(no subject)

[theboogieman]

Who: Zhas
Broadcast: Video
Action: N/A
When: Nebulous now-time

-----

[for once, Zhas is not wearing a full face of skull makeup.

so for all intents and purposes, this looks like a video feed of a pretty normal guy propping up his communicator on something so that he doesn't have to hold it. as he steps back, his eyes go a little glowy in the dim light of the Red Fish's cargo bay--but that's not the focus, here.

his expression stays blank, but he brings his hands up to sign, in very clear ASL:] 'Who understands sign language?'

Comments

[unbearablynaive]

[Well, that's an odd request - but one he's fortunately equipped to answer. The Vision flicks on his own feed.]

Me. Could practice more.

[theboogieman]

[seeing someone so colorful respond to his feed is enough to make him pause... but considering he walks around with a face full of grease paint most of the time, he doesn't have a whole lot of room to judge.

and hey, an easy conversation is not a gift horse he wants to look in the proverbial mouth. so up his hands go again.]

Me too. I sign better than talking. [pause, and then.] Can I ask you some questions?

[unbearablynaive]

[Not an uncommon reaction from new arrivals - which is why he usually sticks to audio for the first conversation. Alas.]

Yes. Forgive my slow speed?

[theboogieman]

[a nod. he'll have to remember to not blitz through the signs himself, especially with the rate he and Coil keep making up new signs and shorthand for themselves.]

Stop me if I talk too fast.

[they'll start with the easy one:] What's your name?

[unbearablynaive]

[He knows that one! It even looks cool. And he spells it out after the sign, just for clarification.]

I am Vision. Captain of wind rose ship.

video

[interstices]

[Wait just a minute here. That's the Red Fish's cargo bay. Asuka hasn't exactly done more than skulk around the premises lately, and hasn't gotten out of her room yet today, but she doesn't remember this guy at all. So his question gets ignored in favor of a brusque one of her own, eyes narrowed, mouth set.]

What are you doing in there?

video

[theboogieman]

[he probably hasn't seen her yet either--since he's spent a good amount of his time so far hiding in Coil's room or holed up in his dumb little shuttle.

so her suspicion seems sudden and entirely unwarranted. he almost starts answering in sign, getting partway through the second gesture before it really registers that she maybe can't even understand what he's saying.

he drops his arms, and says in flat, gravelly voice:] Why.

[...which is supposed to be a question, but tone is hard. there's a reason he was asking about sign language instead.]

video

[interstices]

Because this isn't your ship.

[Someone's managed to find a way to miss out on the dessert cream. Or maybe Atroma's just noticed that she gives it away every single time. Asuka stares at him impatiently, waiting for his explanation, one hand irritably on her hip.]

video

[theboogieman]

[...and then he suddenly realizes that he knows who he's talking to.

or, at least, he knows of her. how many younger, one-eyed girls could claim to be on the clue of the Red Fish, right? if this is Coil's weird little friend...

Asuka gets no actual response. rather, Zhas stops whatever he was doing to pick up his communication device and try to get a better look at whatever is behind her in the video. because if she's in a recognizable room...]

Video

[shoujoreject]

[Ah... it's been a while since he used it, but that's... kind of intriguing, isn't it? He can't tell if Zhas is mute or deaf or what, yet, but it doesn't really matter.

His own feed flicks on and he gives a small smile before signing in return, pausing once or twice to think on ASL versus the Chinese-American version he once used with an old friend:]

'It's been a while since I used American, but I know it.'

Video

[theboogieman]

[oh, who is this... little person...? he doesn't seem to mind the pauses-- like with Vision, any chance to talk without using his voice is a welcome opportunity in itself.]

'Do you want to try answering some questions?'

[he'll keep trying to sign clearly and slowly--none of the sloppy shorthand he usually uses with Coil.]

Video

[shoujoreject]

[The most important little person tbh. He nods in response to the question.]

'I would be happy to do so.'

Video

[theboogieman]

[this is good. he also nods, and decides to start with a simple question again.]

What's your name?

video.

