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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[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.

[Not to startle her, he says. Katie jumps at the closer sound and pulls back a bit in surprise, but it's not quite as twitchy as she was with Edna. For a start, hearing Mikleo's name lets her finally put a name to the voice, and half a second after her startlement she just looks more confused than ever.]

Mikleo? Why can't I see you?

[Whoa, okay! Settles that, then. Mikleo's just as wide-eyed, not that she'd know. So it's like Alisha used to be, huh... her resonance has dropped that much?]

I'd ask you the same question, but you don't seem to have the answer to that, either. Are you- you feel- are you human?

Of course I'm human. [So baffled.] What else would I be?

[...okay fine, there are probably aliens in space and all, but her point stands.]

[Glance at Mikleo. If the truth isn't hurting her,] Aren't you also a pooka?

[Uh. The word is familiar, but her brow furrows even more.]

No..? What's a pooka?

[What the hell, this is way more serious than he'd originally assumed. Sight and sound had brought back her memories of the two of them, but he has no idea what (if anything) could trigger a memory of her own existence.]

...Maybe we should focus on one thing at a time. Too much at once will only become a source of confusion for you.

[If someone he barely remembered showed up and told him he was human despite all evidence to the contrary, he'd be pretty annoyed, after all.]

[Probably for the best to let her remember things as they come to her. Sorey glances at Mikleo and nods, gesture short.] Tea first. We'll have some tea and try to jog your memory. Okay?

...okay. [She sounds so unconvinced, because her memory never had Mikleo being invisible before. But she's missing chunks, so maybe it's recent...?] Tea does sound lovely, after all.

[She's British, it's a thing.]

[Mikleo follows them in, reaching between them to give their joined hands a light pat before he turns towards the kitchen area. Feel that, Katie?]

I'll get the tea. There's not much point in my staying here with just the two of us when it's like this.

[Mikleo disappears into the kitchen and Sorey lets go of her hand for a moment, so they can sit down together on the couch.]

Katie I promise, we'll explain whatever we can. [The last thing he wants to do is make her feel like she can't trust them, especially when she's confused like this or...whatever Atroma did to her.] We just don't want to overwhelm you right off the bat. You must be feeling kind of weird.

[She felt that. It doesn't spook her as much as she wonders if it should. Sorey's promise diverts her attention from thin air straight back to him, frowning slightly.]

You shouldn't make those lightly, you know. [She means it to be light-hearted, but it makes her uneasy.] But yes. I think "weird" is an understatement.

[Sorey takes her hand again, this time just to hold hers between his own and look her eye to eye.] Katie, I promise. If you ask me a question, I'll tell you the truth. [He means it.]

[Sorey if she were completely awake you'd dig yourself into so much trouble so fast. But he's so genuine about it she just smiles back weakly.]

Well. You don't really strike me as the sort of person to lie, anyway. Do you know what's happened?

You were probably taken by Atroma. Sometimes...people fall asleep, or go missing for a while. Sometimes there's changes when they come back, but I've never heard of it not wearing off after a while.

...oh. Some others have told me it will probably wear off. It's a bit disconcerting that it happened in the first place, though. I don't have any new memories or anything. I just lost a whole lot.

[Must be unnerving.] Do you remember anything about the Fleet at all? Is it all just bits and pieces?

I remember being here, and I remember the whole line about reality shows and whatnot. But everything's... fuzzy. I don't remember most people until I see them, and some I don't remember at all.

[LIKE APPARENTLY SHE HAS A SISTER that's uh. Complicated and weird.]

[also fundamentally untrue but yanno] You remembered Mikleo when you heard his voice though, right? So it's all in there, it'll probably just take some time for your memories to sort themselves out. [That's not even tackling the whole lack of resonance...or being a pooka at all parts.]

[Look, human Katie and fae Katie are both gullible and like the idea of having a sister.]

Why can't I see him, though? [That's the important part, very distressing. She glances around the room just in case he's magically appeared, but yeah.] That's... definitely new.

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monolike - 2018-08-18 02:29 (UTC) - Expand

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