Third door’s the charm, and Jim’s tablet blinks to life as he trudges up the staircase to reach the next door (why are there so many stairs? Jeez, he knows he’s been pretty sedentary lately with Spock’s Dark Web project, but it’s like Aldrip is making sure he catches back up with a vengeance). The tablet highlights the room he’s about the enter yellow - the goblet icon, his wand and sword icons already glowing green. While there were instructions for the tower as a whole and specific instructions for each challenge, Jim’s still unclear as to what each of the icons means. It feels like it’s relevant to the gimmick of the whole thing, somehow - maybe themed specifically? - but he hasn’t seen enough of the tower to figure out what’s what.
Still, Jim’s on guard for whatever will be thrown at him next, so he enters the room with no small amount of trepidation. There’s no world-shifting with this one - just two pads already in the center of the room, something akin to yoga mats, maybe, and a couple of fuzzy pillows. Jim takes a few cautious steps forward, his door swinging shut behind him. As he walks up to the setup, the candle in the middle lights itself with a soft fwish, bathing the area in a calming golden flicker.
Jim takes a seat to wait for his challenge companion, hoping the candle doesn’t make him sneeze - but it seems allergen-free, at least, which is nice. What the hell could this be about?
His answer comes a moment later, presumably as his partner arrives at the door opposite him, his tablet pinging with new instructions: Share a secret you’ve never said out loud.
“Fuck,” Jim mutters, as the door on the other side of the room swings open.
There really are a lot of stairs, though Sandry takes it easy going up them, and combined with the Power Of Youth, she arrives bright and cheery, no worse for her climb up the tower. She's wearing a favorite outfit of hers today and it helps put her in a good mood; green breeches with legs so wide it almost seems she wearing skirts, a sleeveless light green tunic with little sun buttons, a white full sleeved blouse underneath, and sensible boots. It is, in fact, not an outfit she owns in Aldrip, but she won't complain about wearing it in this fantastical situation. The only thing missing from the outfit is the veil, which she's happy to have left behind.
Once inside the room she takes stock of what's before her. Her partner is already here and seated, but it's not someone she recognizes.
"Oh, hello! I don't believe we've met before. I'm Sandrilene fa Toren, but please call me Sandry," she says with as close to a curtsy as she can manage in breeches. She settles into the other mat with what is clearly practiced elegance, folding her legs into a tailor's seat. She doesn't bother checking her tablet yet, preferring to wait for the other person to introduce themselves; the challenge can wait for them to get pleasantries out of the way!
The girl - and it is a girl, no more than sixteen if he had to guess (though looks can be deceiving, Jim knows; she may be humanoid but there's no guarantee she's human) - enters the room with a friendly disposition. The curtsy is unexpected, though given her outfit, maybe Jim should have anticipated it, but he's saved from having to figure out if a bow is appropriate by virtue of the fact that he's already seated. Instead, he offers her a small wave and a smile, before settling his hands on his knees.
"Hi there. Nice to meet you, Sandry." Jim scrubs a hand over his head, mussing his hair and managing to look sheepish. This challenge might very well be impossible when faced with a bubbly young girl - the things Jim hasn't said out loud? He doubts he could say to someone so achingly young. He's not sad to delay it. "James Tiberius Kirk at your service, but you can call me Jim."
Sandry gives a bright smile. "It's nice to meet you too, Jim! Have you been enjoying this tower? It's very mysterious, but I'm having a good time so far. I haven't worn this outfit in a long time, it's clothes from back home. It's much easier to move in than my normal dresses."
She'll have to remember to make a copy of the outfit after she wakes up. Or leaves. Whatever that entails. Maybe she'll get to take the clothes with her? Some part of her doubts that, but it would be a boon if so. She still doesn't make any move to check her tablet for the challenge, there doesn't seem to be any time limit imposed and it's nice to meet a new person; no need to rush into things!
"It hasn't been too bad," Jim shifts, getting more comfortable on the floor mat - hell, he should probably be doing more stretching with all the coding work he's been doing. Alright, Aldrip, he gets the hint. He's twenty-eight and feeling closer to thirty every day. "I've heard these kinds of things can get rough around here. You've been doing okay, though, no one giving you any trouble?"
