eyes fixed themselves angrily on Ryder's face, irises dancing as though there was literal fire coursing through Paisley's body.
"Gonna arrest me now for kicks?" she asked mockingly, knowing he could do no such thing, and crossing her arms over her chest, "Or you gonna require some kind of favor for helping me?" Nothing in life was free...another lesson her parents had taught her.
Edited By Britters on 6/1/2019 at 5:44 PM.
Creativity
Level 71
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 253
Posts: 5,852
Posted: 6/6/2019 at 11:45 AM
Post #503
As Identify stared at Echo in fear, he was only vaguely aware of Vapaus behind him, stepping backwards in what was likely a share of his fear. She ended up hitting the picnic basket with her hind leg, snorted in alarm, and promptly fell over onto her side, her long fawn-spotted fur catching leaves and twigs in the grass.
Really, Identify had never liked dwelling on the past. He preferred to look towards the future, since his past was rather awful, and his present usually wasn't too great, either. When he looked to the future, he could imagine freedom, like that which he had tasted for a couple days, in between him escaping his Master and Mantis finding him. It was far easier to imagine freedom than to live in captivity. However, his past had imprinted him, in more ways than one, and in spite of how hopeful he may feel for the eventual light at the end of the tunnel, and in spite of how much he had come to enjoy Echo's company - the only good thing about the present - he also knew that he would never be completely free of his Master and the scars that had been literally and emotionally borne unto him.
He hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath until Echo moved. He'd been expecting for her hands to ball up into fists and strike him, and gave a small sigh of relief when he realized she was instead reaching for the necklace. Tentatively, he reached out both hands again to touch it, knowing that only one would upset a balance. He didn't grab it, but merely felt the smooth bottle and stared into it.
As she explained what the bracelet was, and what it meant, Identify continued to observe it, but he felt his heart begin to speed up a little, and he knew he was focused more on her words than the bottle now. It was when she had finished speaking that he finally met her gaze.
Now, he had grown up, isolated from society. Isolated from everything. He knew what it was like to lose parents before getting to know them, but he wondered how much more painful it must be to lose a child before getting to know her. He swallowed hard, not sure what to say, or do. He had never comforted anyone before, and he had also never been comforted. Instead of allowing himself to flounder, he forced himself to remember the books he would read, how pain would be soothed. Trying to mimic that which he had read, he dropped the pendant and reached out his hands, gently touching either side of Echo's free hand.
"I'm sorry."
-
There was something that Ryder's oldest brother, Jimmy, always said to him. 'If ya can grow corn, don't be growin' no lettuces'. It roughly translated to 'If you can do something, do it'. Now, Jimmy normally told him this in encouragement of the special thing that only him could do, when he could physically feel someone else's fear in a dark mist, and he could manipulate it to terrify the person. The only issue Ryder had was that he didn't want to use it. He didn't like hurting people, or scaring people.
Part of the reason why he became a cop was so that people wouldn't have to feel scared. He certainly didn't do it for the pay! And even if it was Paisley he was protecting from her own kind of people, in a different scenario from where she was normally with them, that was still what he enjoyed. He had been nicknamed 'Lionheart' in his office, because he was ultimately unafraid in every scenario.
He smirked at the temper she gave him when they got away from the group - it sometimes reminded him of Della, when people would assume her to be any less than the rest of them. He briefly wondered what Paisley felt she had to make up for.
"No favor needed, pumkin'," he teased her. "Though, I s'pose a kiss on the cheek ain't gonna hurt, is it?" instead of waiting for an answer, he walked forward, giving his melodic laughter to show that he was kidding. "Now, if that's all ya need, then-"
Something whizzed past his ear, and Ryder immediately seized Paisley's arm and shoved her down as he turned. The two of them had ended up at the fence near the edge of one of the poorer neighborhoods, and Ryder glanced around, noticing there was nowhere to run and no one around beside their attackers - which were three masked soldiers in dark, armored uniforms. "Stay down," Ryder hissed to Paisley before running to meet the attackers. If anything, hopefully Paisley could escape.
Now, he literally couldn't feel fear. The only thing he felt as he dodged another dart and engaged with the attacked on the far left was adrenaline. He was tough, and nimble, and he was able to smack the first one's head hard enough on the ground to knock him out before the second one hit him with the butt of the dart gun and began grappling with him. The third one, Ryder noticed out of the corner of his eye, headed straight for Paisley...
