middaeg | haven't you noticed

Entry tags:

haven't you noticed

Who: Steven, Peridot, Lex, and potentially YOU!
When: Second half of May.
Where: The Haven, the Outskirts, the Outer City.
What: Steven plays music for the poor saps outside of the Bright Wall, explores the city, and also does some other things. Faerie traits begin to manifest. Sleep is disrupted. Includes some closed top levels, but also open stuff!
Warnings: Pop music.

★BUSKING PRO BONO (MAY 20+)

Power or no powers, if there's one thing Steven can bring to the table, it's the magic of music. Specifically, he's volunteered to lend his skills to the Outer City in the form of entertainment, playing his ukulele and singing his heart out while other people do tasks that could be considered more critical.

Not in his opinion, though. These people need food, and healing, and protection, but they clearly also need something to brighten their spirits. Unfortunately, his brand of otherworldly music may not be all their familiar to their ears.

Not quite comfortable enough to break out some of his newer creations, Steven has been running through a long list of Earth-based musical covers. Currently, he is performing a spirited rendition of Haven't you Noticed (I'm a Star), which seems to be drawing an equal mixture of interest and bafflement from the locals. He may have to fine-tune his set list in the future.

"Haven't you noticed that I'm a star?
I'm coming into view as the world is turning
Haven't you noticed I've made it this far?
Now everyone can see me burning~"

He finishes with a dramatic flourish, only now really turning his attention to the uncertain audience. Hm. Tough crowd. Maybe it doesn't help that after the recent full moon, he'll have developed the beginnings of glittery scales around his neck and shoulders, as well as to pink dots on his forehead that are clearly destined to be antenna.

★JUST STRAIGHT UP BUSKING (MAY 20+)

Beyond charity work, Steven can also be found around Aefenglom proper, playing music for pocket change. He can be found in a large variety of places, still playing mostly modern Earth music as well as a couple he's written himself. He's also using this as an opportunity to explore the city, now that he's feeling a bit better than when he arrived.

Also, his big pink lion is with him, playing chaperone and also giving Steven a ride. While Steven plays, Lion will happily nap nearby - though maybe that's not the best way to attract donars.

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It's okay, Toby. Steven cries more than average.

"Why would it be worse?" Steven says, like he might know what she means, but as if he still would like to hear more. "Because humans aren't use to you, there?"

The Gems haven't always gotten along perfectly with humans, but it hasn't been that bad, has it? Then again, they look a lot more human than Toby does.

Toby hesitates for a moment here, because she had a dream where she tried to explain this to a giant pink human-shaped alien who's not vulnerable and brushed it aside, and she didn't enjoy that.

"Humans have a long history of mistreating each other severely," she says slowly, deciding not to get into specifics. "They deny one another's humanity over extremely superficial differences and use those differences to justify the same atrocities we have already suffered from other species. The valley where my people live now used to host humans, but they were driven from their homes by the ancestors of the ones who live nearby now."

She may only know relevant history from some salvaged textbooks and the ramblings of a misanthropic preteen dropout, but she also knows the valley and has seen the signs.

"I'm much more like a human or like any other alien than the rest of my people are - we don't usually think like you do, and we appear alarming to most aliens. Aliens rarely see us as people." Even nominal allies will see Toby as a person, but not her parents, her community.

It's not that he doesn't believe her, it just doesn't ring true at all to his personal experience. In his experience, humans could be petty and mean, but they weren't often monsters. Earth was conceptualized as a precious thing to save, and its populace more often victims than the bad guys.

Maybe things are different on her version of Earth? He's not sure. It's weird to think that it could be. He's certainly not going to say she's wrong. She knows her own experience.

"I'm sorry..." he says, genuinely, though his confusion is obvious. "I guess... things don't really feel like that, on the Earth I'm from. I didn't know it would be like that for you." He considers that for a moment longer.

"How are the others different from you? What makes you more, um... human?"

"Then you are fortunate," she says into that innocent confusion, and leaves it at that.

Toby considers for a moment, weighing her options. Aliens usually say something like, the Hork-Bajir are stupid, but one in ten thousand is a freak with the intellectual capacity of its creator species. Hork-Bajir say something like, A Seer is different. Sees far, knows much. When Mother Sky and Father Deep say it is time, a Seer is born to show us a new way.