The information about something from home piques his interest, and Jim tilts his head, taking in her outfit in a new light. If things from home could be summoned - well, he'd heard rumors of as much, though he'd had yet to experience it himself. "Did you wake up with them, at the bottom of the tower? Or you found them somewhere?"
"Oh, no, no trouble at all. I had a crochet contest with my friend earlier! I thought I would win with my magic, but apparently that's cheating." Sandry clearly has Opinions about that. "And yes, I just woke up like this! I wonder if I'll get to take it home with me? How do we get home?" Sandry gives a sigh. "I won't complain if strange things stop happening and there's just a normal month."
The power going out, the month where she thought she was someone else... it's tiring. It feels like there's always something about to happen.
A crochet contest? It’s kind of sweet (okay, tooth-rottingly sweet), and Jim catches himself smiling. At least it’s good to know the Tower isn’t being too tough on the kids (or some of them, anyway); Jim’s pretty sure he heard what he would call if he didn’t know any better, a dragon roaring, earlier. The mention of magic once again has his attention, and he tilts his head inquisitively. “What kind of magic helps you crochet?”
“I’m not sure anything around here is normal.” Jim leans back on his hands, the sleeves of his sweater dropping around his wrists; he should probably get clothes that fit a little better, but Spock had given him some that he claimed weren’t properly insulated for him, and honestly they were comfortable - besides, Jim hated being wasteful.
Sandry, who is a thread mage, cannot help but notice the fit of his clothes. As always she has the itch to pull out a needle and thread, to do something about it, but she has no needle or thread—but she is a thread mage, is she not? She doesn't need a needle and thread, all she would be doing is fixing the cuffs, and there's already threads in the cuff. All she would need to do is remove those threads, adjust the length, and use the existing thread to sew it back together.
She realizes belatedly that she's been staring at his sleeve cuff for what's probably been too long and glances away. Well, there's a way she can answer his question, and she looks back with a polite but confident smile.
"Would you mind if I fix the length of your sleeves? I think that will demonstrate what kind of magic helps me crochet. It won't take more than a couple minutes and you won't have to do anything at all. Unless, of course, you like them that length."
Sandry's elongated pause makes Jim tilt his head briefly, watching her for any sign of - what, he's not sure, distress maybe? But whatever she was thinking about didn't seem to have a negative impact, at least.
The question does get him to glance down at his hands, mitted in the sleeves as they are. The instinct to say, yeah sure go ahead actually...isn't his first inclination? Which is odd, because why wouldn't it be? It's not like he liked them longer, right?
Why would he? He wouldn't. Obviously. Would he?
There would be no...logical reason for that. "Uh..."
Jim shakes his head to clear the weird reticence away (because there was no reason for it, or at least, that's the hill he's dying on), sitting up and bringing his hands forward. "Sure, why not. Knock yourself out."
Sandry eyes him a bit suspiciously at his hesitation, but in the end he grants permission, so she'll trust him. This won't actually take her much effort to do, but she puts a concentrated look on her face mostly for his benefit, so he knows she's actually doing something. Though "doing something" becomes very quickly obvious.
The thread in the right cuff seam wriggles a bit before slithering out and on to the ground. Now free, the fabric in the cuff folds back on itself making a more appropriately length sleeve. The thread that was on the ground now raises back up in the air and sews itself back into the cuff. Satisfied with her work, Sandry repeats the process on the left sleeve. All in all it only takes about a minute for her to finish and at the end Jim has two properly shortened sleeves and Sandry has a satisfied smile on her face.
"There, that's much better, don't you think? And that's what I can do as a thread mage!"
Jim's not quite sure what he expected to happen, but his eyes widen in surprise at what inevitably does. His sweater is shifting, the fabric unraveling itself and reforming as Sandry bids it - through some kind of telekinetic force, apparently. He's heard some species with higher psi ratings could develop powers of that magnitude, but he'd never seen it himself.
Jim raises his other sleeve when the right one finishes, undisguised fascination overtaking his expression. Sandry finishes her work with a grin that Jim echoes, turning over his arms to look at the handiwork; it's just as stable and neat as it was when she started.