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 6/8/2019 at 12:45 AM
Post #504
It wasn't that Echo felt like she had to hide her past, nor did she feel ashamed. It was more that even after all these years, the pain of that day in the hospital still felt so fresh. Sure, she didn't spend every waking moment crying quietly alone in her bedroom anymore like she'd had for months after it had happened, but it still stung. As cheesy as she knew it sounded, not a day went by still that she didn't think about the daughter she never got to know. She didn't believe she would ever stop, and honestly...if she ever did then that would be a reason to feel ashamed of herself.
When Identify reached out to touch the pendant, a part of Echo nearly pulled it back. She had never shown it to anyone on purpose, and even when people would accidentally see it she would just give a vague and very short explanation before quickly stowing it back inside of her shirt. However, it was that look on his face, and the memory of how sincerely he would listen to her when she talked...about anything. She held it while he touched it, forcing herself to let him, and after he was done with her investigation he looked up at her.
Meeting his gaze with her own russet colored eyes, Echo felt goosebumps erupt all over her arms and even her legs. Her heart sped up slightly, but she didn't feel alarmed. It was that look again, that look that seemed so...unique to Identify himself. There was never any pretense, never any mask he hid behind. What you saw was what you got, and what she saw was always utterly genuine emotion...and then he spoke.
Such simple words, but Echo knew she would never hear a more sincere proclamation for the rest of her life. She blinked and was surprised to find her eyes just slightly moist. For a moment she wasn't even aware of the fact that Identify's hands were brushing her skin, but when the realization finally hit her she feared her unshed tears would overcome their barriers and fall. She wanted to revel in the fact that he had reached out to her, for reasons she wasn't even sure of, but she couldn't bring herself to cry in front of him.
Despite her uncertainty about her familiar, Gypsum chose that moment to crawl up into her lap, which gave Echo the distraction she needed to take her eyes away from Identify.
"Thank you," she said, her voice barely above a whisper as she carefully pulled her hand away to slip the chain back over her neck, her eyes fixated on the shrew as she blinked rapidly, "It was a very long time ago, but the sting is still there...every day. I sometimes wonder what she might have been like, but it wasn't to be I guess. That's what my mother always tried telling me anyway." Without meaning to, she was unable to keep the bitter tone entirely out of her voice upon mentioning her mother.
-----
This was not a good idea, but Cyber had stopped being able to come up with actual reasons it was bad. Of course she wanted her Nana Jones to get better, and when she had agreed to go with Spirit she knew that the blonde woman had said the Resistance had people that could help. It was that she didn't trust the Resistance, her new family, her new home, and she certainly trusted Spirit but...something still made her unsure. Her Nana would tell her she was living inside her own head, not able to see the path...and then she'd tell her to stop being such a dummy.
They were inside of Spirit's truck, "they" because Jojo was seated in his booster seat in the back, and Cy was watching the rural scenery start to give way to more cityscapes. While her grass green eyes began to spy skyscrapers in the distance, she suddenly started wondering if her apprehension had anything to do with her Nana at all. The city had been her home for so long, and she had left it without a second thought. Returning now...how would it feel? Would she want to stay? Would the city rebel against her for leaving?
That sounded silly, but Cyber had seen and experienced enough to believe that a city like New York had a consciousness of it's own.
It felt like it took next to no time after that for Spirit to turn into the neighborhood that was so familiar to Cyber. She could feel her palms getting sweaty, and she began fiddling with her colorful dreads to try and distract herself. Her stomach flopped as she thought of what she would say to Nana, to Yvonne. How did she explain where they were taking her to? How did she answer the questions she knew they would ask? She knew sh could depend on Spirit to help her, but this was her family, which meant it was her responsibility.
"I ain't so sure this is such a good'un idea," she blurted out suddenly as they turned down the familiar street, knowing Nana's house would come into view in just a few seconds, "I mean, I ain't even sure Nana can be safely moved, an' besides...oh...oh, crapola..." There were cars outside of Nana's house...plural, meaning not just Yvonne's old lemon of a vehicle. That could only mean one thing.
Family dinner night. This was not going to end well...
