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Author Topic: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence  (Read 2327 times)

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DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« on: July 09, 2018, 12:08:03 AM »

We're publishing this chapter and the next "out of order".  I put that in quotes because when these two chapters were written, it was as the last two in a long string of chapters set at the shack complex where Rick, Brenda, Enya's family, and the Lorekeeper Tsanten and his "staff" ( ;) ) stayed behind after Ash and Ni'ka left for Hometree.  In effect, Chapters 41 and 42 were meant as a "Meanwhile, let's check in on Ni'ka and Ash, shall we?"  But it's unrolled a little differently on this Board, with the Hometree chapters coming first...and it might very well be time for a "Meanwhile, let's check in on the Shack Crew, shall we?", especially as Ash and Ni'ka have been wondering about how things are going with Enya-pen & Company themselves.

Dramatis Personae, before anybody gets really confused:

  • Rick, former SecOps, Samson pilot, Ash's lover, and Enya's "uncle"
  • Enya, awakened Avatar, orphaned by the death of her driver and adopted into the Clan
  • 'Iheyu, Enya's adoptive mom, a healer of the Tompa'tanhi Aeromedical Corps
  • Tali, her ten-year-old son, already a promising scout, and a relentless teaser of "Dreamwalkers" who happen to be his not-so-little sister
  • Tangek, another Ikran Healer, 'Iheyu's beloved and Enya's adoptive dad
  • Silronsem, a young and rather quiet healer of the less adventurous sort
  • Brenda, astronomer, Avatar driver, guerilla, and Enya's "den mother" at the longhouse way back when
  • Tsanten, Lorekeeper, Changed Na'vi, currently bedridden, and mute except when tapping on his "Morse board"
  • Kenten, hunter of Ni'ka's (Atreyu's) pongu, camp counselor, cook and horsemaster

(Kiye, am I forgetting anybody?)   ;D
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #1 on: July 09, 2018, 12:18:30 AM »


::: [ Harmonic Divergence ] :::

[Ash and Ni'ka have just flown off...]

"And awaaaayy they go," Brenda murmured.

Kenten nodded.  "We really, really hope this will do it," he said quietly.

"Do what?" asked Enya.

"Help her learn when she needs her anger and when to put it away," Brenda replied.

Enya hadn't really talked to Ash except last night at the fire and the night before when they'd discussed this trip in the cabin.  In her recent experience, Ash had been the soul of reason and compromise since the last time she'd returned from Hometree.  The Avatar had been on her way napward when Ash had gone off on her family; so now she was left trying to remember the last time she'd seen Ash angry.
« Last Edit: July 09, 2018, 12:20:57 AM by Random the Navigator »
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #2 on: July 09, 2018, 12:56:19 PM »

"I simply hope that she won't be haunted anymore by any remains of that fucking demon," Rick muttered, his face now showing the worry he hadn't let out while Ash was still around.  "I'm glad Ni'ka's going along, at least until they're at Hometree."

Brenda let the swear-word go; she could be a little profane herself at times, but she tried to keep it down around the kiddos.  "I hear ya," she responded.  "You work that hard, you risk that much, you think you're getting somewhere--and the problem just sits back and laughs at you, and any good you've done already gets yanked out from under your feet..."

"Yeah...that's exactly how I feel," Rick nodded.  "And it sucks..."  He straightened his shoulders.  "Well, now it's not in my hands to change anything, and I have full trust in the Tsahiks and even more in Na'vie.  And we do have some things to take care of here as well."

"Like, umm, making these shacks look like they grew here?" Brenda smirked, remembering the task Enya had assigned - yes, assigned - her the day before.

"Yep."  Rick grinned back.  "I see you've been informed.  The shacks, my poor fuel-less Samson, all that stuff.  I know, it's gonna take time, especially the 'growing' part, but if we don't start it will never get done."

Brenda quirked a smile.  "I've got the camo netting for my shack in there," she offered.  "So I've got you at least partially covered; we just have to decide which part."