"We were created for a purpose. We are very good at that purpose, but we were not meant to reach beyond it. Our creativity is all in storytelling and music, not invention or extrapolation, and we are inclined to be... accepting, to a point. I'm what we call a Seer - I think differently. I can consider the past and future in more depth."

That sounds familiar - the idea of being made for a purpose. It immediately gives Steven a bit of emotional content, and he frowns and nods in understanding.

"Well... being good at stories and music sounds pretty great! Those are some of my favourite things," he says, smiling a little, unsure of if that's the right thing to say. It's true, though. "They sound really nice."

For once, Toby decides to take pity. She nods. Her facial expression has not changed a whole lot; she has some facial muscles, but the heavy brow ridges don't move.

"My father is a great storyteller. He can't... most of us never learned to read, so everything he has is from memory. Some of the epics take weeks to tell properly, and he never forgets the wording." Lowering her voice she adds, "I suspect that because I did learn to read my memory isn't as keen. This is the way of things, I suppose."

"Wow. Yeah, I definitely couldn't remember all that without having it written down," Steven says, curiously rubbing his chin. "What kind of stuff do they like to tell stories about? I wish I could hear one..."

Honestly, her species seem like the sort that he'd get along with just wonderfully, whether they are considered 'smart' by other aliens or not.

"Everything. The world makes more sense when you make it into a story. All of our old legends survive in stories, all the ways we understood the world. There are stories about the best times to harvest certain foods, and about people overcoming difficult situations we might meet. There are our histories, of course. And what is right for us, as contrast to what we are forced to against our wills. Lately, in the past two years, we speak of battle and the joys of freedom." Those and the histories are the only ones that feel entirely real to Toby, that feel relevant. Hork-Bajir as they had been are hard for her to grasp. Dak always said that when the Yeerks came and Aldrea urged his people to fight, their old selves died.

She can see already that her favorites will be too upsetting for this child. Humans seem to be upset by someone was injured and lived to recover. There are still some that might work.

Abruptly, she asks, "How are you doing about this 'bonds' business? Have you found someone?"

That is pretty sudden. One moment Steven seems fascinated by her explanation, and the next, he's wondering why she's asking that. He shrugs a shoulder, helplessly.

"Oh... I don't know! I haven't really done anything outside the city. I was feeling too sick up until a few days ago..."

He's not at all opposed to the idea of bonding - it's more the trouble of narrowing it all down.

"I could Bond with Peridot, she's one of my best friends. But... I'm pretty sure we're both monsters, so it wouldn't work as great without us having some witch partners, too..."

Toby's thoughts run on perpendicular tracks sometimes.

"When I go out, I stay within sight of the major wall." Which can be some distance when she's in the treetops, admittedly. What Toby really wants is to go further, make nests somewhere out in the deep wilds, in great old trees that haven't known the world tamed down around them. ...She does understand that that would be a bad idea.

"It will still help to a degree, as far as I can tell. As a... witch, I seem to be fine so long as I expend the magic I generate." She thinks she can identify it by now, a sort of tension or energy building in her chest, restless, seeking a grounding point. Growing. "We are nearly strangers, so I don't know if you would welcome a more structured alliance, but I could give some to you."

"Wait..." He sounds a little breathless for a moment, caught off guard but also fascinated. His eyes seem to sparkle a little, even as he's clearly confused.

"Are you asking if I want to Bond with you?"

It's true that he barely knows her, and she's also hella intimidating, but her offering to help him in any such magical capacity seems to touch him regardless.

She looks, if anything, embarrassed - she looks away for a moment, birdlike toes curling. "If you like. Or else I could provide you with charged items, which I understand is another option."

As far as she's been able to tell, while there can be emotional leakage with bonds one person doesn't control the other, or dig through their thoughts and memories. Toby's never had a Yeerk and doesn't want to be one, even indirectly, so if that had been part of bonds she wouldn't offer. It is always possible that it works differently when the 'witch' isn't human.

Assuming it works the same, though, someone should look out for small, hybrid children.

On one hand, he's so touched by the gesture, part of him wants to agree immediately. On the other hand, from everything he's heard, Bonds are a pretty big deal - will it really be a good thing to do it with someone he hardly knows yet?

"Oh... that could be great," he says, obviously fluttering with thinking about the possibilities. "But... we should hang out first! And be responsible! And make sure we're a good fit, okay? What do you like to do in your free time?"

He sounds like he's going to ask her on some kind of playdate.