Edited By Britters on 6/8/2019 at 2:23 PM.
Creativity
Level 71
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 253
Posts: 5,852
Posted: 6/10/2019 at 11:57 AM
Post #505
The most unfortunate thing that Identify thought that he had, even worse than his past, was perhaps his mind. Now, he knew he was highly intelligent, and had taught himself advanced mathematics through his Master's library by the time he was twelve years old. He had read the books of Leibniz and Newton, he had read the books of L'Hospital, and he loved them all. He had taught himself English, Finnish, and Latin through books, and he understood advanced chemistry and physics.
However, although he was intelligent, he also had a mind that simply...never stopped thinking. And while he tried to spend his free time thinking of mathematics and titrations, for the sole purpose of occupying it, there were times that he would wonder 'what if'. What if he had never been stolen by his Master? What if Mantis had never spoken to him in the first place? What if he had escaped his Master's any earlier.
The thing he perhaps thought the most about during sleepless nights was identity. He, who should have the Ability to identify, did not know his own identity, for he did not have one.
Like always, he gave his head a small, imperceptible shake and focused back on what was in front of him - or, in this case, who - Echo. When she mentioned that it wasn't 'meant to be', Identify felt a small jolt run through him, and he swallowed hard to hide the sudden flash of anger. If he had discovered anything through endless nights of mulling over his situation when he was younger, when he was with his Master or in Capsule, suffering their punishments for not cooperating, it was that nothing painful was 'meant to be'.
Desperately, he wished he could tell Echo this. He wished he could gain the confidence to tell her that the death of a child was never 'meant to be'. Whatever entity that phrase appraised, whatever deity it supported, nothing pure would kill a child.
He swallowed hard again, trying to hype himself up for a line that he knew he could not minimize to a comfortable limit of two words. However, if he really wanted to cheer Echo up and support her... He felt she needed to hear it.
"Nothing harmful is..." Meant to be.
He lost it. Halfway through. And yet, he took a deep breath and met her gaze, hoping she would know what he had meant.
-
Everything was most certainly not okay.
Why couldn't he just listen? Why couldn't the absolute faviti listen to someone else for once in his life? He was perhaps even more stubborn and pigheaded than Runar had been, and that was certainly saying something. Now, Pitch was gone. He was no longer chopping wood in that cozy Alaskan cottage, littering the world with beer bottles and depression. That was sad, but it was better than being owned by Mantis once again. She had made countless trips up there - expensive trips, might she add - just to convince him that the Resistance was the safest place for him, and he didn't even really have to do anything! But no. He had to go on insisting that his Ability could protect him. For all they knew, he could be dead! Or... Or at Capsule.
The damned idiot... Finally got himself into a situation that beer couldn't cure...
Strength had gone off on her today, ever since they caught word. He was raving about protective detail, even going as far as trying to locate her to a safehouse. Needless to say... It did not end well. And, for her part, Spirit had argued well enough to get him off of her back for now. She refused to be relocated, or protected. So what if she was captured? So what if Strength was captured? They both knew that it might happen eventually. But that's why they did what they did. That's why they headed the Resistance, because even if they eventually went back down, they had saved so many in their paths that Mantis would one day fall.
Needing a distraction after that, Spirit deigned to shirk her other meetings for the day and prompt Cyber into finally going to get her Nana. It certainly didn't help anything that she had begun to feel a bit ill - though she'd never admit it. She was paler than normal, and her whole body seemed to ache, though the pain was bearable, as it was hardly anything compared to that after phasing. She was also developing a headache, and she prayed to whoever would listen that this would be quick.
"Hey, it'll be okay," she told Cyber as she parked on the side of the street. She noticed the rather abundant amount of vehicles, but somehow, it didn't compute in her befuddled, sick mind what exactly it would mean. "I'm undauntable - you like that word? I picked it up a couple weeks ago, and I've been eager to use it," she changed the subject and added a charming smile to boot.
She turned the vehicle off and went around to the right side to help Jojo out of his booster seat. Teddy was spending the night at a friend's house, and Patrick was camping with his boy scout group. She had tried to call Jojo's normal last-minute sitter, Katie, but she was apparently out of state for the week, visiting family.
"Are we here?" he asked exasperatedly as he clung onto her, unwilling to be put down in spite of her attempts.