Kenten remembered the firewood and the weakened tree-branch Rick had shot down the day before.  "And I dare say we can disguise the roofs of your dwellings with enough bark and wood-chips; that'd keep them from being spotted from above for the time being..."

"Be lots of leaves on ground in forest," Enya chimed in.  "Is what we can gather today; can put those on top with wood-chips."

"Camo net, wood chips and leaves."  Rick counted at his fingers.  "That's a good start.  And maybe we can add a few vines to keep it all together - from what I know that stuff grows on literally everything; they were actually a problem at a few of the remote stations."

"Grew, Rick," Kenten said tersely, eyes smoldering for a moment.  "The cold has killed all but the thickest ones."  He sighed.  "But dead vines will serve the purpose here as well as live ones, I suppose..."

"I wouldn't put it past them to adjust," Rick mused.  "I mean, I hope and pray it won't be necessary, but a plant that can tear apart massive concrete with just enough patience to grow through it... nope, definitely wouldn't put it past them.  But for now you're right, Kenten.  Dead ones will do the job quite as well."
« Last Edit: July 09, 2018, 03:37:22 PM by Random the Navigator »
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #3 on: July 09, 2018, 02:59:19 PM »

  -:-  -:-

'Iheyu peered out the window of Tsanten's module.  Was someone coming to relieve her?  At the moment it didn't look like it; neither Tangek nor Silronsem were at the fire.  She'd heard Lor's screech and figured it was Ni'ka and Ash leaving for Hometree; and Brenda was in the courtyard in her human form, so her Dreamwalker's eyes must still be bothering her.

And Tali...?  He was here, on the other end of the module in Sprout's and Enya's old bunk; and she didn't have the heart to nudge him awake to fetch their breakfast.

 -:-  -:-

Brenda considered.  "Let's use the net on the Samson, then," she said.  "One, it's too irregularly-shaped to try to hide with leaves and twigs alone; you could do it, sure, but it would take all week!  And Two...that's the number-one thing you do not want the RDA to know you still have, especially now that you can't move its hiding-spot from time to time."
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #4 on: July 09, 2018, 03:00:56 PM »

Rick eyed the Samson, half hidden beneath the trees, but the front still peeked out.  "And yeah, let's start with the bird first - you're right, even without fuel I don't want to expose her too much."

Everyone nodded; then Brenda crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Rick expectantly.  "How much you want to pay for that net?" she said wryly.  "Coin and currency are invalid here, but the interstellar exchange is still accepting coffee..."

Rick laughed.  "Alright - I think I can afford that," he replied.  "You won't find me bargaining hard there...so how about a first down payment before we start to work?  You haven't had breakfast yet, at least not the human part of you."

"Oh, good - saves me the trouble of finding and growing a substitute!" Brenda exclaimed.

"That not be hard," Enya remarked her.  "You just let Kilvanä sniff it, she find it for you!"

This brought smiles and chuckles all around; then everyone who hadn't had an Angtsik 'tostada' yet put one together now.  Brenda finally got hers; Enya made some for the people in the module; and the others took their seats on the logs and made small talk over breakfast.
« Last Edit: July 09, 2018, 03:41:15 PM by Random the Navigator »
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #5 on: July 09, 2018, 03:17:08 PM »

True to his word, Rick prepared a big thermos of coffee - including the touch of cinnamon, of course - for Brenda, handing it to the driver.  "Enjoy," he said with a smile while picking up his own breakfast.  "You want some company?  I can take that with me..."

"Don't mind if you do!" Brenda nodded.  "And let's take it in your shack instead of mine; that way we can do your link-monitoring lesson at the same time.  I call it 'rocking the cradle'..."  She grinned.

"Alright - breakfast and monitoring lessons, then."  Rick nodded towards the Na'vi and Enya, then turned to his own shack, making his way through the airlock and then to the small room where Ash was lying peacefully in her link pod.

