The Park, Friday Afternoon

[fewer_explosions]

The events of the week preceding this one had been... troubling, but they had passed on with the wind. Liara wondered if her new friends here were right, that such things were common; she wondered if she might one day be able to maintain the level of biotic output she showed that week that exhausted her so briefly before her body was returned to its normal state.

But whatever it was, it hadn't brought her closer to home.

So she went to a walk to the park, where at least she could tilt her head and pretend. The pond was swiftly becoming her favorite spot, the water reminding her of parks back in Armali. Obviously, the birds were different, but they took to feeding as well as any such creature on her home planet.

Liara tossed some bread into the pond, and then sat down. She folded her hands over her lap and observed the water. Quiet. Peaceful. And alien.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[furnaceface]

Some days, Jonothon needed to sit inside and not face the day. Some, he needed to drink, or go buy music, or remind himself just how good it could be to be able to breathe again.

Some days, he just had to go and watch the ducks. Especially after a week spent reminiscing of people long gone from his life, and even reminiscing about who he had once been. And, usually, watching the ducks was a quiet, one-man affair, where he could just stare out at the water and lose himself in memories. Today, it would seem, somebody else had beaten him to his usual seat.

He chewed on his lip for a moment as memories of the week before drifted back to him, and then he inhaled, shrugged, and walked over to the bench.

"I don't suppose I'd be intruding on something if I were to take a seat here as well, luv?"

[fewer_explosions]

Liara looked up, and... could she be excused for not recognizing him? There was no fire, and he spoke from a... well, a significantly defined mouth, and though she probably wouldn't mistake him for another human being any time soon, he was... well, different enough.

She was still learning.

"Ah, no, of course not," she said, shifting across the bench - briefly, irrationally annoyed at the breach of her solitude, but not inclined to make that fact known. "It is a public park." That's what the signs said.

[furnaceface]

Jonothon met that response with a wry smile, taking a seat on the edge of the bench, allowing her the most room he could afford without simply sliding off the bloody thing onto the ground.

He used that statement enough, himself. He couldn't stop anyone from taking a seat here. That didn't mean he necessarily liked it.

"It is," he agreed, looking out over the water, briefly thankful that he did look so different, these days. It meant, if nothing else, that he wouldn't feel obligated to talk about any specifics of the week before until he, at least, was ready to do so. On the other hand, being identified with this face instead of his own didn't necessarily sit well with him, either. "Sorry. I... I find this is a good place to come to think. Last week was a bit overwhelming."

[fewer_explosions]

"It was... very different," Liara said, fiddling with her hands. She was not sure what the etiquette was in a situation like this - so she would try to follow his lead. "I am still not sure if it was a mass-hallucination, or we were actually changed."

[furnaceface]

"It was real enough," Jonothon replied, his tone softening a little more. "I've been picking hourglass sand from under my fingernails for days, now."

Which wasn't the only indication he had that said that he wasn't utterly losing his mind (at least about this), but it was something there and tangible, and Liara had managed to strike him as someone who needed that extra bit of grounding in fact, when faced with the fantastic.

"I know it was only a week, but it's more a relief to be able to sit out in the open under the sky again than I'd thought it might be."

[fewer_explosions]

Liara rubbed at her arm. "I spent my week in detention," she said. "I suppose that would have seemed claustrophobic to many, too."

[furnaceface]

"Claustrophobic enough, when they made a habit of coming in every day to remind you that you were stuck there," Jonothon noted, and then glanced sidelong at her. "You seemed to handle it well enough, though. One of the few people who managed to keep your wits about you the entire time."

Well, except for the Tuesday, with the singing, maybe.

[fewer_explosions]

Liara frowned at him. "I... enjoy being in old ruins, and they are generally very claustrophobic," she said. "But... have we met?"

She was trying really, really hard, but she couldn't remember anyone with that skin tone, and that's what stood out the most.

[furnaceface]

"I looked a little different, last week," Jonothon replied at least having the grace to look slightly sheepish. "Wasn't near as vocal as I am these days. Still managed to stand out some, though."

He nodded out toward the water.

"This isn't quite Thessia, is it?"

[fewer_explosions]

Liara squinted at him, as if that would somehow jog her memory.

It was the puzzling statement about Thessia that made the whole affair connect some twenty seconds later. "Jonothon," she said, sounding desperately surprised. "You do... look... very different."

