Red Fish assemble!

[mortalcoil]

Who: Crew and visitors of the SS Red Fish
Broadcast: Nah
Action: Aboard the good ship Red Fish
When: End of February--Beginning of March?

[why is it called the Red Fish when the place looks more like a spiky dungeon than anything having to do with aquatic wildlife? no one knows.

it might be an unconventional atmosphere for socializing, but the lovable crew of the Red Fish isn't going to let a little thing like that stop them from bonding, are they?]

Comments

[mortalcoil]

[he first spells out 'M-O-N-S-T-E-R,' but that word is pretty much made up of all of the least-intuitive alphabet shapes, aside from the 'O.' so, he sighs before he even gives her a chance to figure it out, and glances around to the side while he tries to think of another way to phrase it.

after a few seconds, he tries again with 'E-V-I-L.' she'll probably have the most trouble with that first letter, but there aren't many other words it could be if she figures out the ones that follow.

he could just get up to go fetch his notebook, but there's something about this interaction that he doesn't want to walk away from, and then try to return to. he feels like some spell might be broken if he did. someone would put a wall back up in the meantime, decide to do something more sensible with their time, and that would be it. and for once, he doesn't really want that.]

[interstices]

[Once she deduces the second sign (no large amount of luck with the first), Asuka actually laughs, the sound rough, almost like a bark. It doesn't fit her.]

Yeah. Me, too.

[It's enough of an explanation for now. She doesn't want to ruin the moment either. It's a little daunting to have shared as much as she already has with him. Her eye's a blight even to herself, only usually seen by Dr. Akagi and her ilk. Frightening to share, but... for once, she doesn't really regret letting him that far in.]

Did it get your throat, too?

[mortalcoil]

[he blinks at that cough of a laugh--almost a flinch--but, he gets it. he feels something similar, if quieter and deeper down, when she agrees. and it certainly doesn't make him want to look again at her eye any less.

but he'll put that want away, for now. it can be pulled out and quietly mulled over later, once they finally part and return to their quiet corners of the ship again.

in the meantime, he shakes his head. it's a question he gets often enough, so he points to his mouth instead, and then traces a little X right over his lips.]

[interstices]

Your mouth? [No, no, that's not right, so she hazards another guess.] Your tongue? The same thing that got your eye, right?

["Evil" is pretty all-encompassing. Asuka's still initially picturing something wild, maybe even rabid, but as far as her limited understanding of animals goes, they don't seem too likely to go after the tongue of someone still alive.]

Something alien? [She feels a little uncomfortable, asking all the time like this, when he can't respond that easily.] Look, just tell me if I'm asking too much. I know how it is, so. I won't get mad.

[mortalcoil]

[he hadn't felt the pang of real self-consciousness until right then. part of it is the weight of the question, (the fact that he was the cause of his own muteness isn't exactly something that he feels like sharing,) and part of it is her drawing back and offering him respite from it. it's enough to bring focus back to the fact that this conversation is happening at all.

so, he sits back a little, lets his gaze wander without answering. he won't tell her that she's asking too much, because that feels like a surrender at this point. but, he will change the subject.

questioningly, he points at the demolished punching bag, and then gestures at her. it's pretty obvious that it's probably her fault, but he'd been too caught up in the fact that it had been wrecked to really think about that she'd been the one to somehow accomplish it.]

[interstices]

That? [Oh. Of course. Asuka's spent her whole life around people that knew exactly what was going on with her, how her biology was warping itself, to the point that no one did more than shudder at her bouts of temper. She both does and doesn't want to answer him; he'll think she's stranger still for any response she gives, so after a moment or two, she touches her patch again.]

The thing that screwed up my eye got the rest of me, too. [Her hand drops from the patch like a stone.] It contaminated me.

[mortalcoil]

[well, he does give her a look at that--brow furrowing with a slow-building wariness--but it's probably not for reasons she's worried about. his is a very specific concern.

and he doesn't want to have to wonder about this thing that is now suddenly looming up in his mind, so... he'll just go right out and ask.

with a demonstrative grimace, he points at his own teeth, the canines specifically, and then points at her. he wants to see. he needs to make sure.]

[interstices]

Do you think I'm a vampire or something?

[She bares her teeth, even yanking her lower lip down so he can get a better view. A healthy set of gums, for someone who doesn't eat. White enough teeth, all normal-sized, even the canines. After a few seconds, she lets go, face stuck in what's almost a pout.]

I'm not contagious. [But people had sure acted like she was at NERV and WILLE.] I can't infect you.

[mortalcoil]

[really, he takes the whole display rather well. he doesn't react to the question, and just leans in a little to give her teeth a good glance-over when she makes a face. as far as he's concerned, she has cooperated wonderfully with his request.

because, yeah. he needs to make sure that she's not a vampire. that's exactly it.

so, once he's satisfied, and she has reassured him that she's not a vector for something insidious, he nods. as if there is nothing ridiculous about this exchange at all.]

[interstices]

[Asuka's normally pallid cheeks have gone slightly pink from embarrassment at the display, feeling like a racehorse undergoing inspection, but at least he hasn't winced or anything at the state of her teeth, or made a face. That would have been mortifying.]

[But now to get the conversation away from her, since he seems satisfied. She doesn't want to go into the particulars of what she is unless she absolutely has to.]

Do you get that many weirdos where you're from?

[mortalcoil]

[at least he seems to find absolutely nothing strange about all of this, and doesn't linger on it at all. if he notices the color in her cheeks, he doesn't let on.

since she's not the sort of monster he's worried about, he can put off the rest of his curiosity until later. he's a patient guy. so, he just continues chatting with a long-suffering nod. and just to clarify--since this still seems to be sharing time--he holds up two fingers to point down from where his canines would be.]

[interstices]

[Asuka's no expert on the supernatural, but there's really only one creature known for its fangs.]

You really did think I was a vampire, didn't you.

[She gives an aggravated, long-suffering sigh that's half a put on, and then, because that seems sort of insufficient, she says--]

You're Li-- human-- normal, right? Sort of?

[mortalcoil]

[there's a little bit of a pause--either wondering at the word she'd almost said, or hesitating at the "sort of" part--but he ultimately nods.

his eye might have a bit of glow to it, and there might be other terms associated with exactly what he is, but he's still pretty much human.]