Brenda was only too glad to slip her mask off and spend several minutes in executive session with her Angtsik tostada and her mug of "Rick's Special".  "Been a while since I could savor a meal slowly and in peace," she explained.  "And that warm shower last night--MMMMMmmmm!!!"  She closed her eyes in bliss for a moment.  "There are a lot of little luxuries you don't need to get by--and in a life like this, if you can do without 'em, you probably should.  But that makes it sooo much sweeter when you get the chance to enjoy them in safety and with all the time you need..."

She finished up, insisting on doing the dishes herself and taking in the sensations much the way Tall Brenda might: hands in hot water; steam up her airways; the scent of soap...  It was a habit of mind that had been deeply ingrained in her during her 'fugitive' years, and it had prepared her better than most to take full advantage of the Na'vi sensorium she'd acquired the first time she'd shared it with her Avatar.

"Ahh, better..." she murmured contentedly, and waited for Rick to tell her when he was ready to dive into the brainworks.
« Last Edit: July 09, 2018, 03:42:29 PM by Random the Navigator »
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #6 on: July 10, 2018, 12:09:56 PM »

Rick had nodded to Brenda's comment about the little luxuries.  He had his own experiences with that, for example valuing a hot shower much more after a few weeks' mission with his unit...  No matter if they came back in from the desert or some godforsaken muddy place up in the North, usually all of them had a nice layer of dirt and sweat on them and the smell to match with it.

So he had finished his breakfast and a second mug of coffee and, as he guessed from Brenda's face that she actually liked washing the dishes, enjoyed the fact that for a change neither he nor Ash had to do that.  "So...now we have a look at the monitor before we do our outside work?"
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #7 on: July 10, 2018, 02:28:15 PM »

"You're on," said Brenda.  "And I have a feeling it's gonna be a little easier to get you into the link room than it was to get Enya into it...and not just because of the size differential."

Rick laughed.  "It's not as if I hadn't spent much time in it already...starting with the time Ash and me set that thing up.  You should have seen our faces when we spotted the pod beneath a huge pile of crates and other stuff."

Brenda quirked a grin.  "A little like mine when I was surveilling this place and spotted Ash in her Avatar?  An Avatar means a driver; a driver means a link unit...and a link unit made this a viable place for me to visit, or even to run to if my outpost was discovered.  I was so relieved I just about fell out of my tree!  And with what happened to us with those Changed Na'vi, I think I can say with a certain degree of confidence that if we hadn't found this place beforehand, we'd both be dead."  Anyone who was used to the way Brenda talked would have known that when she said "we" and "us" in that context, she meant herself and her Avatar.

"But back to Enya," she continued, her mouth going firm.  "Rick...she was terrified to go in there.  So scared that her ears disappeared into her hair.  I don't know what Ash has been feeding her about this whole business, but she needs to stop scaring my girl like that...or better yet, leave the explaining to me."
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #8 on: July 11, 2018, 11:53:34 AM »

"That...well, it actually might have been both our mistake," Rick admitted, looking down.  "See, Enya came in here one day to get something from the kitchen while neither Ash nor me was around, and you know how she is - curious without end.  And of course the link pod caught her interest."  He smiled.  "As far as I understand, she even tried to lay down in it; she calls it a special bed."
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #9 on: July 11, 2018, 12:08:56 PM »

"Sounds like her," Brenda said with a chuckle.  "You know she used to try to follow Solanda into the BioLab after they linked out?  Of course Mey, Alice and the techs didn't think much of that idea, and they told Solanda so in no uncertain terms.  Me, I think it'd've been much better for her if they had  toured her around, but who knew she needed it?  Nobody'd ever had to think about that before.  And that's where the mindset breaks down.  If it had occurred to them to try relating to her as a child and not as a balky piece of equipment, they'd've come a lot closer to anticipating her needs...  Ahh, hell, it's not like I  had a clue either at the time.  People who know anything about kids don't generally end up on Pandora.

