Several days into the library liminal

[what_do_you_see]

Several people remarking to everyone about new tattoos. Might be best to do a role call: who here has been marked by the facists that run this prison?

Comments

[happyhalloween]

"Right above my tummy," Maria says, touching her heart. "Do you want me to show you?"

[willyousee]

"Would that be all right?" he asks her seriously. "I should like to see what it looks like, but if you would rather not, that is quite all right. I do not like to show people mine either."

[happyhalloween]

"I don't mind," Maria says. "But don't tell Beato. She didn't like when I offered to show Mr. Rorschach. And you gotta teach me how to show pictures to the network first."

[willyousee]

He smiles. "I will. And then I shall try and draw your mark so you don't have to upset Lady Beatrice anymore, okay?"

Resettling a little, he crosses his legs and pats his lap, offering her a more comfortable seat. "So! You know how to reach out to the Network and feed it your thoughts so that others may hear them - this is an extension of that. Only instead of what you are thinking, it is what you are hearing, or seeing, or touching. That sort of thing. I learned by doing them one at a time, and I think the easiest thing is sight. I would like to give you my sight, but I want you to pay attention to how it feels in your head, okay? And what the differences are between your sight and mine."

[happyhalloween]

Maria nods. "Okay!"

[willyousee]

He nestles her against his chest and covers her eyes with one hand. "All right. Close your eyes... And I will reach out to you. Hold your head still."

He takes a breath to cue her and as he exhales he lends her his sight. It's from a taller standpoint, of course, and perhaps a little sharper than she is used to. The viewpoint pans slowly around, focusing on different book spines or bones in the shelves. He is finding items with a similar texture, if not color, but whether she will notice that is questionable.

"Remember how it feels. Match how similar it is to hearing someone speak in your mind. See the differences in what I see? Think about how you would see this. I am going to fade out... There." He drops his hand. "What did you notice?"

[happyhalloween]

She pays close attention to it, just as Alcuin tells her.

"The books were the same," Maria says after a long moment. "Not their colors, but their... surfaces. Textures? Is that the right word?"

[willyousee]

He grins delightedly and hugs her, bending to kiss her cheek. "That's wonderful, Maria! You picked that out right away! Would you like to do that again, or would you like to try that for me?"

[happyhalloween]

"I'll try it for you!" Maria tells him, giving him a brief hug, before pulling back.

So she concentrates really, really hard and tries to do what Alcuin showed her and after a couple minutes Alcuin will be granted the sight of his very own ears and the side of his head for a few seconds.

"Uu. Did that work?" Maria asks.

[willyousee]

He laughs, bright and merry, and hugs her again, bouncing with excitement. "You did it! I could see through your eyes for just a moment. Maria, that was such a good start! Now we just have to help you hold it steady. Sometimes it helps to get a visual representation in your mind. A link of light between you and I, or a picture of your eyes over mine."

[happyhalloween]

"Ooooh," Maria says. "That would help, wouldn't it?" So she pictures her eyes beaming things over to Alcuin like with the TV and then she tries again.

This time it holds steadier.

[willyousee]

"Much better," he praises her. "Now the other senses might be a little sillier..." He pulls out a handkerchief and casts a small cantrip so that it carries a faint scent. "Let me show you."

Leaning back, he presses the cloth to his lips and a moment later the phantom scent of chocolate comes to her nose.

[happyhalloween]

Maria giggles.

[willyousee]

Another murmur and it's lemons. Then some kind of spicy savory smell like cooking enchiladas. (Thanks Thorne.)

Then he cuts the link with a grin and casts one more time (oranges) and hands her the cloth. "See what I mean? Your turn! Don't tell me what it is - make me smell it!"

[happyhalloween]

Oh, he prestidigitated it! How clever. Maria murmurs and the cloth smells like Ronove's cookies and she tries to beam the cookie smell over like a TV signal again.

[willyousee]

Alcuin blinks, surprised. That's not oranges. That's... "Cookies?"

[happyhalloween]

"I made it smell like cookies for you," Maria explains. "It's only an illusion."

[willyousee]

A bright grin appears in an instant and he laughs, the sound ricocheting from the bone shelves for a moment. "You are a wonderful girl, Maria. I am so proud of you."

[happyhalloween]

She snuggles up to him. "Good. I'm glad you're proud."

[willyousee]

He cuddles her close to his chest, holding her secure and safe. "I am so glad that we are friends, Maria," he says, softer now. "I have never had a friend like you. You make things brighter just by smiling."

[happyhalloween]

"I'm glad," she says, softly. "I've got so many friends here," she says after a moment. "Back home I only had Beato, the Furniture, and Ange--and then Ange was dumb and stupid and I didn't really even have her either."

[willyousee]

"It feels like you must have been alone, or felt alone, rather often, sweeting," he says softly. "I am very glad that you have so many friends now. Then if you ever need someone you have a lot of friends to turn to, even when we are on a Jaunt. You've done very well, Maria. Very well indeed. It can be hard to talk to people after you've been alone for so long."

[happyhalloween]

"It took me a while to talk to a lot of people," Maria agrees. "I had everyone in the Golden Land around, but." She shrugs. "When I first came here, I didn't start to talk to people for a long while. It took me until just before the Expo to really pay attention to the network!"