His skin color was downright asari or salarian, for one.

[furnaceface]

He also had at least twice the muscle mass of that burning boy, easily. And a lower jaw.

"I've had a somewhat more eventful few years than the lad who lost three to detention," he offered, along with a shrug. "This look is... still fairly new, granted."

He still jumped when he saw himself in the mirror. At least he hadn't replaced the one in his bathroom.

[fewer_explosions]

"How did this happen?" Liara asked, frowning. "Is it an effect of your mutation? I have not seen humans with that skin tone before."

[furnaceface]

"It's not exactly a rare skin tone back home." A beat, and then a wince. "Rather, it wasn't always a rare skin tone back home."

Yes, that cleared everything up nicely, right there.

"This is... more accurately the effect of somebody else's mutation. It's a long story, luv."

[fewer_explosions]

Liara looked dubious. "If you say so," she ameliorated eventually. "I wouldn't think to pretend that I have any expertise in the field of xenobiology."

She hesitated briefly before adding, "Are you okay?"

[furnaceface]

"Mostly."

Mostly. Jono worked his way up to something nearly a smile, shrugging his shoulders.

"Mutations, at least in the branch of reality that I come from, can manifest in any one of a number of ways," he offered. "Unusual skin tones by human standards being one of them, and I've seen more than a few mutants with skin in varying shades of blue. I'd still stand out in a crowd if I were to go casually walking down the street, back in my own reality."

Especially these days.

[fewer_explosions]

"If it helps," Liara said, "my people have skin tones ranging from azure to teal."

She wasn't sure that was actually helpful, but by the Goddess, she would try.

Beat.

"If it helps," she repeated.

[furnaceface]

"It helps," Jonothon replied, smiling slightly if only because she had made the effort. "I'm not bothered by the colour, honestly. It was more... Going from one extreme to the other, like this. I didn't have any say in the matter. I'm headblind, for a start."

That was one of those things that was hitting him the hardest all over again, in the wake of last week.

[fewer_explosions]

"You... lost your telepathic abilities," she said. Ran that through her head. Still couldn't quite... "That must have been... traumatic. To hear so much and speak so far, only to have it taken away from you."

It had been a strong part of him. She remembered that much, even if that memory was still soaked deep in exhaustion.

[furnaceface]

"It's like going blind and deaf and mute, all in an instant, with no warning, no idea what's going on," Jonothon clarified, his mouth going dry. "But... a person does what a person needs to do in order to keep going. I can't throw my voice the way I used to be able to, but I can sing, again. I always did miss being able to sing."

... It didn't seem like much of a trade-off, in retrospect.

[fewer_explosions]

Liara rubbed at her arms. She felt a little uncomfortable - unsure of how to proceed, or what was expected of her, or what she should say. "Are you very good at singing?" she said. "Mother is. She's... always been disappointed that I wasn't interested in learning how."

[furnaceface]

"You follow the hobbies that interest you. Not everybody was meant to be a singer." Some people blew their faces off at eighteen, for example. "I'm a little out of practise when it comes to carrying a tune, I'll admit. But the voice I have serves the purpose, I suppose. I'm more comfortable just picking up an instrument and playing, instead."

He'd never lost his hands, after all.

[fewer_explosions]

"I would... like to hear that some day." It felt like the thing to say. She might even mean it, actually, but the awkwardness of the situation was getting to her. "For what it is worth, I am glad to hear you've wound ways to compensate for the things you lost." She weaved her fingers together. "We can't always decide what life should do next for us."

[furnaceface]

"Sometimes we wind up stranded on an island on a world we're not entirely familiar with?"

He knew the feeling, at least.

"Hopefully the island is treating you better this time around than it was last week, luv."

[fewer_explosions]

"That isn't even in question," Liara said easily. "I can go where I want, I can sit where I want..." she waved vaguely at the pond. "Outside of going home, I am quite free here. That is much better than last week."

[furnaceface]

"I can only imagine the food's an improvement as well." Jono was smiling, again, something just shy of teasing. It was good to hear that this wasn't a complete nightmare, at least. "Leave it to Fandom to find a way to make me thankful that I didn't have a mouth last week."

He'd thought on his good fortune every time he had to watch the other people in detention choke down a meal.

"With any luck, we won't see a repeat of that nightmare for quite some time."

He wasn't going to hold his breath.