"But I think that's where the Na'vi are way better-equipped to handle her situation than we were.  They don't see her as a First or an Only or a theoretical impossibility--just as a child, 'Iheyu's youngest, who happens to have bereavement and mobility issues.  And this is something Ash needs to wrap her brain around pronto: From the way they talk about Sprout, the Na'vi who know Enya seem to regard all Avatars as the children of their drivers.  You want to know why everyone got so upset about Ash not driving hers for days on end? --Bingo: They see it as child neglect.  I don't know who told her she'd make a lousy mom, but that'd be why.  Everything she does about Sprout, everything I do about Tall Brenda, is being weighed in terms of our fitness as parents."
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #10 on: July 11, 2018, 12:52:40 PM »

Rick's smile gave way to a sigh.  "When we found out, we talked to her--tried to explain that she'd better stay away from this one item, cause if accidently something went wrong it could be dangerous for Ash and Sprout."  He scratched his head.  "What if she had hit the wrong button while Ash was linked in?  That could have been real trouble."

"Comforting news: She wouldn't have broken anything," Brenda explained.  "One, she couldn't have gotten into it with the canopy shut; two, it won't start at all with the canopy open.  And three, the units we use in the field are designed to take a serious beating.  Dunno if Ash knows that, but they'll take Enya's weight with nothing more to show for it than an error report."

"So we tried to explain - seems we didn't find the right words..."

Brenda's face went unexpectedly gentle, and she laid an empathetic hand on Rick's shoulder.  "It's okay, Rick," she said softly.  "None of us knew the right words and lessons either.  They don't cover people like her in the manual..."

"Nope - definitely not in the manual," Rick agreed with a slightly sheepish nod.  "So, if you go back to the children-and-parents thing, guess we messed up with explaining to our friend's youngest daughter why she shouldn't put her finger on the hot stove.  And none of us figured out how afraid she really was."
« Last Edit: July 11, 2018, 12:58:20 PM by Kiyevanie »
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #11 on: July 11, 2018, 01:10:33 PM »

"I've got a sad story for you," Brenda said, "and I doubt you're gonna hear it from anybody else.  Enya really hated it when Solanda would leave for the night.  Well, Tangek said some things that made me realise - only now, after all this time - that the poor kid must've thought we died every night.  Can you imagine?

"But that's not the story.  The story is the lengths she would go to not have to see that.  She was kinda famous for ending up in some unlikely spots overnight, and we knew she'd get a little nervous when the techs locked the gate...

"Well, one night Solanda got permission for Enya to spend the night in the Ambient Room.  The thought was that maybe she wouldn't be so anxious if she could sleep as close to her mama as possible, where all she had to do to see her was peek through the window.  It was a good idea, as ideas about Enya went, and she was all for it--all nods and smiles and tail-wags...

"She didn't last long.  She hadn't been on that cot for more than twenty minutes before she had the most full-blown panic attack I've ever seen.  She just about ripped the door off the hinges and took off at top speed...  We found her curled up in the greenhouse the next morning, about the size of a medicine-ball and still trembling after eight hours.  Needless to say she didn't go out that day, and she herself couldn't understand why she'd freaked.  But that's when Solanda--when all of us--realised just how long she'd been aware of her environment...because the last time she'd been in that room was when she was born, and yet she'd formed a strong-enough impression of the place to be terrified.  Shook us up good and proper for a long time, I'll tell ya."
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #12 on: July 11, 2018, 01:19:02 PM »

Rick leaned against the wall.  "Guess I'd make a lousy dad as well - not that I'm ever gonna be in that situation."  He looked down at himself.  "That Change probably took care of that...I don't even wanna think about how my DNA has to look right now."
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #13 on: July 11, 2018, 01:22:52 PM »

"Ouch...didn't think about the DNA changes," Brenda mused.  "But not being able to sire children is not the same as being a lousy dad.  Me, I think you'd be a great dad; I've seen you with Enya and Tali, and you have the heart and the knack.  You relate to them.  You respect them; you don't talk down to them; you don't try to distract them with toys and activities and changing the subject.  You just explain things as well as you can; and I'm sure they sense that, even if you make mistakes, you mean well and you're sincere.  Sincerity is everything with people their age.