"That's incredible! Where did you learn that?" Jim runs his fingers over the new seam in wonder. Whatever vestiges of hesitation he might have been fighting with before appear to have been erased. "Does it only work on fabric?"
Sandry loves when people admire her work. It's not as flashy as her siblings' magic and she doesn't get to show it off very often; even if she's a thread mage she's also a noble, so she doesn't get to do her magic for a living. This was a fairly simple piece of magic all things considered but it was quite practical and she performed it well.
"I learned from my teacher Lark, who is also a thread mage. And yes, as the name implies, my magic is with threads; fibers, thread, cloth, that sort of thing. I can perform some more abstract magics with it as well, but it needs to be based in those concepts. Even though I can do the magic I also had to learn the craft; spinning, weaving, and sewing—I already knew how to embroider. Is there any magic where you're from?"
Jim just happens to be that rare breed of person who finds joy in learning new things, big or small. Flashy or not, it's telekinetic matter manipulation, and maybe it's just the fact that it's not common enough in his world but - damn, he thinks it's pretty cool. Sandry is also the second girl with powers Jim has met, what with Toph's Earthbending. Earthbending and a thread mage - are the two correlated, somehow, maybe tapping into the same kind of ability on different wavelengths?
"Sounds like a comprehensive education." Jim loops his arms around his knees, clasping his hands together. "Not as such. At least, not that I know of. If you don't mind my asking - you're human, right?"
He's kind of starting to wonder if there is magic and they just haven't discovered it yet. Wasn't that the saying? Magic is just science we don't understand yet.
Sandry is a bit startled by his question. Is she human? Well- of course she is. Does that imply that he knows people who aren't human? She's only ever met humans before- or so it seems. Has she met people who aren't human and simply not known it? Is it obvious?
"Yes, I am. Do you know people who aren't human?" There's no judgement in the question, just bright curiosity.
"I do. I live with one, actually." He'd thought perhaps it would be more common around Aldrip given everything he's heard, although to be fair, maybe it is and Spock is just the most visibly different. If he's not wearing a hat, that is, and they haven't bothered much with subterfuge on that front. "He hails from the planet Vulcan."
"I only ask because where I come from, humans can't wield that kind of ability," Jim makes a vague gesture between them to encompass the magic display. "At least, if they can, we haven't figured out how, yet."
Sandry thinks for a moment. "I didn't think about anyone not being human. Is it very different than being human? If we can spend time together and be friends, I that's what's really important," she says, completely seriously. Some people here don't seem to be very interested in getting along, but Sandry thinks that's what's most important of all in a place like this. Besides, being friends with someone who wasn't human sounds fun!
"Sometimes it can be different," Jim answers slowly, equally as serious. It was entirely possible that alien lifeforms were a foreign concept to Sandry, and the last thing Jim wanted to do was accidentally freak her out. "But different isn't a bad thing. We just have to be mindful of those differences and accommodate where we can for each other."
"My friend, he doesn't like being touched." It's one of the easiest differences to explain, so he starts there. "His species has an ability we call touch-telepathy; he can read thoughts and emotions with skin-on-skin contact. It's considered invasive for him to do that without someone's knowledge; and it's invasive for him, too, having to feel all of that from someone. Humans tend to feel really...intensely."
Sandry takes a few moments to think about that. Such a thing seems... fantastical to her. To be able to know someone's thoughts and emotions just by touching them? She never would have thought about it... well, ever.
"That must be difficult. I don't think people would think about that. I've never heard of that, I wouldn't have known. I'll have to be more careful about that sort of thing. There's so many strange things here to learn about! Do you know of any other things I should be careful of?"
It seems Sandry's not the only one with a kind of magic in her world. Funny how that works, isn't it?
"It's alright. He's unique, my friend. He wouldn't have expected you to know." Jim's lips pull into a fond smile on their own, as is so often then way when thinking about Spock. "None I can think off, of the top of my head. But I'm sure everyone has their own rules and preferences."
He shrugs a little, hands resting on his knees, legs still folded criss-cross. "This place is definitely full of surprise."
Sandry opens her mouth to reply in agreement when both their tablets beep alarmingly and she jumps in surprise. She had completely forgotten about the "challenges" for these rooms, or- perhaps she simply didn't care about them in the first place. She's much more interested in the people she's meeting here.