Spirit couldn't help a small smile at his dramatics and agreed to keep him on her hip, reaching up and ruffling his hair with her free hand. "For a bit. We're gonna bring Cyber's Nana home with us."
"Is she really old?"
"The oldest."
"Older than you?"
"...Hush, bud. She's gonna be sleeping, so you gotta be quiet. Like a little mouse, right? Show me your mouse face."
Jojo grinned and brought the backs of his hands up to his face, wiggling his fingers like little whiskers. Laughing a little, Spirit turned back to Cyber. "You ready?"
Edited By Creativity on 6/10/2019 at 12:25 PM.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 6/11/2019 at 9:12 PM
Post #506
As things settled back down some, Echo found her mind wandering. She didn't stash her pendant immediately back into her shirt, but simply let it rest in her hand as she rubbed her thumb across its smooth, glassy surface. Her rust colored eyes fixed themselves into the distance, leaving Identify and the stream behind, forgetting about Gypsum and the uneaten sandwich. These trips down memory lane, were unpleasant, but she was powerless to stop them.
Quite suddenly, Echo could see herself as she was at fourteen. She was sitting in a plain hospital bed in a dull hospital room. Her mother stood in near the door with her typical stern expression as she gazed at her daughter, her arms folded over her chest. In Echo's hands, which rested in her lap atop the blanket, was a laminated hospital bracelet. It was so tiny, and as she stared at it there were water droplets which would appear on the surface...as tears fell from her eyes.
Once again it was Identify who pulled her focus away, Identify who saved Echo from such unpleasant memories. He had even spoken yet, but it was almost as though she could sense his tension, his inner struggle and she felt herself settle back in the present. She looked up at him, sitting across from her just as he had done before, and looking at her with such sad determination on his face. His voice as he spoke, more words than she had yet to hear him say at one time, was enough to make her heart clench in her chest.
"Its okay," she said to him, reaching out with her free hand (one still held the pendant loosely) and simply setting it on the ground near his leg, not wanting to overwhelm him, "I think I understand. I wanted my daughter to live, and she didn't...which was wrong. It why the pain is still here." She took her hand back off the ground and placed it over her heart.
For a moment, Echo just rubbed her thumb across the pendant again, until it brushed against the small metal plate which hung on the chain next to it, causing her to look down on the elegant script which was there...Santiago.
"I should have named her...," she mused aloud softly, thoughtfully, "Santiago is a good surname, a strong name with proud heritage, and it should have been hers...but my mother insisted that naming a dead child was absurd. I let her boss me around because I was grieving, but I regret it." She sighed and finally let the pendant go, and it fell against the shirt covering her chest.
-----
Everything felt like it was spiraling out of control, and it felt to Cyber like she was just along for the ride. She tried doing an assessment of who's cars were here and how many family members were inside the house, but honestly her head was spinning too fast for proper thinking. All she could think about was Spirit and how little the blonde woman understood about the situation they were walking into, but the words wouldn't form in her mouth to explain.
It was all a blur, from Spirit's witty quip about being "undauntable", and her charming, confident smile that made Cyber weak at the knees, to getting out of the truck as Spirit busied herself with Jojo. Her feet seemed to carry her towards to fence, towards the house that had been her home, seemingly of their own accord. She certainly didn't remember commanding them to walk. Her eyes darted again to the cars and then to the door. She opened her mouth to say something to Spirit but the words simply died again.
Listening to Spirit and Jojo banter back and forth, adorable and once again something that made Cyber's heart melt further, her hand reached down to the gate and opened it almost robotically. The realization that this was happening, that there was nothing she could do about it was slowly dawning on her and as a result...her heart had begun to pound rather erratically. She turned her head to look at Spirit, maybe to once again try and tell her that this was a bad idea and they needed to go back to headquarters, but one look at her face made it impossible.
Spirit was doing this for Cyber. Yes, it was meant to help her grandmother, but she knew the other woman was doing it for her. They had bonded lately, not that Spirit knew exactly what Cyber had started to feel for her, but all of this was just Spirit's way of...of being a friend. Was it fair to try and tell her they couldn't do this? That this was such a monumentally bad idea, especially when she couldn't even articulate why?