"The link-pod situation would have been awkward for anybody.  I'm guessing Ash tried to explain the technology to Enya, which would've flown right over her head and pooped on her in passing.  You've got a better grasp of the people-factor than Ash does.  But kids don't come with instructions...and no one has ever had to figure out how to talk to an awakened Avatar.  We're gonna screw it up sometimes, and Enya needs to understand that.  And in a way I think it's healthier for everybody if she does.  If we don't try to come off to her as all-knowing and infallible and perfectly well-behaved, she won't hate herself for not always being those things.  Put more positively, if she sees us goof up, learn from it, and roll on, she'll learn to do the same."
« Last Edit: July 11, 2018, 01:27:42 PM by Random the Navigator »
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #14 on: July 11, 2018, 01:28:24 PM »

"Well, if it needs watching someone goof up to make Enya feel better and more sure of herself, you found the perfect person," Rick laughed.  "That's something I've got a lot of expertise in."  He had listened to Brenda's sad tale and flinched, imagining poor Enya frightened like that.  "Speaking of her - let's start with my first lesson in monitoring, so we can get back out soon-ish and start that leaf-collecting outing."
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #15 on: July 11, 2018, 01:36:21 PM »

"On it," said Brenda, ducking into the link shack.  "This actually isn't that hard once you know what you're looking at..."

She toured Rick through the readouts and visual displays, noting that Ash had yet to activate the camera that looked into the link pod itself: "There she is--our Sleeping Beauty!  That ought to take a load off your mind..."

The biggest difference between the first link and any of the others, she pointed out, was that Sprout's brain was not shown; the Avatar had only worn the monitoring electrodes for the first linkup in the Ambient Room.  "After that, you just have to trust that the activity you see in Ash's brain is the same as you would see in Sprout's if we had her hooked up, and vice versa.  Well, hell, they wouldn't call it 'congruency' if it wasn't...unless your name is Solanda.  I'd've died to be a link tech tracking those two."  She grinned.
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #16 on: July 11, 2018, 01:40:58 PM »

A few of the things Brenda showed Rick were already familiar to him from what Ash had told him or from his trips with other drivers years before.  Others were completely new, especially the camera.  He looked at the picture and noticed how rapidly Ash's eyeballs moved beneath the lids, like someone having an intense dream - and after all, that's what she was doing: dreamwalking.

Brenda's last comment made him chuckle.  "Oh yeah - must have looked quite different from what they were used to," he guessed.
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #17 on: July 11, 2018, 01:50:51 PM »

"Very," Brenda responded.  "That's why everybody in the program had to be informed that she was special...and nobody else.  Not even the other techs in the BioLab.  Not even Ash.  Ye gods, do you have any idea what the people at GenMod would've done to her if they'd known, or even suspected, that she was self-propelled?  The only people who knew were the people who had to: the folks in the Link Room and the Avatar compound, or the ones who went with Solanda on missions.  And you; you had to get her out of that tree, so we had to explain what was going on up there to begin with...  As far as anyone else was concerned, Solanda 'drove' the kid to her doctor appointments, know what I mean?"  She chuckled.  "Which was just as well, because you couldn't have gotten her into the Ambient Room for an exam any other way!"

She gestured at the diagram of Ash/Sprout's brain activity.  "By the way...Enya does not need to see this.  She's been told enough to know what's going on here and to not be scared.  She does not need to watch anybody taking over anybody's brain, 'k?  There really *is* such a thing as too much information..."

"Definitely not!"  Rick shuddered at the thought.  "There's one thing in explaining to her that two people 'share' a mind, but taking over? --No way!"

"I mentioned it because Enya volunteered to babysit my link once, the first time I linked in after Tall Brenda got Changed," Brenda explained.  "Needless to say, I turned her down; for all anyone knew, I might've exploded out of that cradle foaming at the mouth...  And I told her that, and she understood.  But she might ask again now that it's safe--and now that she and Ash are on friendly terms.

