I'd Rather Be Blind

Oh… Hope it doesn’t cause too many problems. 

On the contrary it’s quite pleasant to feel something positive about anything.

He did not realize there was a bias. This… complicates things?

It does indeed complicate things.

"Hello. This is my formal request for more interaction with Vox and/or Hex, please and thank you."

Kris is staring.

“ * . . . {you can sign?}”

They’re still staring.

-Kris (r4v3h3r0)

@r4v3h3r0

Silence meets the newcomer, but that's only natural between them apparently. There is slight surprise on the android's part, but he nods before signing back. {I can. It's rare I meet others who are fluent, especially travelers.}

A pause, the machine briefly contemplative. How are these situations supposed to go again..?

It’s becoming uncomfortably clear that they may have to play a game of charades until their points can be gotten across, and– Oh, oh good, so at least he’s understood. In the same way the blue-skinned machine head tilts, so does Vesper’s in the opposite direction.

“Um…” It takes a few seconds to realize what was being asked of him.

…Writing? Pencil and a notepad, maybe? “Yeah, one second…” He shuffles through his bag, and withdrawing a fountain pen. It’s as he’s handing it to the other that he realizes there could be some disconnect. “Oh, I don’t– I don’t have paper. Just write in the air.”

A weird suggestion, he’s sure, but it would work.

Thankfully that gesture translated well. His new companion caught on plenty quick. Luckier still that the blond apparently has something in his bad that will help. Or... half of it anyway.

What’s handed to Vox is a sole pen, but there’s nothing to... a frown meets the suggestion. Will the other really understand if he just mimics the action..?

|ᎥᏕ ᏖᏂᎥᏕ ᏇᎧᏒᏦᎥᏁᎥ?| The android pauses, somewhat bewildered by the floating letters following the flow of his wrist.

cider

your lover leaves a bottle of red-gold cider on your doorstep the next day. it fizzes a little when you crack it open, and tastes like early fall and extravagance. you sit on your porch to drink, pouring it into a small tin mug and sipping. across the road, your lover raises their glass to you.

“Well HEY there valued [[MONEYBAGS]]!!! The [[STORE]] is closed for [[FOREVER]] today! Come back tomorrow ok?? Great? Great!!”

And there he is, swooping back to the other side of the room. No thanks he likes keeping his [[Parental Advisory Explicit Content]] in once piece thank you very much.

What a poor creature, the constant glitching would be pitiful if this living piece of malware weren’t so... annoying. 

...ah, should have seen that coming, really. Seems the spam is rampant tonight. Although merely SEEING the message lights up several popups in the machine's vision, his security systems are robust enough to start working at the problem immediately.

There is an annoyed mechanical growl from the android.

...When he finds the scam artist responsible for this...

...we have... some concerns about the sudden goings on. 

“Not been sleeping well…?” Is repeated, as if he was mulling over the answer as much as the one giving it. Vox wasn’t the kind to roll around in his recharge cycle, so it was hard to tell what exactly was happening other than probably not sleeping in odd positions.

“Did you…” Ziel’s hesitant to assume, but he doesn’t know if his boyfriend experienced the unconsciousness of ‘sleep’ in the same fashion as he did. “Have you been having nightmares?”

A nod to confirm as Ziel echoes his statement back. By now Vox knows his boyfriend is just thinking out loud but... it’s appreciated nonetheless. Concern is a natural state on one so empathetic, although the problem didn’t seem quite so serious as to warrant this much thought.

Oleander

This is the poison of stagnation. You grow drowsy. Your heart rate slows, and when you do move you can't seem to stop shaking. It may seem to others that you're lazy, or reticent. Like you avoid hard work on purpose, like you always take the easy way out. But you know deep down that it wouldn't be like this if you weren't so tired, so deeply tired. If you weren't crushed under the weight of sorrow like a mile of water over your head. Nothing brings you peace, except rest and-- though you can hardly dare to ask-- having someone tend to you gently and sweetly. A good gardener speaks to their plants, sings to them, waters them, fertilizes their soil, prunes the dead parts, nurtures the new growth. You yearn to be cared for like that, even though you feel you don't deserve it. The secret is that you do. You always have. And someday, you'll learn that, and receive that care, and the exhaustion won't keep you from growing strong and lovely anymore. You were never the problem. These are simply poor growing conditions for you.

...there is the most subtle frown under the android's mask. He hadn't seen Cipher for quite some time, but it seems life hadn't been kind to her during that absence.

@vox-auxiliary​ | relocated here.exe 

-> following ost applies. 

oh. 

Surtr quickly responds back, hands detaching from her hip. ; Willing to prove that she’s not hostile, or planning to attack. You’ll never know on your travels.  ‘Hello to you too. Please forgive me that my sign language is rusty. ; I haven’t used it as of late.’ Violet orbs observing him, but with tact in mind. Huh, he’s… blue, but with a light hue in mind? What kind of person is Vox…? 

…Ah. Sign language? Shit, it’s been a long time or awhile since she practiced. Let’s see. It seems to be common tongue. That’s a hello right? A serious expression on her gentle facial features softens up, a firm lip frowning lightly, blatantly hiding that nervousness. Let’s see now… For now, gather information because this place is… Really colorful, to say the least. 

‘May I ask where I am, mister? My name is Surtr.’

...oh. 

It seems both of them are taken by a vague notion of surprise. He had not expected her to recognize his attempts, much less to communicate back. The odds were hardly in their favor, but it seems his dialect is at least somewhat recognizable to the stranger.

Their versions of sign language may not be totally accurate to each other but they... DO work. The android looks thoughtful, clearly taking slightly longer to puzzle over her name at the end. Surtr. How unique. Not one he will be forgetting any time soon. 

i love you, i've always loved you, i will always love you

it's commitment, it's devotion, it goes often without saying, but is felt nonetheless. it's accepting that you would travel to hell and back for them if they asked and knowing that they would do the same for you. it's an old ache, long after they've burrowed deep into your chest and settled there like a weight- grounding, an anchor point. even when you're apart, you can still feel the shape of them, it's like phantom pain. neither of you can help but succumb to the other's gravity, yet neither of you fear the collision. it means that you trust them, that they make you feel safe, that they feel like home.

Tagged by: @ziel-soundwave