driftfleet | Got a Mind Like Swiss Cheese

Entry tags:

Got a Mind Like Swiss Cheese

Who: Katie and you
Broadcast: Nope
Action: Vanquish, Iskaulit
When: 25th June onwards

[You'd think she'd reach out to let people know she was okay. What a jerk.

Instead, running into Katie might be an accidental thing. She's either curled up in her room on the Vanquish (her actual room, not the personnel office), patting Licorice absently and not sure why the poor cat sounds so distressed...

...or the jumbled pieces of memory she has eventually lead her to the Iskaulit, exploring most places in the vain hopes it will fill in the gaps.

Run into her anywhere. She's not staying put in any one place unless someone gets her attention, but moving through in a slow sort of way, wrapped in the warmest coat she has. Except for one point where she passes her reflection and stares for a while.]

...

When did I get so old...?

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[Sorey spends a lot of time on the Iskaulit, so he's gotten pretty used to feeling people entering and leaving his domain. He's gotten used to how certain people feel, gotten used to that quiet "okay so they're here" feeling that's hard to describe.

He'd more than gotten used to how Katie feels, so when she enters his domain feeling...not her, Sorey leaves his book behind and goes in search of her. He finds her staring at her reflection in one of the windows and slows to a stop a few feet away, squinting at her, trying to figure out what's different.]

...Dorothy?

[Sorey gets a glance, brief and absent as he arrives. Then a second one, more curious, because he's familiar, but that's the wrong name, and--

--no, there's nobody else here. Huh. She chews on her lip a moment.]

That's... not my name. [But she sounds unsure, because it doesn't seem entirely wrong. Which is kind of stupid, right?]

[He won't hurt her with this, will he? ...he needs to try. What if she's in danger? What if she's a danger to herself?] Is it...Katie, then?

This feels weird.

[Mikleo had been dwelling inside Sorey for a while while he fusses at the interfaith center, but being in Katie's general vicinity had caught his attention alongside his vessel. With a flash of light he ventures out to stand at Sorey's side, brows furrowed.]

You don't look so good. Maybe you should sit down...

[She relaxes a little, offering Sorey a tentative smile.]

That's right. And we're friends. Or at least we're on good terms...

...I'm sorry. My memory's a bit shot at the moment. [He looks so earnest she just wants to reassure him.] But I'm sure it will come back.

[Mikleo's suggestion goes completely unanswered. She doesn't so much look in his direction.]

[She...told the truth. She told the truth and it didn't hurt her. Sorey knows that's a good thing, something he should be happy about but-

It's eerie. The way her eyes didn't even track towards Mikleo, that she didn't even hear a whisper of his voice with Sorey standing right here. It's almost like she...doesn't have any resonance at all.]

It's okay, [he says finally, catching himself.] It's all right, I- you're probably right. It'll come back to you.

[Definitely eerie, and momentarily hurtful until it clicks. Her resonance. More notably, she feels different- she'd always had that air of familiarity, like a seraph but not quite, ethereal and distinctly her. All of that is gone now.

Briefly he waves a hand in front of her face, not expecting any reaction- more habitual than anything.]

She feels more like you than me, now.

[Less than that, even. With his domain, Sorey doesn't carry the presence of a regular human anymore. Katie's just so... normal.

Ah... it stings, a bit, and he retreats a few steps with an uncomfortable frown. It's been a long time since he'd been unable to talk with a friend like this.]

[Katie ~~bites that hand~~ cants her head to the side, studying Sorey with concern. It's not particularly concern for him, but he seems shocked. She's missing something.

--okay she's missing a lot of things, so that's laughable, but it's like he was expecting something else.]

If you told me what I'm missing, maybe it will come back faster...? Sorey. [That's it. His name. She can at least apply names to faces, that's something.] We talk a lot. I gave you something.

[Sob, she's sorry, Mikleo. Or she will be, eventually.]

[Sorey can't help but watch Mikleo's face, watch the way he wilts into the background. He wants to reach out to him, but the best he can do is tug gently at their connection in an attempt to offer comfort.]

-oh, yeah, you did. The dreamcatcher.