"If it's any comfort to you, it's not a complete takeover anyway; the driver gets the sensory input and directs the movements of the body, and of course brings her own knowledge and memories and emotions into the mix.  I'd tell Enya that if I told her anything at all.  But what would be the point?  She'd just end up right back where she began--they're sharing.  All any such lesson would give her is a head full of technical details she wouldn't understand.  They're sharing.  Not quite as even-steven as she and Solanda shared...but she's right.  It's not a fairy-tale.  They're really sharing."

Rick carefully watched the diagrams, trying to focus on the parts where peculiar signs would show up.

Helpfully, Brenda had fetched her old scans before she'd joined him in the shack.  She showed him the areas of her brain that had been flooded at the Tree of Voices; interestingly, they were the areas responsible for emotion and instinct--the stimulus had bypassed the 'intellectual' areas entirely.  "The difference between seeing"--she circled the visual cortex--"and Seeing."  She gestured at the almost incandescent midbrain.  "On the Avatar, that's where the queue begins.  It's a whole hemisphere.  If Ash lights up there, we're good."

Then she regarded poor Rick with a wry smile.  "It has not escaped my notice that you are getting stir-crazy.  Hey, I'm the outdoorsy type myself...  All right; you know how to tell if your beloved's in trouble.  Now let's go find us some plant debris!"  She patted his shoulder twice and headed back into the habmod to don her mask.
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #18 on: July 11, 2018, 01:57:09 PM »

"Not only stir-crazy," Rick joked as he followed along after a last look at Ash's peaceful face.  "Any more diagrams and I'd probably be cross-eyed.  Ya know, there are two ways out of the slums - the Army, and studying hard for a scholarship.  There's a reason I chose the Army.  I just couldn't sit still long enough to make it through all those books."

He stopped briefly in the sleeping quarters to pick up his sidearm, hoping he wouldn't need it.

"That's why I didn't hand you a book," Brenda grinned.  "Males are visually-oriented creatures.  They're more wired for show-and-tell."
« Last Edit: July 11, 2018, 02:03:43 PM by Random the Navigator »
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #19 on: July 11, 2018, 02:05:30 PM »

  -:-

The human pair emerged to find Silronsem up and having breakfast before relieving 'Iheyu for the day.  "Kaltxi!" she greeted them.

"Jambo!" Brenda shot back in Swahili--not that she knew Swahili much, but it was something different than "Hello."

Kenten was standing by, half-smiling as if at some private joke...but, being Kenten, as soon as he had an audience he shared it: "Tangek's still sleeping like a stone; I do believe Enya's rubbing off on him!"

Rick laughed at that.  "Alright - usually it's the other way 'round, parents rubbing off on their children...but, well, we're talking about Enya here."  He looked over to the Na'vi longhouse.  "And there's nothing wrong with sleeping in after a hard day."

Silronsem stood up and approached.  "Closer to two days for him," she clarified.  "He was up all day yesterday after minding Tsanten the whole night before; they were in there together when the Blessing came."

"And yet everybody wonders why he's been cranky!!" Kenten huffed.  Then he smiled.  "So that's Tangek accounted for.  'Iheyu's family is with Tsanten; they'll be out once Silronsem takes over...  Have you visited Tsanten lately?  'Iheyu says he's becoming quite a handful!"
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Kiyevanie

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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #20 on: July 11, 2018, 02:14:56 PM »

"Then Tangek's more than overdue for catching up on his rest," Rick nodded, then shook his head at Kenten's question.  "I know Ni'ka was visiting him yesterday and she said something similar.  I'm glad for him.  I guess we can all deal with someone becoming 'a handful' if that means he's getting better."  He all too well remembered the ghost of a Na'vi they had flown out of the base, and later from Hometree to the camp.  Both times he had admired Tsanten's inner strength, keeping him alive when his body was that weak.