With a tiny sigh she fishes the tablet out of her pocket (is it pocket sized? I'm pretending it's pocket sized) and looks at the screen with a small frown.
"Share a secret you’ve never said out loud...? Is that what we need to do for this 'challenge'?"
The tablet beeps insistently, and Jim suppresses a sigh, rubbing the calluses on his palms against the seam of his pants, a subconscious tick. He's already drawing a big fat blank - well, not blank, but not anything he's willing to say to such a sweet girl. He has no doubt Sandry has probably been through something - it seemed all the kids here in Aldrip had, and of the things Jim doesn't speak of, his childhood holds a great number of them; he knows how that can go - but nothing he can think of is something he'd be willing to dump at her feet.
They're not things anyone should have to deal with, frankly.
"I think so. Seems like an...interesting challenge." That's one word for it, anyway. If his smile is slightly strained, well, Jim doubts he'll be called on it. "I'm not sure I can think of anything."
Sandry is, unfortunately, sharp for her age, especially in spite of her friendly demeanor. And like, well, probably every kid, she thinks she deserves to be taken more seriously than her age implies. She gives Jim a distrustful look and speaks in a slightly imperious voice.
"You can't think of anything, or you can't think of anything you'd tell a kid? I'll have you know that I've lived through two plagues, pirates, and now assist my uncle in running his realm. I'm hardly about to wilt from a bit of hardship."
She does, in fact, think rather highly of herself in that regard. She knows that she's gone through much more than most kids her age, and that wasn't even mentioning the earthquake, forest fires, or the fact that the first plague left her trapped in a cell in the darkness after witnessing her parents' corpses. Personally, Sandry is proud of where she is after all that she's gone through and doesn't appreciate it when adults look down on her.
Jim almost laughs, surprised, when Sandry catches him out, but he has enough wherewithal to hold it in - it's not that he's laughing at her so much at himself, for being so obviously transparent. He shakes his head, raising a hand peaceably as Sandry lists her credentials - yeah, he was right, none of these kids were normal, it seemed. "I'm sorry, I meant no offense. I didn't meant to imply that you would."
"Some things aren't meant for anyone's ears." Jim admits, the shadow of a helluva lot of something crossing over his expression; he doesn't try to hide it this time, but hopefully it at least presses home the point that he's serious. "Doesn't matter how old you are, it doesn't make it better."
When Bones, his friend and now CMO, read his medical records (the full medical records and not just the declassified portion), the man had been a wreck. Jim had felt like he was going to crawl out of his skin with the looks he kept giving him. He knows the holos haunt Bones, and why wouldn't they? The kind of shit that had to happen for a 15-year-old kid to get a full osteogenic regeneration? Horror show, especially for a parent.
Sandry isn't convinced he's not just making excuses for her sake, but she'll let it slide if he is. There's not much purpose in belaboring the point with the answer he gave her just now, she won't get anything more out of him. Still, they are supposed to.
"You can't think of anything? Not one little thing? Not even something like, 'oh I didn't know I was supposed to peel a fruit before eating it'? It doesn't have to be your deepest darkest secret, after all."
Sandry has thought of an important secret that she's going to share, but her point stands.
"I'm allergic to most fruit," Jim admits, albeit sheepishly. That's definitely not the point, Jim, but it is kind of ironic. "The instructions said 'a secret you've never said out loud'. Seriously, I don't...have many of those."
To be fair, it is true. There's the secrets he keeps, and the rest of it - there's not much point. Most of Jim's life is up for public consumption; the circumstances of his birth, his family life, his career at Starfleet and all it's entailed. The parts that aren't? He's probably drunkenly rambled them to Bones at one point or another. "...I wasn't sure I could graduate from the Academy?"
His tablet flashes a big red X on the screen - clearly, that didn't cut it.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
expiationmods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
expiationlogs2024-05-13 12:27 am
for Sandry (threadmage)
Still, Jim’s on guard for whatever will be thrown at him next, so he enters the room with no small amount of trepidation. There’s no world-shifting with this one - just two pads already in the center of the room, something akin to yoga mats, maybe, and a couple of fuzzy pillows. Jim takes a few cautious steps forward, his door swinging shut behind him. As he walks up to the setup, the candle in the middle lights itself with a soft fwish, bathing the area in a calming golden flicker.