"I dunno if ready is really da right word, stric'ly speakin'...," she finally managed to say, goodness knew how long after Spirit had actually asked her because she'd begun to lose track of time as she reached down and opened the front door, "But...Spirit...there's somethin' I should probably tell ya 'cause-AH!" Her last words were drowned out in a shout of surprise and alarm.
Noise, so much noise hit her like a brick wall, but Cyber couldn't pay attention to the laughter and the shouting going on inside the house. All that mattered was the rather large arm wrapped around her neck.
"Jackson, ya dolt!" she shouted over the loud chuckling in her ears, her voice a low grunt as she expertly worked her fingers between the arm and her body, and with a well-trained roll of her shoulder her assailant found himself on his back, "I brought comp'ny, ya idjit!" She straightened up and adjusted her denim jacket before turning to Spirit.
"The, uh...fam'ly is over for dinner."
Edited By Britters on 6/12/2019 at 2:57 AM.
Creativity
Level 71
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 253
Posts: 5,852
Posted: 6/12/2019 at 2:47 PM
Post #507
Although he had become closer to Echo over the past few weeks, after that first interaction during their chores, discussing the star-shaped rock that he still kept in his room because it reminded him of her, and although the two of them had begun to actually speak more (if his pitifully-worded responses were considered conversation), Identify could definitely tell that none of their interactions had been quite like this. It didn't take a social deity to understand that they had never revealed super deep parts of themselves to each other before.
Part of Identify wished he could match her courage. He wished he could actually speak to her, explain everything. He wished he could show her parts of himself that no one else knew, because no one else cared to know, and it was that very reasoning that held him back now - don't speak, because no one cares, and you'll only be hurt for it. He believed that Echo wouldn't hurt him, but these principles that he had had to learn as a child in order to survive were so overwhelming and integrated into his very existence that it was hard to function without them.
He felt his hands slowly tighten into fists in his lap as he heard the familiar click in both ears, warning him that his Friend was now listening. Being careful now to watch what he revealed and indicated, and hoping to lose his Friend's interest, Identify didn't react further to it.
"Santiago?"
The name rolled off of his tongue easily, quickly, almost like those butterscotch treats that he would sometimes pilfer from his Master's stash when he was away. One day, he had been caught, beaten severely, and denied food for two days. He had stopped taking them after that.
He found his insatiable curiosity about Echo piqued again by what she said about that word - no, name - Santiago. Was that part of her identity? Was that something she considered to define her? How was a person defined? Was a name that important? Or was it just an empty collection of sounds to label one person from another?
-
If Spirit didn't know better, she'd say that Cyber looked and sounded downright terrified. She seemed almost unreceptive to everything Spirit was saying. She wasn't offended, of course. Rather, she found it... curious, and yet, completely understandable.
Cyber had walked away from her family, to a bigger purpose. She hadn't left any sort of note or explanation. She had really just... gone. Part of Spirit felt guilty for having stolen her away from a family she loved very much, but she knew how important the Resistance was, and how many lives the New Yorker's work had saved already. When lives were at stake, sometimes you had to walk away to protect the very people you were walking away from.
That was why she had left her own family, after Runar's death. She had isolated herself, because her being away from them was certainly better than possibly lashing out at them because she didn't know how to deal with everything that had happened in the war. She was a PTSD-stricken, one-eyed, depressed alcoholic, and she didn't want to hurt anyone. She had told herself that severance was less painful for them. Over time, they'd simply forget about it. The pain of the wound would lessen. They wouldn't have that opportunity if she had stuck by, yelling and disappearing into woods. Screaming at the moon had less collateral damage than screaming at her parents or younger brothers.
She was stolen from the dark memories by a sudden noise as Cyber opened the front door. The clamor was loud and frightening, and in spite of herself, Spirit jumped and phased, almost dropping Jojo. She clenched her teeth and exhaled through her nose, gently easing her nephew onto the ground. "Time to use those strong legs," she breathed out to him.
Taking his hand, Spirit approached the front door, where her friend had been tackled and held in a headlock by what she could only assume was one of her cousins. There appeared to be a rather large amount of people in the house behind the boy who had tackled (and been thrown off of) Cy.
Feeling her heart begin to speed up a little and her headache worsen just a touch, she merely clutched onto Jojo's hand and put on a smile to ease her friend's obvious anxiety. "Well, that's fine. Lovely, in fact. Maybe I could meet them."
