Let the games begin!

[thespaceopera]

[several days late, as has been the trend lately, the Shuffle's transmission plays for the Fleet.

...or, it tries anyway. the music doesn't even make it--just a punch of static with sad, scattered pieces of musical notes trying to struggle their way through.

when Diamond's voice is finally heard, it's only intelligible in three little bites.]

--Three disappearing from-- ... --new faces, so-- ... --Captain Halliwell--...

[and then the music blends strangely with other sounds, like someone flipping idly through broken radio stations. it takes some time for anything to come in clear, and every frequency turns up the same interference. it isn't until several minutes later that one signal suddenly stutters into clarity, and music begins to play.

wherever you are, they are playing your song! and if there are multiple people in the room, maybe the speakers nearest to each person are playing different songs, each specific to the closest passenger. and after the signal connects, the speakers will continue to play whatever song they started with, even if different passengers move toward or away from them, and will only play something else when the controls are messed around with. and the signals and machinery will continue to behave in this way sporadically, all through the month.]

ooc: the musical madness has begun! feel free to use this post as a mingle for interactions relating to shuffle day and the ensuing musical chaos. if you have any questions, please post them to the January ooc post!

→ Shuffle ooc post
→ January system ooc post

Comments

[theboogieman]

Not around her.

[god, he really misses her. she smelled like roses and iron. why can't he remember her face? what her hair felt like, what she'd say to him. what would she say to him now? it's too sickening a thought.]

[aberrant_type]

[She's here wondering what she should say... does he need a distraction? Should she let him be? The former might do more good, but the latter might be a safer option. For the moment she settles for bumping her hip into his shoulder, since they're at a height for her to do that fairly comfortably.

It's a hard bump but not aggressive.]

Let's consider that they've literally invaded our heads with these augments... not that that's much more comforting, but they might not have needed to be anywhere near her to pull this out to mess with your head.

[Which is not reassuring at all, but.]

[theboogieman]

[bumped again. her words have a surprising resonance, and he suddenly covers up the speaker with his palm. it muffles the soft humming almost to silence.

it could be from his head? he normally hates even the thought of those damn augments, but almost anything is better than the idea that she could be calling for him. he'd imagined her down on that planet, somehow, even though it seems impossible. if she's not really there, there's no capacity for him to be failing her, and that is an incredible relief.

he still looks troubled, but he nods. he regards the speaker with a more objective glance. what should he do with it?]

[aberrant_type]

[Hmm. Distraction time?]

Why don't you teach me those signs again?

[theboogieman]

...Now.

[he tilts his head to look up at her. it seems like that was maybe supposed to be a question?]

[aberrant_type]

Yeah, right now.

[She drags up a random crate :T]

[theboogieman]

[he's thick-headed, but he's not stupid--he knows that Hange is just doing this to give him something else to think about, to get his mind off of the problem. and it's... embarrassing that she thinks she has to do that for him. he must seem so pathetic...

he looks to the side, pressing fingers into the side of his head, rolling something over in his head. he needs... something. when he finally responds, his words have the sort of clumsy tone to them--like he's not sure if he's saying this right.]

Get me a... cup of coffee?

[aberrant_type]

[She could use it too, don't doubt it. She looks at him for a moment, expression calm. Then she reaches out and thumps him on the shoulder, less hard. Get your head back together, champ.]

Sure, kiddo.

[That question is being categorized under "request for a brief reprieve". She can respect that.]

[theboogieman]

[notably, he turns the radio off. does it all in one motion, like calmly ripping off a band-aid. he'll do good in exchange. he'll get it together. if he asked that much of Hange, he can be asked the same in return.

he'll just lean his head against the wall and wait here, if that's okay.

[aberrant_type]

[She'll give him a few minutes and take her time getting the coffee together. A cup for herself, creamed, a cup for him, unleavened with anything.

Soon enough she's coming back, deliberately tapping her boots on the floor to announce where she is, and holding out the coffee for him.]

[theboogieman]

[when she gets back, the communicator is out of sight. he hasn't really moved, though. he reaches reaches up to gesture, grinding one fist over the other--] Coffee. [--before accepting the cup.]

[aberrant_type]

[She sits down, sets the coffee on the ground, copies the gesture, expression stilling into one of calm concentration. It's the same look that's on her face when she bends over a microscope. In cram mode.]

Coffee. [And now, because she has had a while to think about this and she did a tiny bit with Coil -] Why don't we do the alphabet first?

[That way, he can spell stuff out if he doesn't know the sign, or it's hard to conceptualize.]

[theboogieman]

[he nods once. he switches hands so that he can sign with his right and drink coffee with his left. it's going to be up to her to figure out that the first sign he holds up is the letter A.]

[aberrant_type]

[Coil spelled Zhas' name for her, so it's easy enough to figure that out. She copies the sign back at him, glancing between his hand and hers and adjusting, humming under her breath softly: the same note of the dumb little song that they use to teach children the alphabet in her world too. A...]

[theboogieman]

[once she's got it, he does the same with B. then C, D, E, F, G, and H. after H, he shows her the sign for her name again, so that she can see the trick. he's mixing the letter H and the sign for:] Glasses.

[aberrant_type]

[She copies him slowly, taking her time, not rushing. It might be a frustrating pace for someone fluent in signing, but she knows learning the shapes properly now will pay off later at speed.

That interlude makes her laugh and she copies the sign. H and glasses: Hange, Hange, Hange. They have enough letters now that she switches and spells out her name letter by letter, sans the N, which she's forgotten - and then starts the alphabet from the top again.

She's retained it pretty well. For the moment, she just skips what letters she's forgotten.]

[theboogieman]

[he's very patient about it. he's lived with someone half-crazy for over a decade--the fact that he doesn't have to keep repeating himself is kind of a blessing.

he'll go over the start of it again, move on to the other letters. they can probably get through all of them...]

[aberrant_type]

[They can definitely get through all of them. She just patiently chugs along, still humming to herself, and at the end she goes through some of the signs she remembers again. Coffee. Hange. Her vocabulary is going to be eclectic.]

[theboogieman]

[more nodding. she's very good. he'll try spelling something out for her, slowly.

r-e-p-e-a-t. and then he shows her a gesture. he spells it again, repeats the gesture. basic memorization stuff.]

[aberrant_type]

[Nice, nice, nice and easy. It's good to concentrate, to be a student again. She mouths the word instead of saying it out loud and reflects it back at him.]

[theboogieman]

[here's another one for her that'll come in handy. s-l-o-w-l-y. another gesture.

that'll at least get her though the worst of Coil and Zhas' quick gestures. she can tell them to slow down and repeat things.]

[aberrant_type]

[She spells it, reflects it back at him, mouths it. Three words: repeat, slowly, and... coffee.

Eclectic.]

[theboogieman]

[he nods.]

What else.

[aberrant_type]

[She reaches up and presses her fingers absentmindedly.]

Let's go through some basic actions. Want, study, stop, need...

[theboogieman]

[...well, he signs one thing and specifies:] Get.

[and then he has to think... for a minute... and he remembers another sign. shows her how they're different.] Want. [he hasn't had to say "want" in a while, apparently.]