synopsychic | psychic/action

Entry tags:

psychic/action

[Hope you're all enjoying your sudden, Liminal Space-filled existences, Travelers. Either way, there's suddenly going to be a very tentative, very timid psychic broadcast.]

Um... excuse me...

[For anyone who met Mai during the Jaunt, she's certainly entirely different now--but then again, that's why she's doing this in the first place, despite being terrified of bothering people in this way. So after a brief pause, she rallies her courage.]

...My name is Mai--um, for the people I didn't know, and I... I was really different in that Jaunt b-but... I just wanted to say that I'm really really sorry!

[There's no visual here--she doesn't have the capability--but even so, it's pretty obvious to anyone who knows her that she's bowing her head here in her shame and apology.]

I did some truly terrible things to everyone, and I...I was really-- [A pause.] Just... I'm very sorry. That's... that's all.

Oh-- um. Near-san... [...what does she even say to him? She's really not sure. After a moment, a really awkward pause, she manages a fumbled thought--] Can we...talk?

[For those who would rather go the action route, Mai is not hard to find; she's tucked against a penny slots machine, arms wrapped around her knees, chin resting on them and eyes downcast. Seems this Jaunt took quite a lot out of her as well, but then again, dying isn't fun for anyone.

There are people she knows she needs to find and check on, but... well, she needs just a moment longer.]

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... Not after they patched me up and topped off my energy. I'm fine now, really.

[That's a slightly different answer than before, more evasive but also more honest, and in a way, smiling across the network at her, he's proud of it.]

Edited 2015-05-29 01:40 (UTC)

[.......... he had to get patched up...]

Tim-san....

[...]

You're sure that you're okay now? [He seems confident, which is the only reason she's willing to even remotely accept it.]

Positive. Scout's honor.

[Not that he wouldn't lie, to make her feel better - but he's not.]

... Then I'm really relieved. [She buys it, anyway, and probably always will.

Still, her tone is warmer now.]

If something happened to you, I... it would be really scary.

Well. I don't want to scare you.

[There's a slight edge of dry humor in his voice. But it's... good to hear. Really good, in that weird way, to know somebody's worrying about you.]

It's just...

[There's a pause as she tries to figure out how to word what she's thinking.]

...Tim-san has always been there, ever since I got here, and...I don't know what I would do if you weren't. [If something happened to him like it did to Ukyo...that would be frightening.]

There's no sign I'm going anywhere.

... I found a coffee machine. Want to see if we can get it to produce something better than casino-issue hot black tar?

[That's...better. She giggles at that, the echo of it in her mental voice.]

Okay...! Where are you? I can come find you, and... it'd be nice to have coffee again.

[If nothing else, she's confident in her ability to make fancy coffee, considering her maid cafe job.]

Let me try something.

[A blinking yellow sphere appears in front of her - although it is quickly obvious no-one else can see it - and moves away at a steady pace, leaving a dotted line of footprints behind it.]

Okay. Just follow the bouncing ball.

Alright!

[That's easy for her--it's Tim so naturally she believes in him. So she hurries on forward, following the footprints, almost making a game of it.

It's fun... the sort of fun that she doesn't get to have much of these days.

So it won't take her long to get to him.]

[He doesn't look up - he has the top off a hotel coffee machine, and is tinkering with the insides with a jeweler's screwdriver and a tension wrench, hunting for the temperature controls or a way to jury-rig them.]

It burns everything. Heats too much, too fast, doesn't allow a steady drip rather than a flood, so you get a mix of burnt coffee and hot brown water, and it all turns into acid tar. We might be better off strating from scratch...

[Thoughtfully, she inspects the machine. It's... old, and cheap, and not the same as the one from the cafe, but it's not that different, either.]

Hm... can I try, Tim-san...? Back home, I worked at a cafe, so...we made a lot of coffee. Even if it's not working right, I might be able to make something that's okay.

[at least it'd make her feel useful.]

Sure. Be my guest.

[A little dubious, but willing to be convinced that the solution isn't better engineering, he steps back and gestures her forward, one hand casually offering his tools if she needs them.]

[She doesn't take the tools; even when she was working at the cafe, she wasn't very handy and couldn't do much in the way of fixing broken coffee makers. But even so, she's pretty skilled at making coffee--so after a few moments of poking around at the machine, she eventually fiddles with the settings and gives it a go.

The result is...well, it's not spectacular, amazing maid cafe coffee, she knows that much, and she bites her lip as she inspects it--but it does smell like coffee, and it at least looks edible.

At least Mai has a few talents, even if they are mostly useless half the time.]

Hm... I don't know....

Hey, you did the hard work. You can let me fall on the grenade if you're not sure.

[He's been watching, quiet and impressed, and now he nods the coffee. He'll risk it...]

Um...if you're sure! I'm sorry that I don't have any cream or sugar or anything to put into it--er, if you even take cream or sugar with your coffee...

[Just stop, Mai.

She shakes her head a moment later, and hands it over.

Just.

Stop rambling.]

[He sips. Breathes out, slowly, after he swallows. Sips again. Closes his eyes a moment.]

It's good. Maybe not good enough to sell, but we're not running a coffee shop anymore.

[Even if he's just humoring her, it makes her happy to hear. She beams, far happier than just making a cup of coffee should make anyone, and nods eagerly.]

Oh... I'm so glad...! I mean--I wish it was better, but I'm glad that it tastes like coffee.

[We're setting the bar high here.

Though what he said makes her think.]

...Tim-san, do you think...the Ground is still doing okay?

That's... a complicated question. I don't know. Do you think we're still there, managing it? Or... someone like us? Or did half the staff vanish, last year?

... I want to believe that...we didn't hurt anything by leaving. Maybe someone else was the manager, or...or maybe they forgot us all.

I think...even that would be better than hurting everyone by disappearing.

We just don't know how it works.

But everyone there was resourceful. And they believed in the Ground.

Yes... yes, I believe in them too. And the Ground.

I think that it's still out there somewhere, and--it's doing okay. Sometimes there are budget cuts, and it's in danger again, but then someone steps up and saves it.

I think that's...what it is.

... It's a good working theory. Fits the facts we know.

[She smiles at him, and nods simply, and gently wipes grime from the coffee machine.]

Mm... I'm glad to hear it. Thank you...for humoring me, whether you believe it or not.

[She doesn't know if he is, but she knows a lot of people do, and she doesn't care right now; she just wants to think that they're safe and happy.]

It makes me feel better to think that everything's okay, when we leave.

It's not that I don't believe it. But... it's possible. If things work that way, it's even plausible. If it helps... that's all I need to know.

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upcard - 2015-07-09 03:58 (UTC) - Expand

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detectivewonder - 2015-07-10 21:45 (UTC) - Expand

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