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 6/16/2019 at 1:37 AM
Post #508
It felt very strange to Echo, this physical and emotional closeness. It went against her principles, the ones honed over the years following the death of her daughter. There was no room in her life for closeness after that. She'd made the decision to devote herself to doing something with her life, because to her that was the best way she could make up for not being able to give her baby a life. She could show the child's spirit what her death had motivated, the drive it had instilled...and that would have to be enough.
Unfortunately, Echo's academic pursuits had left little time for relationships, and when it came to any free time that might occur...she simply chose not to spend it that way. She had no interest in men, in falling in love, or in putting herself out there as she had with her baby's father. There was no room in her life for any of that, and that was just the way she liked it. Any advances her fellow college students, or later her coworkers, lace on her wete rejected as politely as possible, earning her more than her fair share of scathing gossip behind her back.
None of that had ever bothered Echo, had never caused her to rethink her choices, but being here on this island...it had proven to have the tendency to change things. Why should she deny herself the feeling of being close to another being, another soul, if she were never going to be able to return to the life she'd had before? Why did she still have to be so alone? There was much she didn't know about Identify, but even that felt immaterial here in this place.
What Echo did know was that she enjoyed his company, as strange as it was, and she did not feel herself eager to be away from him.
"Hm?" she said as his voice dragged her out of her deep thoughts, he russet eyes fixing on his face once again, "Oh, Santiago is my last name. Before this pace I was Isabel Mariana Santiago." There it was again, his simple way of talking, his sincere sense of attention, making her open up to him in ways she'd spent three years avoiding.
"Do you...," she began, closing her mouth and biting at her lower lip before deciding that she wanted to know badly enough to risk asking, "I mean...can I ask about your name?" She watched him, curious and yet patient.
-----
"Geez, Sym! Didja have to drop me so hard, cuz?"
Despite her earlier feelings of anxiety and trepidation, Cyber couldn't help but smell and shake her head as she held out a hand to help her cousin, Jackson, back up. He accepted the offer with his own large, cheesy grin. It had always been hard to stay made at Jackson, since he just sort of radiated joy and laughter. He was still a pain in the******though and as she hauled him to his feet she fixed her green eyes sternly on his face and kept a firm grip on his hand.
"I put'cha on ya back on account'a the fact I got people wit me," she said to him seriously, tossing her head in the direction of Spirit and Jojo, "So try doin' you an' me both a favor and behavin' yaself, yeah?" Her cousin knew the tone of voice she was using, and he nodded his head.
Taking a deep breath, Cyber turned back to look at Spirit and Jojo. The other woman looked calm on the outside, but she had to wonder what was happening inside. She knew her friend didn't like sudden loud noises, and her family...well, they were very sudden and loud. However, they were her family, and she didn't feel ashamed of them. If Spirit wanted to meet them, and she had no reason to suppose her friend was lying about that, then she would introduce her to them gladly.
The only thing Cyber still had to worry about was just who all was here...and how she was going to answer their questions.
"Sorry 'bout all that," she said to Spirit, walking up to stand close to her without hopefully being too close, "This is Jackson, or Jax, one'a my many cousins, an' he likes to think he can take me...which he hasn' been able ta do since we was seventeen." She grinned at Spirit a bit smugly and then turned the same look on Jackson, who was holding out his hand to Spirit.
Of course, before the first introduction could even be made, Cyber heard a storm of commotion and feet coming there way. Her heart skipped a beat for more reasons than she cared, and she felt herself position herself just slightly in front of Spiri and Jojo as though she were protecting them. In a way, she was...from the stampede heading their way. If she had to venture a guess, Jackson's parents were here along with their other two children, which also probably meant that her other uncle that stayed with them was here also.
"Symphony, baby, that you?" came the exclamatory question from down the hall as Cyber's family came barreling into the front room, with her Aunt Jemma right out front leading the pack as always, "Oh, sweetie pie, its so good to see you." Her aunt, who was on the heavier side, barely even slowed down as she reached Cyber.
Everybody gave Aunt Jemma room to be the first to swallow Cyber in an embrace, and it honestly felt so good she was worried tears might threaten to fall. Before that could happen, but after she gave her aunt a strong hug in return, she pulled herself away so that she was back next to Spirit.