[He feels the tug, of course, and he appreciates it immediately; it lessens the bite of that old loneliness he used to get a twinge of, back when Sorey was conversing with the fellow humans around him and the seraphim were left to their own devices, invisible and unknown. It's nobody's fault, but sometimes. Just sometimes.

It's the same now- it isn't Katie's fault, whatever's going on. He's not mad, it's only that it's harder than it used to be.]

If you think it'll help, I can go get it.

[Otherwise he's probably best to just stay out of the way.]

...hah. [That's right. There are dreamcatchers up in the office they said was hers, but she assumed she'd bought them somewhere. Now she recalls shells. What a weird hobby.]

You know, I learned to make those in primary school. It's something I thought I'd grow out of. But I must have been worried about you. I hope at least the idea helped.

Oh- no no, it's okay, we actually made a bunch of them together. I'm just fine. [Sorey automatically reaches for her hand before stopping, drawing back. Will she see Mikleo if he tries? Should he try? He doesn't want to frighten her.] So your...memories feel a little fuzzy? Is that all?

Mm. Well, I don't feel well. [Kind of feels like she's coming down with a cold. It's not that bad, though.] I just have pieces. But... when I see familiar faces, I get a little more back. I didn't really remember you at all until I saw you.

[She smiles apologetically.] Sorry.

Oh- no no no, please don't apologize to me. [And here Sorey's just gawking at her out here in the hallway with Mikleo when she feels sick! Geez.] C'mon, do you wanna sit down? I can make some tea, we- I was right over there. [Points to the entrance to the Interfaith Center.]

...tea would be lovely, actually. [She glances over to the Interfaith Centre with a curious look. It's wholly unfamiliar, but look, if there's tea to be found therein she's all for it.] Were you by yourself? I don't want to intrude or anything.

It's okay, you're not intruding... [NOT QUITE A LIE. But Sorey hesitates just a second before taking her hand, a little hopeful.]

[Mikleo spots this an recognizes what he's doing. He's a little skeptical, considering the severity of whatever Katie's lost, but they won't know without trying. And that requires him speaking out.]

If this doesn't work, it's okay.

[He'll just... go inside Sorey for a while, it's fine.]

[It's so easy to trust Sorey she barely bats an eyelid at him taking her hand. It just seems like a Sorey sort of thing to do, memories being fractured notwithstanding.

Though she shifts to glance in Mikleo's direction a moment later, blinking with some faint confusion. That was a familiar voice, but... she can't place it.]

...Ah. Okay. If I'm not, then that's fine.

[Maybe she's hearing things. These hallways seem weird for that kind of stuff. (Or, you know. Meeting other seraphs throwing a fit.)]

[She looked- did she sense something? Feel him? Sorey casts Mikleo a hopeful look before leading Katie over to the Center, keeping her hand in his, smiling at her over his shoulder.] You know, you actually don't come by this place very often. At least, not while I'm here. I think it's because you're always off having adventures.

[Mikleo's eyes widen as she looks towards him, and quickly he moves to follow, less downcast than before.]

I don't see her here much, either.

[Was it a fluke, or can she actually hear that...?]

[Chances are high, given she stares back in his direction with a confused expression, even as she lets Sorey tug her toward the Centre.]

There it is again. Does sound travel here...?

[She can. She can hear him...!

Sorey stops suddenly, Katie's hand still in his own.] Can you hear that, Katie? You hear someone talking?

[She flushes a little. It sounds stupid, admitting to hearing things. But Sorey seems hopeful more than skeptical, so after a moment's hesitation, she nods.]

I mean, this is a big ship, maybe there's an intercom system or... or something. [Look at her trying to justify shit.]

It's okay, it's okay! [Excited covers their joined hands with his free one, looking off seemingly to nothing at his side.] Mikleo, say something! She can hear you!

Some...thing.

[What the heck, he's just stunned for a moment. They end up using this method so rarely, and with Katie the way she is, he honestly didn't think it would work.

He shuffles closer, leaning in towards her ear.]

Not to startle you, but it isn't an intercom.

action - iskaulit

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