driftfleet | Let the games begin!

[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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[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...]

[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.

[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.]

[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...]

[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.]

[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.]

[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.]

[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.]

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

Eclectic.]

[he nods.]

What else.

Edited 2015-01-11 03:42 (UTC)

[She reaches up and presses her fingers absentmindedly.]

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

[...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.]

[She spells and then reflects them both, the usual routine, mouthing along with the actual words...

... and then starts her vocabulary from the top again. Plowing through the alphabet, more smoothly as of now, coffee, slowly, repeat, Hange... get... want. Then her brows rise.]

And your name?

[ah, she's catching on.]

Skeleton.

[he shows her the motion. two fingers on either side, crossed and pulled down like ribs.]

No Z. Too complicated.

[She laughs and copies the sign.]

And Coil's?

Mute.

[he shows her the sign again, like turning a key at his throat. he does it again at his mouth.]

No talking. [he repeats the gesture at his mouth.] Either works.

[that one doesn't get a C because... it would look like a very different gesture.]

[She copies all that... and then starts it all again. The alphabet, the words he's taught her so far...]

[good, good. they can finish with the last few words. study, stop, need.

and since it's relevant now, one more--] Snake. [like an S-shape being drawn away from his mouth. he makes the sign for G and combines them. Hange can do the math.]

[She laughs again! Really? These names just... tickle her for some reason. Maybe because it seems like they reveal a lot of personality - more for the giver, perhaps, than the recipient.

Anyway, she starts the whole routine over from the top again, hesitant sometimes but doing well enough. After she's done she pauses.]

We really don't have the temperament to be sitting around on a ship like this, doing nothing.

[That "we" encompasses all of them.]

[he shakes his head, but seems very much in agreement. none of them--except maybe Garak--are used to so much downtime.]

[That's why, in her opinion, he shouldn't feel ashamed for her pressing him for lessons now. It's not just for his sake that she asked, after all.

And if she becomes fluent in this signing maybe she can pass it on to Eren. He'll be able to communicate in titan form more easily. That could only be for the best.

She looks at Zhas expectantly. Well, does he want a break, or does he want to do more?]

[he, meanwhile, slugs down the rest of his coffee... he's gotten weirdly good at not messing up his mouth makeup while he does it. when he realizes Hange is looking at him like she expects something, he looks back at her... not sure what he should be saying or doing...

...but he shows her one more sign before saying:] What.

Do you want to do more? I'm game.

[he takes a moment to think about it... decide how he feels... but he's tired and things around here are weird, so he shakes his head. they can practice more later.]

[Fair enough. She reaches out and thumps him on the shoulder, then gets up. She'll go burn some energy on the treadmill or something.]

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theboogieman - 2015-01-13 00:27 (UTC) - Expand

aberrant_type - 2015-01-13 00:49 (UTC) - Expand