"Ev'rybody," she said in a loud voice, placing a hand on Spirit's shoulder, "Its real great seein' all of ya, but I want ya all ta meet someone. This is...Elsa, and the little fella there is Jojo." Since her hand was there already anyway, she risked giving Spirit's shoulder a little encouraging squeeze and a small, hopeful smile. She knew there was no avoiding this situation now, and she just hoped that it all went well.
Edited By Britters on 6/16/2019 at 3:38 PM.
Creativity
Level 71
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 253
Posts: 5,852
Posted: 6/18/2019 at 7:14 PM
Post #509
"Do you... I mean...can I ask about your name?"
For as long as he could remember, Identify had never been asked that question by anyone but himself. And, everything considered, he didn't know how to respond. He never did. The idea of identity was one that was vague and elusive, something he had never been able to quite decipher. The only name he had was an indication of his Ability. Was that it, then? Was that his identity? Being able to detect others' Abilities? Were those Abilities, in turn, their identities? Was he just a figure, doomed to forever decipher others' identities, never having one of his own?
"You are nothing. Worthless. Don't ask me for a name, poika!"
It felt as if time had slowed down significantly, as if he were living in another dimension as he stared blankly back at Echo, his eyes wide with something akin to terror and confusion. He felt his blood running cold and his heart beating fast and loud as he tried to compute the question that was asked of him. His name? His name? What was a name? What was in a name? Why had no one ever cared enough to give him one? Was a name something that you were designed with, or was it something that you designed? Was it an indicator of your growth, or was it something you grew into?
"Well, I suppose, using this logic... I ran the numbers and letters, and the thing that made the most sense for me is Spark. And you... You're going to be Identify."
"Identify."
He surprised himself when he spoke, grimacing and recoiling a few inches. He shook his head a few times, almost intermittently, as he tried to collect his thoughts into something that would make sense to Echo. She had a right to know. She deserved to know. He didn't want to tell her that she couldn't know because he didn't know, but how could he explain the traumas of his life, the situations that had led to him being nameless save for a tattoo string of numbers? How could he do so when those very situations didn't even allow him to be able to speak?
"...Just Identify..."
-
"Go, go, go! No time to waste! Get to safety!"
Her English wasn't necessarily the best, but she had learned quickly throughout training. Well. She had at least learned what she needed to. At her frantic command, the teachers rushed the groups of eight year-olds out through a door. There was a bang behind her, and she gave a small jump, knowing that there was really only one way to stop the insurgents from getting further into the school.
Another bang as they kicked at the locked door to the main office again. She was trembling, and she took the liberty of steadying herself for a minute as she waited for them to arrive. Feeling anxiety at what had to be done and how easily it all could fail, she called out to them, "Come and get me! I'm all that stands between you and your mission!"
Two more kicks after and the door was thrown off of its hinges. Within seconds, she was surrounded and down on her knees, her weapon on the ground before her and her hands behind her head.
As Cyber's family stampeded toward them like a thundering herd, chaotic and loud, Spirit found that she couldn't breathe. It took all of her willpower to keep the hand holding Jojo's from shaking terribly. She knew that she had to face her fears because that's what Cyber deserved. She deserved to have her family treated with respect and with politeness - not with terror.
So, she forced air in and out of her lungs. She lifted her chin an inch or so. The blood rushing in her ears quieted down enough for her to hear enough of the conversation between Cyber and her family, and for her part, she even managed to smile as Cyber indicated her and Jojo.
"Who are they?" Jojo whispered up to her, but then she shot him a warning glance and he made his mouse face again. She did give his hand a small squeeze in order to assure him that she wasn't angry.
Once they were no longer being introduced to the frenzy, Spirit knelt down beside Jojo and spoke to him quietly. "They're Cyber's family, but we're gonna play a name game. We don't have to play the mouse game anymore. We're gonna call Cyber Symphony instead, okay?"
Jojo nodded, his eyes wide with intrigue at a new 'game'. Standing back up and facing the masses, Spirit took a small step forward in spite of her entire body screaming for her to step back. "Yes, thank you. Again, I am Elsa Olvirdottir. It is a pleasure to be here."