Jim takes a seat to wait for his challenge companion, hoping the candle doesn’t make him sneeze - but it seems allergen-free, at least, which is nice. What the hell could this be about?
His answer comes a moment later, presumably as his partner arrives at the door opposite him, his tablet pinging with new instructions: Share a secret you’ve never said out loud.
“Fuck,” Jim mutters, as the door on the other side of the room swings open.
no subject
Once inside the room she takes stock of what's before her. Her partner is already here and seated, but it's not someone she recognizes.
"Oh, hello! I don't believe we've met before. I'm Sandrilene fa Toren, but please call me Sandry," she says with as close to a curtsy as she can manage in breeches. She settles into the other mat with what is clearly practiced elegance, folding her legs into a tailor's seat. She doesn't bother checking her tablet yet, preferring to wait for the other person to introduce themselves; the challenge can wait for them to get pleasantries out of the way!
no subject
"Hi there. Nice to meet you, Sandry." Jim scrubs a hand over his head, mussing his hair and managing to look sheepish. This challenge might very well be impossible when faced with a bubbly young girl - the things Jim hasn't said out loud? He doubts he could say to someone so achingly young. He's not sad to delay it. "James Tiberius Kirk at your service, but you can call me Jim."
no subject
She'll have to remember to make a copy of the outfit after she wakes up. Or leaves. Whatever that entails. Maybe she'll get to take the clothes with her? Some part of her doubts that, but it would be a boon if so. She still doesn't make any move to check her tablet for the challenge, there doesn't seem to be any time limit imposed and it's nice to meet a new person; no need to rush into things!
no subject
The information about something from home piques his interest, and Jim tilts his head, taking in her outfit in a new light. If things from home could be summoned - well, he'd heard rumors of as much, though he'd had yet to experience it himself. "Did you wake up with them, at the bottom of the tower? Or you found them somewhere?"
no subject
The power going out, the month where she thought she was someone else... it's tiring. It feels like there's always something about to happen.
no subject
“I’m not sure anything around here is normal.” Jim leans back on his hands, the sleeves of his sweater dropping around his wrists; he should probably get clothes that fit a little better, but Spock had given him some that he claimed weren’t properly insulated for him, and honestly they were comfortable - besides, Jim hated being wasteful.
no subject
She realizes belatedly that she's been staring at his sleeve cuff for what's probably been too long and glances away. Well, there's a way she can answer his question, and she looks back with a polite but confident smile.
"Would you mind if I fix the length of your sleeves? I think that will demonstrate what kind of magic helps me crochet. It won't take more than a couple minutes and you won't have to do anything at all. Unless, of course, you like them that length."
no subject
The question does get him to glance down at his hands, mitted in the sleeves as they are. The instinct to say, yeah sure go ahead actually...isn't his first inclination? Which is odd, because why wouldn't it be? It's not like he liked them longer, right?
Why would he? He wouldn't. Obviously.
Would he?There would be no...logical reason for that. "Uh..."
Jim shakes his head to clear the weird reticence away (because there was no reason for it,
or at least, that's the hill he's dying on), sitting up and bringing his hands forward. "Sure, why not. Knock yourself out."no subject
The thread in the right cuff seam wriggles a bit before slithering out and on to the ground. Now free, the fabric in the cuff folds back on itself making a more appropriately length sleeve. The thread that was on the ground now raises back up in the air and sews itself back into the cuff. Satisfied with her work, Sandry repeats the process on the left sleeve. All in all it only takes about a minute for her to finish and at the end Jim has two properly shortened sleeves and Sandry has a satisfied smile on her face.
"There, that's much better, don't you think? And that's what I can do as a thread mage!"
no subject
Jim raises his other sleeve when the right one finishes, undisguised fascination overtaking his expression. Sandry finishes her work with a grin that Jim echoes, turning over his arms to look at the handiwork; it's just as stable and neat as it was when she started.
