Post by Albigensia on Sept 23, 2008 9:34:06 GMT -5
"Beer?"
"Water."
"Sand?"
"Grapes."
"Grapes?!"
"Cheese."
"Sky?"
"Lost."
Zoya was bored. She never knew it would be so exhausting to not look at something. The koala - or whatever it was, she reminded herself - had spent the last couple of hours with them, hoping to gleam some more information from them by talking about anything but. She didn't want to look at it anymore. The false brunette managed to get Helene to play a game of word association to give her a break between its endless questions, but she was getting tired, and she didn't want to shift among her crew.
"Grass?"
"Trees."
"Ship?
"Salvation."
"Faith?
"Cheese."
Her word association game turned out only to get on her nerves more. "Tell me..." Zoya began, still not looking at the thing, "what do we call you?"
"Why call me anything?"
"Because I don't like spending my time with a shape-shifting creature that I can't put a name to."
"I don't actually shift my shape..."
"I don't care. Give me a name."
"Why? Do you intend to conjure with it?"
"I wish I could, but I'm afraid magic's out of the question."
"Very well. Call me Fred."
"Why Fred?"
"I don't know," the creature smiled in his voice, "I've always wanted to be a Fred," The Maninder took a small breath and sang, mostly to himself, " 'OH... it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor... would you be mine, could you be mine, won't you be my neighbor...'" As he sang, a cardigan sweater materialized around him and he bent down to tie the laces on a pair of red tennis shoes, "You know, the shoes really aren't half bad..." He put his hands on his hips and scrutinized them, "very recognizable, archetypal even. Also very friendly. Nice non-threatening image," he looked up and pointed to his ensemble, "Fred Rogers, human children's entertainer during the 20th century."
Now that the koala was gone, Zoya could find herself able to look at the creature again. Somehow, putting a human face to things made her feel more comfortable - more in control - more like a situation she could recognize. "All right... um, Fred. So you've been to Earth?"
"Why would you think that?" Zoya simply pointed to the image he was projecting. "Oh, that. Let us say that I did."
"And that you studied their history."
"Just their entertainment. Quite a wide variety of cultures on one small planet. Would you care for some kabuki theatre or...?"
The false brunette held up a hand. "No. Have you ever been to San Francisco?"
The Maninder broke out into a chorus, "When you go... to San Fran-cisco..."
"So that's a no." Zoya quickly interrupted.
"That's a maybe... why do you ask?"
The allasomorph shrugged. "I don't know. I just think it was a pleasant place last time I was there. I was wondering your thoughts on the place."
"Windy. Wet. Big ziggarat in the middle of town."
"Ah, so you have been there."
"The home of Starfleet Command? A lot of people go there. Lots of holographs of the place..."
"Will you ever give a straight answer?!" Zoya jumped to her feet, and to her surprise, the Maninder cringed, turning into a cute little kitten and giving a cuddly meow. She felt disarmed immediately - just like the creep expected me to, the shapeshifter realized.
"Let's play a new game," the kitten whispered, "I'll give a straight answer if you will."
Zoya felt her inner shield snap into place. "Depends on the question."
"No - that defeats the point of the game. Open questions, honest answers. We both have enough to lose, and everything to gain in such an exchange..." he looked over to the other three people in the room before turning back, "don't you think? Us two students of human society?"
Zoya stepped back and noticed the uncomfortable stares of her crew. She weighed her options. Calain would probably freak out; she was only able to pull the grandmother routine by pretending it was makeup. Gregor might be initially shocked, but he hadn't known her for that long, and Helene... who cared what that silly girl wanted?
Finally, she turned back to the Maninder and nodded. "Very well. I'll even give you the first question. Fair?"
The kitten smiled as it morphed back into Fred Rogers. "Fair."
"Water."
"Sand?"
"Grapes."
"Grapes?!"
"Cheese."
"Sky?"
"Lost."
Zoya was bored. She never knew it would be so exhausting to not look at something. The koala - or whatever it was, she reminded herself - had spent the last couple of hours with them, hoping to gleam some more information from them by talking about anything but. She didn't want to look at it anymore. The false brunette managed to get Helene to play a game of word association to give her a break between its endless questions, but she was getting tired, and she didn't want to shift among her crew.
"Grass?"
"Trees."
"Ship?
"Salvation."
"Faith?
"Cheese."
Her word association game turned out only to get on her nerves more. "Tell me..." Zoya began, still not looking at the thing, "what do we call you?"
"Why call me anything?"
"Because I don't like spending my time with a shape-shifting creature that I can't put a name to."
"I don't actually shift my shape..."
"I don't care. Give me a name."
"Why? Do you intend to conjure with it?"
"I wish I could, but I'm afraid magic's out of the question."
"Very well. Call me Fred."
"Why Fred?"
"I don't know," the creature smiled in his voice, "I've always wanted to be a Fred," The Maninder took a small breath and sang, mostly to himself, " 'OH... it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor... would you be mine, could you be mine, won't you be my neighbor...'" As he sang, a cardigan sweater materialized around him and he bent down to tie the laces on a pair of red tennis shoes, "You know, the shoes really aren't half bad..." He put his hands on his hips and scrutinized them, "very recognizable, archetypal even. Also very friendly. Nice non-threatening image," he looked up and pointed to his ensemble, "Fred Rogers, human children's entertainer during the 20th century."
Now that the koala was gone, Zoya could find herself able to look at the creature again. Somehow, putting a human face to things made her feel more comfortable - more in control - more like a situation she could recognize. "All right... um, Fred. So you've been to Earth?"
"Why would you think that?" Zoya simply pointed to the image he was projecting. "Oh, that. Let us say that I did."
"And that you studied their history."
"Just their entertainment. Quite a wide variety of cultures on one small planet. Would you care for some kabuki theatre or...?"
The false brunette held up a hand. "No. Have you ever been to San Francisco?"
The Maninder broke out into a chorus, "When you go... to San Fran-cisco..."
"So that's a no." Zoya quickly interrupted.
"That's a maybe... why do you ask?"
The allasomorph shrugged. "I don't know. I just think it was a pleasant place last time I was there. I was wondering your thoughts on the place."
"Windy. Wet. Big ziggarat in the middle of town."
"Ah, so you have been there."
"The home of Starfleet Command? A lot of people go there. Lots of holographs of the place..."
"Will you ever give a straight answer?!" Zoya jumped to her feet, and to her surprise, the Maninder cringed, turning into a cute little kitten and giving a cuddly meow. She felt disarmed immediately - just like the creep expected me to, the shapeshifter realized.
"Let's play a new game," the kitten whispered, "I'll give a straight answer if you will."
Zoya felt her inner shield snap into place. "Depends on the question."
"No - that defeats the point of the game. Open questions, honest answers. We both have enough to lose, and everything to gain in such an exchange..." he looked over to the other three people in the room before turning back, "don't you think? Us two students of human society?"
Zoya stepped back and noticed the uncomfortable stares of her crew. She weighed her options. Calain would probably freak out; she was only able to pull the grandmother routine by pretending it was makeup. Gregor might be initially shocked, but he hadn't known her for that long, and Helene... who cared what that silly girl wanted?
Finally, she turned back to the Maninder and nodded. "Very well. I'll even give you the first question. Fair?"
The kitten smiled as it morphed back into Fred Rogers. "Fair."