"A good idea," she says, not sure if she's relieved or disappointed. "I..."

She likes to think of new ways to fight, new plans for raids and diversions, she likes to test traps and weapons and tactics, she likes feeling the unity and purpose of the warriors. They're stressful, often painful, but the nights when they can save one of their own and get the Yeerk out of his or her head are exhilarating.

Even as those come to mind she knows they're the wrong answer here. Toby refocuses. "I like climbing trees. I like seeing the world from above, and helping someone up who's never been allowed to climb. It's not the same as listening to a storyteller, but I like to read. Seeing my people happy is good, also."

That's a little tricky, but it's definitely interesting. Toby may be really serious, but she must love her people a lot. He grins at her.

"I love reading, too!" he says. "I've been spending a bunch of time in the libraries here, and it's really interesting stuff!"

Climbing, though Hmm.

"...Would you take me out to see the trees you've been climbing? I haven't gone that far yet, but I'd love to see it!"

"Did you ever read The Wizard of Oz?" she asks a little wistfully. "I heard there were sequels and an adaptation, but I only ever got to read the first book."

She sits back, straightens out her long neck to look about. The Outer City has far more greenery than within Aefenglom proper, including what became of small parks. "There is a good stand of oaks nearby. A Harpy couple nests in them sometimes, but even if they are there, I don't think they would mind too much."

"You guys have the Wizard of Oz, too?" he asks, totally surprised. The ways that their Earths are similar and also different is so strange! "I had a really weird dream about that story once..."

But, he basically skips over that whole concept in favour of talking about the dreams.

"Really? That's great! We could go there now, if you want? I said I would do some performances for the people here, but I can come back later... and I think they've kind of had enough of me for now, anyway."

The last part is admitted bashfully.

"It may be good to learn their preferences. Unfamiliar music is not easily appreciated," she says, which is as much tact as she knows how to use.

Toby rises to her full height and flexes her back, curls her tail differently. Her watch-device is fixed near the end, between the two smaller spikes.

"I can show you. Are you... can you climb?" Human feet aren't made for it, but she's read that they descended from tree-dwelling ancestors, and they do still have ball-joint shoulders and powerful if stubby-fingered hands. There is also rope.

It just means he needs to spend some more time listening to the music they already have here. Once he's done that, he can try composing some new songs that mingle the local tastes with his own. He's already thinking about the possibilities.

But for now...

"I can climb! These hands might not look like much, but I've climbed a thing or two in my day." Some of that was even before his super strength started coming in!

Toby nods and starts moving. How upright she is generally depends on how quickly she's going. When she's standing still her tail is often leaning on the ground, and it's more of a counterbalance if she's going at a run. At a walk it curves gently, contacting the ground here and there in passing.

"I wouldn't say your hands don't look like much. Mine are made so I can climb and swing easily. Your hands are soft, so they mold to your grip, and precise. There are things yours are better at, and ones mine are better at." She has difficulty holding and using a normal sized pen, which has become more relevant than in the valley. Fine dexterity isn't her strong suit. "Are the trees in your home good?"

Steven's eyes light up, hearing her say that. Toby is really smart, he thinks. He claps his hands together gleefully.

"That's a really cool way to think about it! Everyone has stuff they're good at." Which might just sound like a platitude, but Steven really does believe it. "We don't have a ton of trees around where I live, but other places on my Earth do! Beach City is right next to the ocean, and there's a bunch of farmland nearby."

Thinking about hands, there's something he's curious about.

"Do your people play any instruments?"

She gives a little nod when he claps. "You see? I can't do that. The flesh and skin on my hands has a different quality."

To demonstrate she tries slapping her hands together. It's a duller thump and doesn't carry.

"Some of us like to pound on things to create a beat," she says. Rhythm is important. "On the homeworld, we had Speaking Trees. Hollow trees of a certain description, with vines up to seventy feet long that we treated and stretched taut between branches. Two people trained since they were a year old would carve a sapling and draw it together across the vines to create low sounds that traveled. This was how we told one another what was happening far away - we had a tree-language that all understood, even if few spoke it."

And this, like just about everything in her history, ends in a dark note. "That art is lost. No one alive remembers what vines to use, or how to treat them and arrange them on the branches, or how to carve the Speaker's Tongues, or how to use them, or even what the language really sounded like. The Yeerks have comm tech. The last Speaking Tree sang for us to come to them and surrender."

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