"Enya disappeared in there with the family's breakfast," Kenten said.  "She's not out yet and she's already eaten her own, so chances are she's helping Tsanten with his..."

"Or with his workout," Silronsem guessed.  "She's got that arm...and he's getting used to his legs!  But I'll tell her you're waiting."  She bowed her head a little and left for the module, quite pleased within herself that anyone could speak of "Tsanten" and "workout" in the same context.

"That reminds me," said Brenda.  "I was gonna offer him a nail-trim..."  She fished the nail-clippers out of her pocket and followed after Silronsem.

Rick almost wondered why Tsanten should need a human nail-trim, then he realized...yeah, of course, keeping the claws short.  "That module will get a serious case of overcrowding with everyone in there," he said.  "So I'd better stick to a short 'good morning'".

He followed along with the group, intending to do exactly that - poke his head through the door, greet 'Iheyu and the Changed Na'vi and then leave again.
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #21 on: July 11, 2018, 02:20:12 PM »

The first thing to hit Rick through the airlock was Brenda's hearty voice: "Hot damn, Tsanten, you're lookin' GOOD!!"

And he was.  He and Enya had just finished their respective rounds of physical therapy.  But he was still sitting upright with 'Iheyu's help, and now he was eyeballing the nail-trimmers skeptically.  He and Brenda dickered back and forth a little, he by deeds and gestures - tapping on his Morse-board; making little chopping motions over his tostada; picking up a bead-string and pretending to tie a knot.

Finally Enya giggled and set Brenda straight.  "Think he like his hands just how they be!" she translated.
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Kiyevanie

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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #22 on: July 11, 2018, 02:25:45 PM »

Rick grinned at that last comment.  "No nailcare today?  Maybe you shouldn't have shown him the pink nail polish then..." he joked, then turned his head towards Tsanten.  "But she's right - you're looking really great this morning, and it's good to see you this way.  So a really good morning, Tsanten."  He also gave a greeting to a tired-looking 'Iheyu.
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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #23 on: July 11, 2018, 02:34:22 PM »

Enya gaped, then cut loose with a "Pink?? --EWWWWW...!!!"

Brenda grinned back over her shoulder.  "I think she's more of an earth-tones kinda gal m'self," she vouched.

"Her and everybody else!" said Tali, wriggling into the already-choked space between Tsanten's and Enya's hanging-beds.

Enya turned traffic-cop again.  "Okay, okay, people gotta come out so people can get in!" she ordered.  "I done here; I go out first...  Tali?  Sa'nok?  Silronsem here now, so you come too!"

The trio spilled out into the courtyard; Enya shot a last look back at the module.  "You think he sassy 'bout his hands? --'Fore that, he chew me out for not sleeping in his house for two days!"

"The pink was a joke..." Rick smirked, diving out of the way as Enya's family left the module.  "Um...sassy?  Maybe, but to be honest, it's good to see him a bit more 'sassy'."

Brenda just shook her head, grinning.  "Rick...you've got to understand Enya's brand of humor when she's feeling like herself.  Your idea of a joke was to suggest painting this man's talons pink...and her idea of going along with the joke is to react to it in as exaggerated a way as possible!"

Tsanten, his sitting-up session over, finally returned Rick's greeting before settling back onto his hanging-mat with a contented sigh.

Silronsem smiled.  "Seems everyone is feeling more like themselves today!" she said cheerily.  "I have a feeling you're about to meet some new people...!"
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Kiyevanie

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Re: DtP 39 - Harmonic Divergence
« Reply #24 on: July 11, 2018, 02:41:45 PM »

"Nothing wrong with that," Rick grinned back.  "Okay, I'm gonna wait outside until you're done in here to give you some space."  He waved Tsanten and Silronsem goodbye, then headed out to the courtyard.

When he rejoined the family there, he realized that it might be a good idea to inform 'Iheyu of the fact that they planned to do some foraging with Tali and Enya today.  So he looked up to the tall healer.  "'Iheyu - did you get that discussion about hiding our shacks and the chopper?"
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