[paraclete]

[If ever Kaworu's boundless patience could come in handy, the time is now. He starts the video with a gentle, easygoing smile — and believe me, he intends to keep this expression throughout their conversation. He's a teenager — could be anywhere from from fifteen to seventeen or eighteen — but he seems much calmer than your average adolescent. His goal in all of this is to be reassuring: probably, for this person, this isn't an easy thing...

He pulls back from the video to sign: ] If it doesn't bother you, I can talk with you this way. [But, curiously, he's not using the signed phrases typical to ASL. It could be painstaking for Zhas to watch, but Kaworu is spelling everything out with the alphabet. He explains, with his hands,] It's been a long time, but my DGS is clearer than ASL. But I know the alphabet. [He does mouth every word in English.]

video.

[theboogieman]

[thisss person.

has the same eye color as someone else very important to him. for better or for worse, that drags a lot of connotations into the conversation. the boy's smile is at once comforting and fundamentally untrustworthy. at least he he barely has time to dwell on that--since he quickly has to focus on his hands instead. he can read fingerspeak without a problem, it's... turning the letters into actual words that slows him down.

spelling is hard, okay. with a further dearth of facial expression on his end, he starts spelling back:]

I can hear-- [he taps his ear, out of habit.] --If you want to speak instead.

video.

[paraclete]

[For Kaworu's part, he doesn't seem bothered by this more technically complicated form of communication — and that's because he really isn't. If his eyes are familiar, they're also very deep and mellow, like miles below the ocean. (And, where he comes from, that ocean actually is red.)

This time, when he spells, he's also speaking out loud: ]

Whatever is most comfortable for you. What would you like me to do?

video.

[theboogieman]

[oh, good. he's got issues with the ocean, too.

the question seems to agitate him a little, sends those jack-o'-lantern eyes of his looking off in some direction that isn't the comm screen. he dislikes the use of the word "comfortable", dislikes being given a choice. doesn't want to think very hard about why.

but in the end, he comes back to the screen with a proper decision, still spelling everything out. he isn't quite as slow or careful as he is with the others.]

Just spell. GSL is German...? [he can't think of another country that starts with G that would have its own sign language variant, but...]

text

[residu]

not a clue what that means

video

[theboogieman]

[welp. rather than responding with text, he just flips him off.

how about this one is that a little more clear for you]

text

[residu]

[ WOW ZHAS WOW ]

fuck you too, buddy

video

[theboogieman]

[IT GOT HIS POINT ACROSS.

still not switching to text, he shrugs his shoulders.]

[collegedropout]

[Sam figures he might as well meet the new guy, so he comes out to the cargo bay to answer the question, because why not? ASL is a very visual thing, might as well be up close and not so personal because we're strangers here okay. Look over here, it's a tall dude with nice hair and plaid. And he's signing as he wanders in.

'I'm getting better the longer I'm here. There's a crewmate here who I use it with. I think you know him already?' He's not supremely fluid, and he hesitates on the less common words in the language, but a lot's come up from his years in Stanford's ASL class now. Weird how it bubbles to the surface after a few months of consistent effort.]

[theboogieman]

[you know, he misses the days when a guy could just set up a network post in the cargo bay and not be disturbed by people walking up to talk to him. mind you, those days were when five or six people total lived on the ship, and no one ever visited, and he was a lot scarier to approach in general...

still, he's a little thrown by having to divide his attention. he reaches blindly for his communicator, missing once and then picking it up to make sure it's off. his eyes are on the gestures, reading, finally piecing out that this extremely tall, plaid-wearing guy is responding to his network question.

his response is very short, signing Coil's name and a question mark.]

[collegedropout]

[Too bad bro, you're getting all irl moose man.

He gives a nod.

'Better than making him talk through writing. I thought it would be more enjoyable for him this way, but it's been a long time since I took classes on sign language. You were here on this ship before, weren't you?']

[theboogieman]

[well, he doesn't much like the fact that irl moose man seems to know who he is when he's never even seen the guy aboard this ship before now. by process of elimination, this is probably Sam...

the bookish guy, reads a lot. despite all the words being signed in his reaction, Zhas only nods warily in response.]