"That's incredible! Where did you learn that?" Jim runs his fingers over the new seam in wonder. Whatever vestiges of hesitation he might have been fighting with before appear to have been erased. "Does it only work on fabric?"
no subject
"I learned from my teacher Lark, who is also a thread mage. And yes, as the name implies, my magic is with threads; fibers, thread, cloth, that sort of thing. I can perform some more abstract magics with it as well, but it needs to be based in those concepts. Even though I can do the magic I also had to learn the craft; spinning, weaving, and sewing—I already knew how to embroider. Is there any magic where you're from?"
no subject
"Sounds like a comprehensive education." Jim loops his arms around his knees, clasping his hands together. "Not as such. At least, not that I know of. If you don't mind my asking - you're human, right?"
He's kind of starting to wonder if there is magic and they just haven't discovered it yet. Wasn't that the saying? Magic is just science we don't understand yet.
no subject
"Yes, I am. Do you know people who aren't human?" There's no judgement in the question, just bright curiosity.
no subject
"I only ask because where I come from, humans can't wield that kind of ability," Jim makes a vague gesture between them to encompass the magic display. "At least, if they can, we haven't figured out how, yet."
no subject
no subject
"My friend, he doesn't like being touched." It's one of the easiest differences to explain, so he starts there. "His species has an ability we call touch-telepathy; he can read thoughts and emotions with skin-on-skin contact. It's considered invasive for him to do that without someone's knowledge; and it's invasive for him, too, having to feel all of that from someone. Humans tend to feel really...intensely."
no subject
"That must be difficult. I don't think people would think about that. I've never heard of that, I wouldn't have known. I'll have to be more careful about that sort of thing. There's so many strange things here to learn about! Do you know of any other things I should be careful of?"
no subject
"It's alright. He's unique, my friend. He wouldn't have expected you to know." Jim's lips pull into a fond smile on their own, as is so often then way when thinking about Spock. "None I can think off, of the top of my head. But I'm sure everyone has their own rules and preferences."
He shrugs a little, hands resting on his knees, legs still folded criss-cross. "This place is definitely full of surprise."
no subject
With a tiny sigh she fishes the tablet out of her pocket (is it pocket sized? I'm pretending it's pocket sized) and looks at the screen with a small frown.
"Share a secret you’ve never said out loud...? Is that what we need to do for this 'challenge'?"
no subject
They're not things anyone should have to deal with, frankly.
"I think so. Seems like an...interesting challenge." That's one word for it, anyway. If his smile is slightly strained, well, Jim doubts he'll be called on it. "I'm not sure I can think of anything."
no subject
"You can't think of anything, or you can't think of anything you'd tell a kid? I'll have you know that I've lived through two plagues, pirates, and now assist my uncle in running his realm. I'm hardly about to wilt from a bit of hardship."
She does, in fact, think rather highly of herself in that regard. She knows that she's gone through much more than most kids her age, and that wasn't even mentioning the earthquake, forest fires, or the fact that the first plague left her trapped in a cell in the darkness after witnessing her parents' corpses. Personally, Sandry is proud of where she is after all that she's gone through and doesn't appreciate it when adults look down on her.
no subject
"Some things aren't meant for anyone's ears." Jim admits, the shadow of a helluva lot of something crossing over his expression; he doesn't try to hide it this time, but hopefully it at least presses home the point that he's serious. "Doesn't matter how old you are, it doesn't make it better."
When Bones, his friend and now CMO, read his medical records (the full medical records and not just the declassified portion), the man had been a wreck. Jim had felt like he was going to crawl out of his skin with the looks he kept giving him. He knows the holos haunt Bones, and why wouldn't they? The kind of shit that had to happen for a 15-year-old kid to get a full osteogenic regeneration? Horror show, especially for a parent.
no subject
"You can't think of anything? Not one little thing? Not even something like, 'oh I didn't know I was supposed to peel a fruit before eating it'? It doesn't have to be your deepest darkest secret, after all."
Sandry has thought of an important secret that she's going to share, but her point stands.
no subject
To be fair, it is true. There's the secrets he keeps, and the rest of it - there's not much point. Most of Jim's life is up for public consumption; the circumstances of his birth, his family life, his career at Starfleet and all it's entailed. The parts that aren't? He's probably drunkenly rambled them to Bones at one point or another. "...I wasn't sure I could graduate from the Academy?"
His tablet flashes a big red X on the screen - clearly, that didn't cut it.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)