Edited By Creativity on 6/18/2019 at 7:32 PM.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 6/19/2019 at 4:53 PM
Post #510
It was hard for Echo to watch the struggles play across Identify's mind and know that her question had caused them, but she didn't regret asking. She was the type of person who preferred to live life without regrets following the death of her daughter. She had made many mistakes in her youth, but those mistakes had made her who she was today. This was why she did her best to always do and say exactly what she meant, and mean everything she said and did. However, that didn't mean that she liked seeing Identify in such a state.
The things that must of happened in Identify's life made Echo want to reach out to him again, but she held herself back. He was having a hard enough time, and while she knew he must have endured some very bad things, she didn't have a clue where to even begin as far as understanding exactly what had happened to him. She had seen many horrors and abusive behaviors growing up as a child in a poor Brazilian neighborhood, and she knew that even worse things existed in this world.
What awful traumas could have possibly rendered this poor man unable to speak more than a few words at a time or be so perturbed by a question as simple as an inquiry about his name? Echo found her imagination not up to the task of figuring it out.
When Identify gave his answer, Echo felt a strange feeling inside. There was sadness because she found she didn't like seeing him so troubled, but there was also...pride. She was proud of him for answering what was clearly not an easy question for him. It was an odd answer, but if her years here at this compound had taught her anything, it was that nothing as really "odd" anymore. Odd was the norm here, and that was okay. Perhaps...just perhaps, it was truly the only answer he had to give her. In this place, it wouldn't surprise her.
"Its okay," she said to him, her voice soft and gentle, a reflection of the smile on her face as she looked into Identify's face, "A name is just a name...we are always more than what we call ourselves. Thats what makes us...us. Our thoughts, our actions, those are what matter, not a name." She leaned back, resting her weight on her hands behind her, looking up at the sky and wondering (not for the first time, either)...what would her daughter have been like?
-----
So many emotions to feel, so many thoughts running through Cyber's head, it felt like she was drowning. It was both terrifying and yet she felt energized. Her family, this family that she had managed to find as a teenager, had always meant the world to her. They had given her a place where she actually felt like she belonged, had welcomed her with open arms, and they never even hesitated. It didn't matter that they hadn't seen her since she was an infant, since before her father had died, it only mattered to them that she was here now.
Of course, Cyber also knew that her family was loud and bold, and that Spirit was undoubtedly uncomfortable. However, her friend seemed to be holding up well, not that Spirit's outward appearance was any true indication of what was happening inside, she had found over the last couple months, but it made her happy to see the other woman greet her family so warmly. There was a butterfly sensation happened in her stomach as she watched the introduction be made, and she felt her face flush as she noticed it.
"So," she said quickly, and probably a little loudly, as she stepped forward on Spirit's left side and cleared her throat, "Lemme make thangs simpler. Ya already met Jackson, the two girls over dere is Ayisha and Melody, his sistas." Two tall, slender girls of about the same age standing off to the side waved with soft smiles. "Their dad is Uncle Franklin." She nodded at a middle-aged man, less bulky than his wife but still robust. "Yvonne is prob'ly in the da kitchen, and Great Uncle Artie is prob'ly wif Nana." She turned a big grin onto the large woman who was still at the head of the pack like the alpha female that she was. "And dis here, is Aunt Jemma."
"Any friend of Symphony's is always welcome in this house, dearie," Aunt Jemma said in her warm and slightly Southern drawl as she held her hand out to Spirit, her soulfully brown eyes lighting upon Jojo a moment later, "Oh, and ain't you just the cutest little thing I ever saw."
With some trepidation, Cyber watched Aunt Jemma bend her wide girth down so she could look into Jojo's face better. She had a feeling she knew what was coming next, and she feared Spirit's response, but Aunt Jem was a force to be reckoned with when it came to doing things her own way. Most people found Jemma to be a bit...much, and so she was, but her love of family and taking care of others ran deep. She had always had a particular fondness for Cyber, especially since it was the same shooting that claimed her oldest son's life that had also killed Cyber's father.
"Why don' you two go on inta the kitchen and get somethin' to drink?" Aunt Jemma said cheerfully to Spirit and Cyber, "You can leave little Jojo here with us while you two let Yvonne know you're here." She grinned broadly, clearly not expecting any resistance, and Cyber could feel her chest growing a bit tight...
Edited By Britters on 6/19/2019 at 7:24 PM.
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